Leider vergessen: am 3. September vor 100 Jahren

wurde Kardinal Giacomo della Chiesa, Erzbischof von Bologna, als Papst Benedikt XV im 10. Wahlgang auf die Cathedra Petri gewählt. Am Konklave zu Beginn des 1. Weltkrieges nahmen 57 Kardinäle teil. Als Namen wählte er den Namen Benedikt, was auch als Tribut an seinen Vorgänger sowohl als Erzbischof von Bologna als auch als Papst, Prospero Lambertini, Benedikt XIV zu verstehen ist.
Während seines Pontifikates schenkte er der Kirche 13 Enzykliken, die erste am 1. November 1914 mit dem Titel "Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum"   -hier in der englische Übersetzung:  klicken - die man als eine Art Regierungsprogramm lesen kann.
Er betrachtete sich zuallererst als Hirte der Herde Christi ( wenn auch nicht als Schaf unter Schafen)

"...those words of Christ Our Lord addressed to Peter, "Feed my lambs, feed my sheep" (John xxii. 15-17) as spoken to Ourselves, and at once with affectionate love we cast our eyes over the flock committed to our care - a numberless flock indeed, comprising in different ways the whole human race. For the whole of mankind was freed from the slavery of sin by the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ as their ransom, and there is no one who is excluded from the benefit of this Redemption: hence the Divine Pastor has one part of the human race already happily sheltered within the fold, the others He declares He will lovingly urge to enter therein: "and other sheep I have, that are not of this fold; them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice" (John x. 16)...." Zum gerade begonnenen 1. Weltkrieg, in dem er eine streng neutrale Antikriegshaltung ( was ihm die Beschimpfungen beider Seiten eintrug) einnahm, schreibt er: ".. But as soon as we were able from the height of Apostolic dignity to survey at a glance the course of human affairs, our eyes were met by the sad conditions of human society, and we could not but be filled with bitter sorrow. For what could prevent the soul of the common Father of all being most deeply distressed by the spectacle presented by Europe, nay, by the whole world, perhaps the saddest and most mournful spectacle of which there is any record. Certainly those days would seem to have come upon us of which Christ Our Lord foretold: "You shall hear of wars and rumours of wars - for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" (Matt. xxiv, 6, 7).  On every side the dread phantom of war holds sway: there is scarce room for another thought in the minds of men. The combatants are the greatest and wealthiest nations of the earth; what wonder, then, if, well provided with the most awful weapons modern military science has devised, they strive to destroy one another with refinements of horror. There is no limit to the measure of ruin and of slaughter; day by day the earth is drenched with newly-shed blood, and is covered with the bodies of the wounded and of the slain. Who would imagine as we see them thus filled with hatred of one another, that they are all of one common stock, all of the same nature, all members of the same human society? Who would recognize brothers, whose Father is in Heaven? Yet, while with numberless troops the furious battle is engaged, the sad cohorts of war, sorrow and distress swoop down upon every city and every home; day by day the mighty number of widows and orphans increases, and with the interruption of communications, trade standstill;

agriculture is abandoned; the arts are reduced to inactivity; the wealthy are in difficulties; the poor are reduced to abject misery; all are in distress.

Seine letzte Enzyklika zum 700. Todestag des Hl. Dominicus "Fausto Appetente Die"  wurde am 15. September 1921 veröffentlicht : klicken:   
Papst Benedikt XV starb 67 jährig am 22. Januar 1922 an einer Lungenentzündung.