Pascalina Lehnert

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Madre Pascalina Lehnert, 88 years old, in June 1983

Madre (mother) Pascalina Lehnert (born August 29, 1894 in Ebersberg as Josephina Lehnert ; † November 13, 1983 in Vienna , buried on the Campo Santo Teutonico in the Vatican) was a German nun of the Sisters of the Holy Cross . She became known as the housekeeper and assistant to Pope Pius XII. , whom she had already served as Apostolic Nuncio in Bavaria (under his real name Eugenio Pacelli) from the end of 1918 onwards.

In the last year of the Second World War and afterwards (1944–1958) “Madre Pascalina” headed the Magazzino , an internationally active papal aid organization. During her time in the Vatican (1929–1958) she was considered exceptionally influential.

Youth and first time in the monastery

Josephina Lehnert, the daughter of a post office clerk, wanted to join the Franciscan order at the age of 15 because this order appeared to her to be the most modest. She was inducted into the Order of the Sisters of the Holy Cross and took the name Pascalina on the day of her vows . In the mother monastery in Menzingen , Switzerland , she learned cooking, sewing and housekeeping. As a teaching sister of the Holy Cross, her order sent her to Munich in 1918 to work for Nuncio Pacelli , whom she then served as housekeeper and secretary for a total of 40 years.

Pacelli's household: Nunciature and Vatican

In 1917 Eugenio Pacelli had become nuncio in Bavaria and asked the Sisters of the Holy Cross to send the best offspring to the nunciature. One of three young sisters who took up the service was Josephina Lehnert, now Sister Pascalina. When Pacelli moved to Berlin after the conclusion of the Concordat with Bavaria , she followed him. In Berlin Pacelli was the doyen of the diplomatic corps . It was one of Pascalina's tasks to organize many receptions and dinners. The Apostolic Nunciature in Berlin was soon a focal point of the social and political world of Berlin. Gustav Stresemann , Paul von Hindenburg , students and workers were invited by Pacelli. In 1929 Pacelli was called back to Rome to become the first cardinal state secretary of the independent Vatican State . He asked Pope Pius XI. for permission to have Sister Pascalina come to Rome, which was granted to him. Madre Pascalina and two other nuns ran the household for him in the Vatican apartment. After the death of Pope Pius XI. this apartment became part of the conclave area, and the three nuns were probably the only women who were present at the conclave (not at the voting).

“It was around 5:30 pm. We were still busy with clearing and packing when we heard continuous shouting and clapping from St. Peter's Square. But no one would have dared go to a window and no one came to tell us anything. So we waited - until the door of the large study opened. On the threshold appeared the tall and slender figure so well known to us, now clad in white. It was no longer Cardinal Pacelli, it was Pope Pius XII.
Who could ever forget a moment like that? We three sisters knelt down and kissed the hand of the Holy Father for the first time. The Holy Father also had wet eyes. Looking down at himself, he just said: See how they beat me up! "

Because of its exceptional position, there have been and are many anecdotes and rumors about the Madre. Most of these anecdotes are arguably made up and cannot be documented. Some anecdotes can be found in her autobiography, which is essentially a biography of Pius XII. is. Her fellow sister in the Vatican, Maria Konrada Grabmair, gave a little insight into the person of Madre Pascalina on October 6, 1992.

“Madre was a very good but fast driver in Rome. She once stopped the police and was subsequently admonished by the Holy Father: Lawning is a sin. She then said that she had gone to the Gregorian for him to hand in a text, whereupon he continued smiling, lawn is a sin, even if you have the best of intentions. "

"Madre himself went shopping at the vegetable market and, as was customary in Rome at the time, traded the price down with the argument: This is for the Holy Father!"

Your relationship with some cardinals and papal collaborators was not particularly good. When she showed the French Cardinal Tisserant the papal door and the latter began to rage, she called the Swiss Guard. Another time she canceled an audience with the Cardinal because of a scheduling conflict with Gary Cooper . Since they were in the last months of Pius XII's life. quasi alone decided who was still admitted to the Pope, they made influential enemies, so that after the death of Pius XII. in 1958 and the burnings of the last records commissioned by him had to leave her room in Castel Gandolfo immediately and move by taxi to a monastery in Rome.

