«L’Enciclica Pascendi dei tempi moderni» Il progetto per l’ultima enciclica di Pio XII (1956-58)

Abstract

The opening of the Vatican archives for the Pacelli pontificate brought to light the draft of a hitherto unknown encyclical by Pius XII on modern errors. It was prepared by a commission of the Holy Office between 1956 and 1958. The final draft, entitled Cultum Regi Regum, addressed all areas of ecclesial, moral and social life with a panoptic vision and was intended to be “the Encyclical Pascendi of modern times” and a synthesis of Pius XII’s pontificate. Eight years after Humani generis and a few days before Pius XII’s death, the unpublished encyclical represents, if nothing else, the position of the Holy Office on the eve of the pontificate of John XXIII.