Pius XII: The Last Roman Pope

Coat of arms of Pope Pius XII, Basilica di Santi Pietro e Paolo a Via Ostiense

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Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (1876-1958) was the last Roman to be elected pope. He achieved this honour on March 2nd, 1939, which happened to be his sixty-third birthday. 

Cardinal Pacelli took the name Pius XII and his papal coat of arms takes the form of a dove holding an olive branch in its beak, a punning reference to his surname. 'Pace' is the Italian word for peace. The dove is perched on a trimount above waves of water.

Related articles: Funerary monument to Pope Pius XII.

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Coat of arms of Pope Pius XII, Palazzo della Cancelleria