PIUS XI., POPE - 10 FEBRUARY

 

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PIUS XI., POPE 

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Pius XI was born May 31, 1857 in Desio, became pope in 1922 and he died on February 10, 1939.

Pope Pius’s pontificate witnessed the rise to power of Benito Mussolini, who signed with him the Lateran Treaty that allowed the existence of the independent Vatican City state, over which the pope ruled. The papacy, in turn, recognised the establishment of the kingdom of Italy and announced permanent neutrality in military and diplomatic conflicts of the world. Pius further agreed that a pope would intervene in foreign affairs not as head of a sovereign state but as head of the church. Concurrently, a concordat established the validity of church marriage in Italy, provided compulsory religious instruction for Catholic schoolchildren, and declared Roman Catholicism to be Italy’s only religion of state.

Pius’s role in these negotiations was considerable, their success owing much to his appreciation of the interests of the church and of contemporary political realities. 

Pope Pius XI reached an agreement allowing the church to resume religious services in Mexico, where severe persecutions prompted the encyclical of 1926 (Iniquis afflictisque), and he made another agreement (1933), though short-lived, with Adolf Hitler’s newly formed Nazi government in Germany, hoping to alleviate the difficulties confronting German Catholics. From 1933 to 1936 he wrote several protests against the Third Reich, and his attitude toward fascist Italy changed dramatically after Nazi racial policies were introduced into Italy in 1938.

Pius XI, a student of Hebrew, was responsible for the three major encyclicals against the totalitarian systems that challenged Christian principles: Non abbiamo bisogno (1931) against the abuses of fascist Italy; "Mit brennender Sorge (1937) against Nazi Germany, and Divini redemptoris (1937) against the ends of atheistic communism. 

Under his leadership the Vatican challenged the extreme nationalism of Action Français in France and the anti-Semitism of the Rev. Charles E. Coughlin in the United States. In 1938, eight months before his death and 15 months before the outbreak of World War II, Pius secretly commissioned a fourth encyclical that would have denounced racism and the persecution of the Jews and explicitly condemned anti-Semitism. Unfortunately, he died before his encyclical could be issued.

Pope Pius founded research establishments and institutes of higher education, including the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology (1925) and the Pontifical Academy of Science (1936). He made great efforts to organise the laity, first in Italy and then throughout the whole church, and particularly encouraging Catholic Action (Jocists), a Christian youth organisation for the working classes. 

Surpassing his predecessors in support of overseas missions, he required every religious order to engage actively in this work, with the result that missionaries doubled their number during his pontificate. Most significant was his consecration of the first Chinese bishops, in 1926. He equally encouraged historians and liturgiologists to study Eastern Christianity, inaugurating the work of codifying Eastern canon law. In 1930 he witnessed the reunion of the Syro-Melankarese Christians (of southern India) with Rome.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pius-XI