Pius XI, Pope

PIUS XI, Pope. - Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, b. at Desio on May 31, 1857, to Francesco and Teresa Galli, both of modest condition, d. in Vatican City on Feb. 10, 1939, while he was about to complete the 17th year of his pontificate.

I. LIFE AND ACTIVITY UP TO 1918

Two priests, Fr. Giuseppe Volonteri at Desio and Fr. Damiano Ratti at Asso, initiated him into his studies, which he then continued, distinguishing himself by depth of intellect and assiduity in work, at the diocesan seminaries of Milan and at the Lombard Seminary of Rome, where he was ordained a priest on Dec. 20, 1879. In 1882 he received his doctorate in theology (March 13) from the Pontifical Faculty of the Sapienza, in canon law (June 9) from the Gregorian University, and in philosophy (June 23) from the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas. On his return to Milan he was for 5 years professor of sacred eloquence and lecturer for a special course of theology at the Major Seminary. On Nov. 8, 1888, he obtained to be numbered among the doctors of the Ambrosian Library, whose prefect, the great orientalist A. M. Ceriani (v.), immediately took a liking to him for his uncommon gifts as a scholar and tireless worker. Besides various scholarly journeys to visit Italian and foreign archives and libraries, Ratti reorganized the library of the Charterhouse of Pavia (1898) and in the two years 1905-1907 the Ambrosian Library and Picture Gallery and the Settala Museum; in 1895 he took an active part in the St. Gall conference for the restoration of codices, convened by Fr. F. Ehrle; having become highly expert in this art, he received from the Chapter of the cathedral of Milan the task of recovering and restoring the codices and parchments damaged in the fire at the International Exposition of Milan (1906). When the work was completed (July 15, 1914) he was able to return to the Capitular Archive 1634 leaves enclosed in 43 small boxes. On the death of Ceriani, he was elected prefect of the Ambrosiana (March 8, 1907) and on Apr. 28 of the following year a full member of the Royal Deputation of national history for the ancient provinces and Lombardy; already since 1895 he had been a member of the Royal Lombard and Venetian Institutes of sciences and letters and of the Lombard Historical Society. During his prefecture, the Ambrosian Library was enriched with new collections and precious relics, among which 1610 Arabic manuscripts coming from Yemen (1909), the collection of Bellotti manuscripts (1910) and the library of Villa Pernice with manuscripts and printed works of C. Beccaria (1909-12). Ratti was in contact with the highest scholarly personalities of the time and with certain Italian saints, such as St. John Bosco (1883), St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (1898), the blessed Contardo Ferrini, of whom he was an intimate friend, and the blessed Pius X. It was precisely this predecessor of his on the Chair of Peter who chose him, on the suggestion of Fr. F. Ehrle, as vice-prefect of the Vatican Library (Nov. 8, 1911), of which he became prefect following the resignation of Fr. Ehrle (Sept. 1, 1914). On the 26th of the same month he renounced the prefecture of his beloved Ambrosiana, where he was replaced by Msgr. Luigi Gramatica. Ratti directed the Vatican Library at a particularly difficult moment because of the First World War; nevertheless he provided for the merging of the various catalogues of printed works, oversaw the continuation of the Studi e Testi collection and of the catalogues of manuscripts, was the promoter of the phototype edition of Ptolemy's Geography (cod. Urb. gr. 82) and gave impetus to the restoration workshop. He represented the Vatican Library at Oxford for the 7th centenary of the birth of Roger Bacon (June 1914); the same year he was made a Vatican canon (Sept. 14) and supernumerary apostolic protonotary (Oct. 28); on Jan. 14, 1915, he was elected an ordinary member of the Pontifical Roman Academy of Archaeology.

II. THE MAN, THE PRIEST AND THE SCHOLAR

A reflective and strong-willed temperament, Ratti was endowed with a perspicacious intelligence and a most happy memory, but in speaking he expressed himself slowly, frequently employing a characteristic synonymic progression of adjectives and adverbs in order to be more exact and persuasive, something that is also found in his writings. Most tenacious in work, he always showed full self-mastery in dangers and difficulties. His courteous manner and his fidelity to friendship and to commitments were very well known. He loved the mountains and was a true alpinist, to whom bold conquests are owed, such as the Dufour peak of Monte Rosa from the Macugnaga side (30-31 July 1889) and the descent of Mont Blanc by the Dôme glacier (31 July 1890); both itineraries are now called "Ratti-Grasselli" routes. The priest L. Grasselli and the Aosta Valley guides G. Gadin and A. Proment were the preferred companions of his ascents.

