Watch: How previous Popes were laid to rest
From Pius XII to Benedict XVI, the BBC looks back at video from papal funerals since 1958.
BBC News
Pope Pius XII
Head of the Catholic Church from 1939 to 1958
Pope Pius XII was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his election to the papacy, he served as secretary of the Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, papal nuncio to Germany, and Cardinal Secretary of State, in which capacity he worked to conclude treaties with various European and Latin American nations, including the Reichskonkordat treaty with the German Reich.
0 shares
2 views
News coverage