Pope Pius XII The rarity of the election of a
Papal Secretary of State to the Papacy itself is a notable testimony to Cardinal Pacelli's personal qualities. He was, moreover, elected on the first day of voting, and on the third ballot—unusually soon for a result to be secured—and at that ballot it is stated, apparently with authority, he secured every vote except his own. The wisdom of the choice cannot be questioned. The new Pope is a man in the full vigour of life—the election took place on his sixty-second birthday—he is per- sonally well acquainted with this country, Germany and the United States, and spiritually he is the manifest successor of Pius XI, with whom he worked so closely and so long. His supreme task—the defence of the prerogatives of his Church in the face of totalitarian claims—will tax his wisdom and his resolve, but in some respects he is better equipped to conduct the difficult negotiations than his predecessor. In Spain, too, where General Franco's Prime Minister and brother-in-law, Senor Sillier, has already been warning the Church to keep to its own preserves (as defined by the State), he will have in deal with a situation little less diffi- cult. His capacity in these fields will only be proved when it is tested, but no other candidate for the vacant See could inspire more confidence in advance. The new Pope's first speech, as the late Pope's last, was on the need for peace.
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