As a priest he loved the Church intensely, felt deeply his dignity as a minister of God and his duty to be first of all an apostle: he was chaplain of the German colony and of the house of the Ladies of Our Lady of the Cenacle in Milan, from 1882 to 1914, where he lavished himself in the Association of Catholic Schoolmistresses, in the assistance of the little chimney sweeps and in many courses of preaching and catechism; his gentle and prudent priestly action brought peace and tranquility to more than one Milanese family, and often men notoriously hostile to religion turned to him for advice. Particularly appreciated was his priestly action in 1895 for the organization of religious teaching in the municipal schools of Milan and in 1898 in favor of the poor Capuchin fathers, innocent victims of the government repression of the Milanese revolutionary movement. There was never in him a conflict between the priest and the scholar, even in the moments when the rationalistic and modernistic virus circulated most strongly, disturbing the faith of not a few scholars. Ratti kept himself aloof from the passionate political and doctrinal struggles of his time and wished to be first of all a librarian in the truest sense of the word, and such he succeeded in being according to the judgment of the most competent scholars who had occasion to approach him both at the Ambrosiana and at the Vaticana: with generosity and refinement of manner he lavished upon the scholars who turned to him the treasures of his profound humanistic culture and his experiences as a most expert paleographer. The time free from the complex duties of librarian of the great bibliographic collections in which he worked and which he presided over, he dedicated to learned historical-literary research, especially on Lombard ecclesiastical history. His scholarly production comprises about seventy items among critical editions, monographs, speeches, articles and reviews. His constant care was to study with sobriety and rigor the unpublished documents, which he had the good fortune to discover, in relation to the history of the period to which they belonged.

Of his scholarly production we limit ourselves to recalling: the Liber diurnus of the Ambrosian Codex which he had printed (1889 ff.) but did not publish; the Acta Ecclesiae Mediolanensis ab eius initialis usque ad nostram aetatem, I (unpublished), II-IV (Milan 1890, '92, '97), a ponderous critical collection of the official acts of the Milanese Church up to the whole of the 18th century; the phototypic edition of the Ambrosian Homer: Homeri Diadis pictae fragmenta Ambrosiana (ibid. 1905), in collaboration with A. M. Ceriani; the Missale Ambrosianum duplex (ibid. 1913) published in collaboration with M. Magistretti; the 25 articles on St. Charles published in the periodical he directed: S. Carlo Borromeo nel terzo cent. della sua canonizzazione MDCX-MCMX (1908-10): part of the material collected by Ratti on the great Milanese archbishop is now with the Bollandists; the studies on the Cistercian Ermete Bonomi (1895), on Chiaravalle (1895 ff.), on St. Agnes of Prague (1896), on the portrait of St. Ambrose (1897), on the homiliary known as that of Charlemagne (1900), on Bonvesin de la Riva (1901 ff.), on Leonardo (1907), on Bonacosa di Beccalòe (1909). The complete list of Ratti's scholarly production is found in Malvezzi and Galbiati (v. bibl.); 27 historical-literary writings of Ratti have been collected by G. Faraoni-G. Galbiati: A. Ratti (ora P. XI). Scritti storici (Florence 1932); the writings on alpinistic subjects have been collected by G. Robba-F. Mauro: Scritti alpinistici del sacerdote dottore A. Ratti (ora P. papa XI), raccolti e pubblicati in occasione del cinquantenario della Sez. di Milano del C. A. I. (Milan 1923).

