The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1838 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Pittsburgh Platform
(statement of principles):
Pius IX
(1792–1878).
Pope
from 16 June 1846. As Bishop of Imola he instituted a series of reforms, but he was no liberal in temperament, and his refusal, after his elevation to the
papacy
, to accept a leading role in Italian politics turned many away from him. In 1854 he had, on his own authority, defined the
dogma
of the
immaculate conception
of Mary. Other aspects of his pontificate bolstered his authority and the First
Vatican Council
defined the dogma of papal
infallibility
without having the opportunity to situate it within a wider decree on the church. Pius' rejection of many of the changes in the modern world were listed in his
Syllabus Errorum
of 1864.
Pius XII
(1876–1958).
Pope
from 2 Mar. 1939. Born Eugenio Pacelli he came from a family with a long history of service to the
papacy
. He became secretary of state in 1930, and negotiated a number of
concordats
, most notably that with Hitler in 1933. He has been accused of being insufficiently active in opposition to Nazi policy towards the Jews, and this inactivity may have sprung from his search for a diplomatic settlement of the war. In the later part of his pontificate he vigorously opposed the spread of communist régimes in E. Europe. Within Roman Catholicism he did much to encourage scholarship, and instituted a number of
liturgical reforms
. He spoke frequently on major topics of the day, in a manner which reflected his elevated view of the papal office. In the definition of the
dogma
of the
assumption of Mary
he was the last pope (to date) explicitly to invoke papal
infallibility
.
Pi-yen-lu
(Chinese verses):
Piyyut
(perhaps from Gk., poi
t
s). A Jewish poem intended to embellish community or private prayer. Originally piyyutim (pl.) were composed as substitutes for the established
liturgy
. Texts of piyyutim can be found in
Talmudic
sources, but the earliest known composer of piyyutim was Yose b. Yose who worked in
Erez Israel
in the 6th cent. CE, with a great period of composition, 9th–13th cents. The
paytanim
(‘poets’) employed different systems of rhyme and rhythm. Initially there were no fixed collections and each cantor followed his own choice, but over the years, anthologies were compiled for the various occasions.

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