Pius XI (pope)
1857 – 1939 Italian Pope (1922-1939)
Pope who created Vatican City and denounced Nazism and fascism.
- Religion
- Catholic; Bishop of Rome
- Affiliations
- The papacy
Pius XI signed the Lateran Treaty with Mussolini in 1929, which created the independent Vatican City State and settled the Roman Question left open since 1870. As dictatorships rose, he grew sharply critical of them. His 1937 encyclical Mit brennender Sorge, written in German and read from pulpits across the Reich, condemned Nazi racism and its breaking of the concordat. He also condemned atheistic communism and the excesses of fascism.
In the timeline
- 1929 Lateran Treaty signed it
- 1937 Mit brennender Sorge condemns Nazism mentioned