III. THE VISITOR AND APOSTOLIC NUNCIO IN POLAND

Benedict XV abruptly cut short Ratti's scholarly activity by appointing him apostolic visitor to Poland and Lithuania, which were on the eve of becoming free and independent nations; at the Vatican Library he was replaced by Giovanni Mercati, now a cardinal, first as pro-prefect (May 1918), then as prefect (23 Oct. 1919). On 19 May 1918 Ratti left Rome, taking with him crates of relief supplies for Italian prisoners in Germany, but before reaching Warsaw he stopped in Vienna and Berlin to sound out, in the name of Benedict XV, the possibilities of peace. On 30 May, the day of Corpus Christi, he carried the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of Warsaw amid the enthusiasm of the crowd. His mission was strictly religious, and therefore his contacts with the occupation authorities of the Central European Empires were quite limited. After presiding over the Conference of the episcopate of the province of Warsaw (19-21 June), he made a pilgrimage to the national shrine of Jasna Góra near Częstochowa (15 July), thus beginning that long series of journeys, arduous and often not without danger, accompanied by his trusted collaborator Msgr. E. Pellegrinetti, later a cardinal, for the purpose of personally assessing the religious and moral needs of those populations in the grip of misery and politico-religious rivalries; with a daily and profound psychological analysis of the Polish soul, he sought to learn what might be the prerequisites for the solution of the grave religious and social problems that the religious authority was called upon to resolve with the collapse of the three Empires and the sudden proclamation of Polish national independence. On 30 March 1919 the Holy See recognized de iure the new State, and the latter immediately requested the erection of a nunciature and Ratti as nuncio. The Holy See assented, and the first nuncio, elected titular archbishop of Lepanto (3 July), having presented his credentials to the head of State Piłsudski (19 July), was consecrated in Warsaw by Archbishop Kalowski (28 Oct.) in the presence of the President of the Republic, the government, the Diplomatic Corps, the episcopate and an applauding crowd. The event took on a national character; but meanwhile Ratti's position became increasingly delicate because of the problems, sometimes rendered extremely grave by uncertainties and errors due to the scant political experience of the men in government, which he was called upon to resolve or to propose the solution of to Rome. Some of his decisions, even though he sought to act in agreement with the episcopate, aroused criticism and violent reactions, as, for example, various appointments of bishops and auxiliaries.

During his stay in Poland Ratti worked tirelessly: on the reconstitution of episcopal sees and the appointment of their incumbents; on the question of relations between Church and State (between the opposing tendencies he proposed the path of a bilateral agreement, which was later concluded with the Concordat); on the endowment of the clergy and religious institutes in relation to the law on agrarian reform (June 1919, July 1920); on the revival of ecclesiastical studies, promoting the foundation of the Pontifical University of Lublin (25 July 1920); on alleviating the sufferings of countless poor by personally distributing the Pope's relief in the working-class districts of Warsaw in disguise, or having it distributed through the bishops.

In Jan. 1920 he visited Vilnius and Kaunas, overcoming no small difficulties, and in March he went as far as Riga, where he began with the Latvian government the conversations that were later concluded with the first concordat signed by him as pontiff. The Finnish government invited him to a visit to Finland which, given the difficulties of the moment, he was unable to make; likewise he was unable to cross the borders of Russia, of which he was also apostolic visitor, though he did succeed in securing the release, in 1919, of the Latin-rite Archbishop of Mohilev, Edoardo von der Ropp, imprisoned by the Soviets. Much appreciated was the stance taken by Ratti on the eve of the Soviet invasion (Aug. 1920); he asked the Pope, but did not obtain the faculty, not to abandon Warsaw even at the cost of falling into Soviet hands. To instill courage in the population in the grip of panic, however, he decided not to leave the city until the extreme moment when the Foreign Minister, Sapieha, would leave it (cf. Pellegrinetti, op. cit. in bibl., pp. 18-20).

Among the grave problems that Ratti had to face, two were particularly fraught with difficulty: 1) in 1919 the fratricidal struggle between Poles and Ruthenians with the repressions that followed the final Polish victory; he intervened several times to obtain a moderation of the repressions and to ensure religious assistance for the Ruthenians; 2) in 1920 the mission as pontifical commissioner on the occasion of the plebiscites in Upper Silesia and East Prussia, in the Marienwerder and Allenstein zones, to prevent abuses by ecclesiastics in the plebiscite struggle. Germans and Poles asked of Ratti more than he could do on the basis of the very limited powers granted to him; the former complained about him to Rome, the latter accused him of inertia and of being pro-German. The situation became tragic on the Polish side when Card. Bertram of Breslau, with a measure that seemed to have been agreed upon with Ratti, whereas it had not been at all, paralyzed the participation of Polish ecclesiastics in the plebiscite struggle. The Poles felt a very strong resentment against Ratti; parties, press and Parliament spared no insults against the pontifical commissioner who, conscious of having always acted with impartiality, kept silent, enduring with virile fortitude the wave of indignation, which slowly subsided. Benedict XV, who fully approved his conduct, shortly afterward removed him from every embarrassment by transferring him to the see of Milan (March 1921).

