5 Euros - Franciscus Pope Benedict XV

Benedict XV reigned during World War I and spent much of his pontificate attempting to broker a negotiated peace — efforts systematically ignored by all belligerents, who privately called him "the Pope of the Boches" depending on which side was complaining. His 1917 peace note to the warring powers was rejected outright. He died in January 1922, largely unrecognized in his own time for diplomatic efforts that historians have since rehabilitated considerably.

The Franciscus designation reflects Pope Francis's ongoing commemorative series revisiting his papal predecessors. Benedict XV was canonically beatified — he has not been.