Thereafter she was Superior of the Sisters in the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

Papal Aid Organization 1944–1958

“It crashes day and night, be it bombs or cannons - or explosions. Castel Gandolfo is occupied by refugees and here in Rome there are about 4 million and starving and it is getting worse every day. [...] There is no longer any medicine, nothing. And what is left is removed by our compatriots. How long, oh Lord, how long? "

The Pope responded to Madre Pascalina and the numerous human tragedies with a new papal relief organization that rested on two pillars. Monsignor Ferdinando Baldelli, Carlo Egger and Otto Faller founded on behalf of Pius XII. the Pontificia Commissione di Assistenza . Madre Pascalina headed the Pope's personal Charite, officially under Monsignor Giovanni Battista Montini , later Paul VI. with whom she seemed to have a complicated relationship. In order to have the Pope help directly, Madre organized the Magazzino, initially with 40 employees. Initially only intended to satisfy the many daily individual searches, it was gradually enlarged and expanded. “A village near Rome was destroyed and completely bombed during the night, and immediate help was needed. The whole magazine quickly emptied, and before one could even think of what to give in an emergency the next day, Providence refilled the empty spaces ”.

Madre's help was big. At Christmas 1944 alone, 12,000 Christmas gifts were given to the children of Rome, many of them personally given by the Pope. Pascalina organized large columns of trucks carrying medicine, food, clothing, shoes for hospitals, prison camps and the starved Romans. Aid goods were also sent to France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany and Austria. After the war, the emergency continued for a long time. Madres Magazzino helped German refugees from the eastern regions, Munich, the St. Blasien college , homeless people, deportees, refugees and victims of natural disasters. Needy priests were later helped with chasers and religious paraphernalia, and priests with large parishes were helped with small Fiat cars. Pius XII. sent his agent to the detention center to bring comfort and help. His private magazine was allowed to send trucks with medicines, food and clothes for them.

The Pope himself was always involved, he visited his Magazzino and constantly asked bishops from rich or unharmed countries for help. Many of these bishops and cardinals also visited Madre Pascalina themselves, which may have led to the nice nickname Virgo Potens ('strong virgin', actually an invocation from the Lauretanian litany ).

Autobiography: I was allowed to serve him

Madre Pascalina wrote her book in 1959. It wasn't published until 1982. Important events are briefly touched upon, the Second World War, the 1946 consistory, beatifications and canonizations, the Holy Year 1950 and the illness and death of Pope Pius XII. On 200 pages she describes the Pope with many examples as warm-hearted, empathetic, sensitive, conscientious, hard-working and exceptionally intelligent. His humor was not neglected either. Madre Pascalina also wrote about the daily routine and everyday life of Pope Pius XII in several newspaper articles. described.

Madre Pascalina died in Vienna in 1983 after attending a commemoration on the 25th anniversary of Pope Pius' death. She was buried on November 18th in the Campo Santo Teutonico in the Vatican. Several cardinals and bishops came to the requiem, including Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger .

Appreciation

Joseph Ratzinger held the Mass on the tenth anniversary of her death. After he had humorously titled her as the “most powerful representative of Bavaria” in the Vatican, he referred to her absolute loyalty and servitude. Cardinal Ratzinger continued:

“As a housekeeper and secretary, Madre Pascalina understood through her practical and sober manner, for Pius XII. to create the human living space that he needed to be able to do justice to his task in difficult times. "

Awards

Film adaptations

Good Friday and Holy Saturday 2011, ARD broadcast the two-part TV series “ God's mighty servant ” based on the book of the same name by Martha Schad for the first time . The leading role of Pascalina is played by Christine Neubauer . Directed by Marcus O. Rosenmüller , the script was written by Henriette Piper and Gabriele Scheidt .

On November 1, 2010 ( All Saints' Day ), ARD broadcast the two-part feature film “ Pius XII. “, In which Sister Pascalina (also played by Christine Neubauer ) only appears in the background.