IV. ARCHBISHOP OF MILAN AND CARDINAL

Ratti intended to leave Poland in July in order to meanwhile complete some of the matters already set in motion, but on May 19 he was summoned urgently to Rome because he was to be elevated to the cardinalate at the next Consistory of June 4, 1921. Ratti afterward always kept a fond memory of Poland, and the Polish people remained deeply devoted to him throughout his pontificate. Created cardinal with the title of St. Martin in Monti on June 13, on July 25 he withdrew for a month to Montecassino, where he prepared his first two pastoral letters, one in Latin to the clergy and one in Italian to the faithful (Aug. 15).

On Aug. 26 he set out for Lourdes with a large Italian pilgrimage; on Sept. 8 he made his entry into Milan, with the socialist municipal administration the only absent party. In the homily, Cardinal Ratti, extolling the figure of the Pope, said that "for him Rome is truly the capital of the world" and alluded to the advantages that Italy would derive from it "when due account were taken of his being internationally and supranationally sovereign" (Novelli, op. cit. in bibl., p. 192). There followed a violent reaction in liberal and governmental circles, which distorted its text (cf., e.g., La Tribuna, of Sept. 9). For every response Ratti had the text of his homily published (cf. L'osservatore romano, Sept. 11; Riv. doc. milanese, 24 [1921], pp. 326-34). The legacy left by Cardinal Ferrari was not an easy one, which is why Cardinal Ratti, before proceeding to changes or reforms, limited himself during the five months of his governance to exploring the environment, lavishing himself in visits and audiences. Among the notable things accomplished in that brief time, mention should be made of: the important collective letter of the Lombard episcopate, drafted in part by Ratti (Nov. 16), the organization of the teaching of the catechism in the school classrooms of the city of Milan, granted by the socialist administration, and the inauguration of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, as pontifical legate (Dec. 8). After the funeral and the commemoration of Benedict XV (d. Jan. 22, 1922), Cardinal Ratti set out for Rome (Jan. 24), leaving his Milan forever.

V. THE POPE

On Feb. 2 the Conclave began, ending on the 6th at the 14th scrutiny with the election of Card. A. Ratti, who took the name Pius XI. Immediately afterward, with a gesture that aroused the enthusiasm of the crowd and was interpreted in several ways — so alive was the "Roman question" still — Pius XI appeared at the outer loggia of St. Peter's, which had remained closed since 1870, to impart the blessing Urbi et Orbi, a gesture he repeated on the 12th on the occasion of his coronation. Thus began the pontificate of Pius XI, which was rich in events of exceptional scope; suffice it to recall the three jubilees: one ordinary (1925), two extraordinary (1929) for his priestly jubilee, 1933 (for the 19th centenary of the Redemption); the Missionary Exposition (1925) and that of the international Catholic press (1936, for the 75th anniversary of the Osservatore romano); the solution of the "Roman question" with the Lateran Pacts (1929) and the consequent juridical and architectural creation of the State of Vatican City. He had two cardinal Secretaries of State: Card. P. Gasparri until Feb. 1, 1930, and Card. E. Pacelli, now Pius XII, from Feb. 10, 1930, onward, who was sent abroad several times as his legate and who in Oct.-Nov. 1936 made a triumphal journey to the United States.

