God's mighty servant
God's Mighty Servant is a two-part German television film from 2011 . He has Pascalina Lehnert , the housekeeper of Pope Pius XII. , on the subject and is based on the biography of the same name by Martha Schad .
action
First part
The young peasant girl Josephina Lehnert can no longer endure her father's hostile regime and enters the monastery of the Sisters of Education of the Holy Cross . After years of testing in the monastic way of life, she becomes a religious sister Pascalina.
When Eugenio Pacelli was transferred to Munich as Apostolic Nuncio to negotiate the " Bavarian Concordat ", Pascalina was given the task of running his household; soon she will also become his private secretary. She takes up the position full of energy and improves the budget of the nunciature. During the revolutionary turmoil in Munich , she receives a visit from her sister Theresa, who tells her that her father is dying. Pacelli urges the reluctant Pascalina to go to her father and make up with him. But when she arrives, her father has already died.
When Pascalina's superior Tharsilla Thanner fails to recall Pascalina from Pacelli's household, she assigns the sisters Bonifatia and Johanna to her to support her. Under the impression of the Hitler putsch , Pope Pius XI. To let Pacelli negotiate a concordat with Prussia in Berlin ; Pascalina takes over the preparations. When she accuses Sister Bonifatia of incompetence in this connection, she and Johanna write to the superior and accuse Pascalina of living in unchastity with Pacelli . Thereupon Pascalina is recalled by Oberin Tharsilla and placed under house arrest in order to force her to confess .
As Pacelli's household is now becoming increasingly chaotic, he asks the Superior General in Switzerland that Pascalina will come back to him. Since Pascalina has asthma while under house arrest, she is initially sent to St. Bartholomä (Königssee) for a six-month cure against her will . There she can dispel her doubts about which path is the right one, justified by the arrest, and asks the Superior General to be allowed to return to Pacelli.
Shortly afterwards, he celebrated the successful conclusion of the “Prussian Concordat” and was promoted by the Pope to Cardinal State Secretary. Pascalina is shocked to hear from Pacelli that she is not allowed to accompany him to the Vatican . But when she is supposed to give Pacelli a farewell present from the German bishops, she smuggles into the Vatican.
Second part
When Pacelli asks Sister Pascalina to review his draft Concordat with Germany, her comments aroused the displeasure of Pacelli's secretary Wilson on the one hand and the benevolence of the Pope on the other, who, to Pascalina's delight, decided to allow her to stay in the Vatican. While Pacelli was able to successfully conclude the " Reich Concordat " with Germany, the Vatican, with his help, established diplomatic relations with America, whose President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a special envoy to the Holy See.
A little later Pacelli's friend, Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber , reported to him about the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany and about Adolf Hitler's disregard for the “Reich Concordat”. Pacelli suggests that the Pope send a circular in German to the German bishops; The result is the encyclical “ With burning worry ”. While Pacelli is dismayed to learn that Hitler reacted to the distribution of the encyclical with drastic persecutions, Pius XI dies. In the following conclave Pacelli is elected Pope and takes the Pope's name Pius XII. on.
The new Pope's appeals for peace have no effect; on September 1, 1939, the Second World War breaks out. While the conflict between Pascalina and Wilson continues, Pius XII. calm Britain's concern for its neutrality in the face of its German housekeeper and German chauffeur. Due to the criticism of the British press against her person, Pascalina wants to return to Germany; however, the Pope refuses. Instead he gives her the task of administering the Vatican's Magazzino and distributing the proceeds from the sale of church treasures to war wounded; the Pontificia Commissione di Assistenza is created .
The Vatican's silence about the ongoing persecution of the Jews is viewed critically, but after the Archbishop of Utrecht publicly protested and the next day 4,000 Dutch Jews were deported, Pius XII fears. even worse persecution of Jews when he as Pope criticizes publicly. Instead, when Rome was bombed, he organized medical aid for the wounded.
Meanwhile, Major Herrmann's German Wehrmacht leaked a warning to the Pope that Hitler had plans to kidnap the Holy Father and bring him to Germany. Pius XII. refuses to leave the Vatican and prepares his resignation in the event of kidnapping. When the first Jews are deported from Rome, Pius XII. give them sanctuary in the church institutions and mobilize the palating guard .
Shortly before his death in 1958, Pius XII fought. still with doubts whether he acted correctly in view of the persecution of Jews by Nazi Germany. The Pope dies on October 9, 1958.
production
For the two-parter, the film teams had to move a total of 14 times, and the film was shot at different locations in Germany and Italy. The sequence about the Hitler putsch was filmed on the original location on Munich's Odeonsplatz . Around 350 extras in historical costumes were used. Film recordings in the Vatican could not be made, so one looked around for alternatives that resemble the Vatican architecture. For the coronation scene on the papal balcony, you therefore had to resort to a replica balcony. The costume department made a total of 4,000 historical clothing items for the actors and extras.
Awards
Remo Girone was recognized for his role as Pius XII. Nominated as "Best Supporting Actor" at the " Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo ". The director Marcus O. Rosenmüller received a nomination in the category “Best Multipart”.
Reviews
"A dramatic (television) historical film with a sprawling narrative that anchors the plot in the context of church history and provides insights into Catholic church politics in the first half of the 20th century."
Web links
- God's Mighty Servant in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Production notes at Ziegler Film
Individual evidence
- ↑ God's mighty servant. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .