Giacomo della Chiesa becomesย Pope on 3th September 1914 with the name of Benedict XV. He is electedย Pope during the hard times of the Great War because of his skills as mediator.ย
During the FIRST World War, Pope Benedict XV writes many proposals and letters for peace to the government in order to stop the conflict. He also writes many letters to the government members to end the war, but nobody listens to him.The most meaningful and brave among all of his interventions is the Note of 1 August 1917, where he defines war as a โuseless slaughterโ.
Despite all of his letters and peace proposals the responses of nations at war are negative and the conflict continues. The Pontiff, disappointed by the failure of his notes, remains locked up and isolated in the Vatican because of the entry into the war of Italy in 1915.
There are different reasons that have caused the failure of his efforts: the geographical collocation of the Vatican inside Italy (there are no official diplomatic relations) and the diplomatic isolation in which his predecessors had left the Holy See by declaring to be neutral and impartial in the conflict.
At the end of the war, Pope Benedict XV works to reorganise the Church inside the context of the post-war world. He links new diplomatic relations with France and other nations, being able to count on 27 nations instead of the previous 17.
Benedict XV is remembered not only for his diplomatic interventions for peace during the Great War but also for the help and assistance he gave, in his time, to the casualties and wounded people during the war, so as to deserve the nickname of โSeconda Croce Rossaโ and even in Istanbul there is a statue in his honor.
During the war, Pope Benedict doesnโt devote himself only to diplomatic operations and to help the victims, but he also gives strength to the power of the Church founded the Congregation of the Oriental Church in 1917, which aims to defend the rights of oriental branches of the Church. In the same year he promulgates the first edition of the Code of Canon Law which reinforces the authority of papacy and the Roman Curia over the Church. In the end, he takes care of the development of ecclesiastical studies with the institution of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan.