He chose as the motto of his pontificate Pax Christi in regno Christi and fixed the cornerstones of his program in the encyclical Ubi arcano (Dec. 23, 1922), which has its complement in the encyclical Quas primas (Dec. 11, 1925) on the kingship of Christ, which necessarily implies the "full freedom and independence of the Church from civil power in the exercise of its divine mission." Pius XI made it a constant rule to trace the panorama of the happy and sad events of each year of his pontificate, both in his consistorial allocutions and in his Christmas messages. Moreover, to react against the general silence of the secular press on the vital problems of the Church, its difficulties and the persecutions of which it was the object in various nations, Pius XI wished to inform public opinion of them with frequent references in the innumerable speeches he gave at public audiences. As "common father and head of the whole Christian family" (an expression customary with him) he strove morally and materially to alleviate the sufferings of others: suffice it to recall the aid campaign for Russia, 1922-23, at the conclusion of which Pravda of March 31, 1923, called for the death sentence of Pius XI (article translated by P.-M. d'Herbigny, in Orientalia christiana, 3 [1924], pp. 30-32). He never remained silent in the face of violence or of "accomplished facts" harmful to human dignity and to the supreme interests of the Church, and he scattered the word of God with a lavish hand even several times a day, especially on the occasion of the 3 jubilees, instructing, comforting and urging on all. It is now worthwhile to take a rapid look at his dynamic activity.

1. Relations with States

In his relations with States Pius XI continued the methods and directions of his predecessor Benedict XV, whose Secretary of State, Card. Gasparri (v.), he retained, but, given his willful and energetic character, he proved very much his own man in framing and resolving the various political problems. He intensified diplomatic representations to the various governments and at first attempted a beneficial direct action on the international political conferences, so frequent in that tormented postwar period, so that they might achieve their purpose: but after the failure of the Economic Conference of Genoa (Apr. 10-May 12, 1922: cf. letters to the Archbishop of Genoa and to Card. Gasparri, Apr. 7, 29) he did not repeat the attempt; he contented himself thereafter with acting through the nuncios, as at the Lausanne Conference (Nov. 20, 1922-July 24, 1923) and for the Locarno Pact (Oct. 1925), or with influencing public opinion through a document or a speech in which he indicated the path to follow, as in the case of the Franco-Belgian occupation of the Ruhr (1923) or the Geneva Disarmament Conference (Feb. 2-July 23, 1932). With regard to the treaties stipulated with the losers of the war of 1915-18, he favored their application with justice not divorced from social charity (letter to Card. Gasparri, June 24, 1923, on the reparations owed by Germany). In general he did not place excessive trust in the League of Nations and was opposed to participating in it, without however excluding the possibility of giving it his support in particular cases.

He set himself the goal of creating an atmosphere of collaboration between the Church and the States, especially those created by the Treaty of Versailles, both in order to work for peace and to safeguard the rights and interests of the Church. He refused his hand to no one and, "after a struggle" (these are his own words), always showed himself ready for a generous reconciliation, hoping that the commitments undertaken would be maintained with loyalty, of which he gave constant example. To achieve his goal he followed various systems, but he favored especially the concordat system, deeming it, given its solemnity as a bilateral pact, more suited to giving greater juridical guarantees to the Church, even in the face of the non-Catholic part of the contracting nation (v. CONCORDATS). The first concordat signed by Pius XI was that with Latvia (May 30, 1922); the last, which did not have a favorable outcome, because it was not approved by the Senate, was the laborious one with Yugoslavia (1931-38). Among the concordats that brought Pius XI the deepest bitterness was the one concluded with Hitler's Reich (July 20, 1933), which the National Socialist government violated in every way, provoking repeated protests from Pius XI, who finally published the very severe encyclical Mit brennender Sorge (March 14, 1937) and took a stance of proud intransigence on the occasion of the Reich's diplomatic step against Card. Mundelein's declarations on German ecclesiastical policy (May 24-29, 1937) and of Hitler's visit to Rome (May 3-8, 1938). Besides the perfidious persecution established in the Reich by Hitler, compared to that of Julian the Apostate (cf. speech to the participants of the 4th International Congress of Christian Archaeology, Oct. 20, 1938), under the pontificate of Pius XI the Church was the object of harassment and persecution in Russia (1922 ff.), in Mexico (1923 ff.) and in republican (1931-33) and red (1936-39) Spain, which he denounced to the world with various encyclical letters (1926, 1932, 1933, 1937) and on the occasion of very numerous speeches. Relations with France were good, especially after the Statute given to diocesan associations (v.), though he had difficulties at the time of his stance on German reparations (June 1923), of the advent of the Herriot government, which wanted to abolish the French embassy to the Holy See (Jan. 1925), and of the condemnation of Action française (cf. Sept. 5, Dec. 29, 1926). Pius XI also had serious difficulties with other States such as Czechoslovakia (especially in 1924-25) and the Philippines (1937), which had been subject to Mexican influences; he also worked intensely to try to halt the process of secularization under way in various nations, as in the Central and South American States. Pius XI agreed to act as arbitrator in the Dominican-Haitian conflict, which ended with the agreement of Jan. 31, 1938, ratified at the nunciature in Port-au-Prince on the following Feb. 26 (cf. messages between the president of Santo Domingo and Pius XI, in Oss. Romano, Feb. 28-March 1, 1938).