The actions of the two films are not coordinated with each other, have overlaps, different framework stories and a different occupation of the role of Pacelli Pope .

literature

  • Pascalina Lehnert: I was allowed to serve him, memories of Pope Pius XII , Naumann, Würzburg 1986. ISBN 978-3-88567041-4 .
  • Pascalina Lehnert: Letter . Archive of the Menzingen Institute, February 1, 1944.
  • Pascalina Lehnert: Letter . Archive of the Menzingen Institute, February 16, 1944.
  • Pascalina Lehnert: Letter . Archive of the Menzingen Institute, April 7, 1944.
  • Pascalina Lehnert: Letter . Archive of the Menzingen Institute, May 19, 1944.
  • Pascalina Lehnert: La Giornata del Pontifice Pio XII. Osservatore Romano, Citta del Vaticano, March 22, 1952.
  • Primo Mazzolari: La Carita Del Papa, Pio XII.e la ricostruzione dell'Italia . Edizione Paoline, 1991.
  • Paul I. Murphy, R. Rene Arlington: La Popessa: The Controversial Biography of Sister Pascalina, the Most Powerful Woman in Vatican History . Warner Books, New York 1983, ISBN 0-446-51258-3 .
  • Martha Schad: God's mighty servant, Sister Pascalina and Pope Pius XII . Herbig, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-7766-2531-8 .
  • Jean Mathieu-Rosay: The Popes in the 20th Century . Primus Verlag, Wissenschaftl. Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2005, ISBN 3-89678-531-1 , pp. 110-113.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul I. Murphy, R. Rene Arlington: La Popessa: The Controversial Biography of Sister Pascalina, the Most Powerful Woman in Vatican History. Warner Books, New York 1983, ISBN 0-446-51258-3 , p. 59.
  2. ↑ Pascalina Lehnert: I was allowed to serve him, memories of Pope Pius XII. Naumann, Würzburg 1986, p. 69.
  3. ↑ Pascalina Lehnert: I was allowed to serve him, memories of Pope Pius XII. Naumann, Würzburg 1986.
  4. ↑ Maria Konrada Grabmair: L'Associazione Pio XII ; Interview, Casa Pastor Angelicus, November 6, 1992.
  5. ↑ a b c weekly magazine Der Spiegel : Oops! - et orbi: The pompadour of the Vatican
  6. ↑ Pascalina: Letter . Archive Institut Menzingen, February 1st, 1944. In: Martha Schad: God's mighty servant, sister Pascalina and Pope Pius XII. Herbig, Munich 2007, p. 107.
  7. ↑ Primo Mazzolari: La Carita Del Papa, Pio XII.e la ricostruzione dell'Italia, Edizioni Paoline, 1991.
  8. ↑ Pascalina Lehnert: I was allowed to serve him, memories of Pope Pius XII. Naumann, Würzburg 1986, p. 104.
  9. ↑ Martha Schad: God's mighty servant, sister Pascalina and Pope Pius XII. Herbig, Munich 2007, p. 112.
  10. ↑ Martha Schad: God's mighty servant, sister Pascalina and Pope Pius XII. Herbig, Munich 2007, p. 129.
  11. ↑ Pascalina Lehnert: I was allowed to serve him, memories of Pope Pius XII. Naumann, Würzburg 1986, p. 107.
  12. ↑ a b Pascalina Lehnert: I was allowed to serve him, memories of Pope Pius XII. Naumann, Würzburg 1986, p. 109.
  13. ^ Albrecht Weiland: The Campo Santo Teutonico in Rome and its grave monuments. Volume I , Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1988, ISBN 3-45120882-2 , pp. 195-196.
  14. ↑ Marta Schad: God's mighty servant, sister Pascalina and Pope Pius XII. Herbig, Munich 2007.
  15. ^ Pascalina - the German in the Vatican (rp-online.de).
personal data
SURNAME Lehnert, Pascalina
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Madre Pascalina
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German nun
DATE OF BIRTH August 29, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Ebersberg
DATE OF DEATH November 13, 1983
Place of death Vienna