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The papacy of Pius XII (1939–1958) is notoriously controversial, but one thing that remains uncontested about Pope Pius was his love for animals. He was known to regularly visit the sheep at Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the popes, and placed restrictions on the Vatican gardeners to prevent the killing of insects. He even penned a papal address on bees: “Ah, if men could and would listen to the lesson of the bees[…] how much better the world would be!” His most notable animal connection was with a small finch that he called Gretel.