2. Relations with Italy

Pius XI deeply loved his native land, and Italy had more than one proof of it. At the beginning of his pontificate he sought to reconcile minds and intervened repeatedly to put an end to the violence that socialists, communists and fascists were committing against persons and institutions of the Church (letters to the Ordinaries of Italy of 6 Aug. and 28 Oct. 1922). To that end he several times forbade priests to belong to political parties, not excluding the Popular Party ([v.] cf. circulars of 2 Oct. 1922, 10 Feb. and 23 Sept. 1924). L'Osservatore Romano (12 July 1923) commented with noble words on the resignation of don L. Sturzo as political secretary of the Party, and Pius XI did not fail afterward to lend aid to some of the Party's leading figures persecuted by fascism. He appreciated the effort made by the government authorities to ensure order and transport services on the occasion of the Jubilee of 1925 and various measures taken in favor of the Church (consistorial allocation, 14 Dec. 1925; A. Giannini, in Chiesa e Stato [v. bibl.], II, pp. 497-510), but he protested that he did not wish to accept the plan of Minister of Justice Rocco for the revision of ecclesiastical legislation unless the solution of the "Roman question" were first reached (letter to Card. Gasparri of 18 Feb. 1926). The Minister then let it be known that the government was willing to treat the "Roman question." From an incident they passed to the study of that solution which was later to have an exceptional historical significance. Pius XI wished it to be resolved through the sole intervention of the two High Parties concerned. For his part Pius XI personally directed the work (about 200 sessions in his presence, cf. Pellegrinetti [v. bibl.], p. 27) with the collaboration of Card. Gasparri and of the lawyer F. Pacelli, later marquis. The negotiation, the official ratification on the part of the nation's legislative bodies and the subsequent application of both the Treaty and the Concordat, inseparably united according to Pius XI (v. PATTI LATERANENSI), knew truly tragic moments that culminated, after the attacks on Catholic Action, in the encyclical Non abbiamo bisogno (29 June 1931); a clarification followed after Mussolini's visit to Pius XI (12 Feb. 1932). During the conflict and the Italo-Abyssinian military campaign (1935-36), the Pope made only sporadic references to the situation in Ethiopia so as not to be misunderstood, as he declared in the consistorial allocation of 16 Dec. 1935 (cf. addresses to nurses and to ex-servicemen, 27 Aug., 7 Sept. 1935). Nevertheless this outward attitude of his, since the diplomatic action then carried out is not known, was the object of criticism abroad. His protests did not lack firmness regarding the ever closer union in the ideological field between Italy and Germany (cf. address to the College of Propaganda, 28 July 1938), regarding the racial measures approved by the Fascist Grand Council (6 Oct. 1938) and regarding those concerning marriages with non-Aryans (Nov.-Dec. 1938).

3. Action for peace

It has already been said that from the beginning of his pontificate Pius XI strove to pacify minds by advocating an equitable application of treaties. In the years 1930-32, on the occasion of the financial crisis in which Europe was struggling and of the arms race, he intervened with wise suggestions and with an appeal for a crusade of charity (Christmas addresses of 1930 and 1934; encyclical Nova impendet, of 2 Oct. 1931). Among the enemies of peace he placed in the first rank immoderate nationalism, which he condemned on several occasions, especially with the condemnation of Action Française (1926) and of National Socialism (1937), and the class struggle established by Marxist socialism and communism. Many times he had words of reprobation for atheistic communism, subverter of public order and persecutor of the Church, which he finally condemned with the encyclical Divini Redemptoris (19 March 1937). Faced with the danger of a war due to the growing aggressive spirit of National Socialism and the spread of its neo-pagan ideologies, he proclaimed a Marian crusade with the encyclical Ingravescentibus malis on the pious practice of the Rosary (29 Sept. 1937; cf. address of 1 Oct. following to the Sacred Rota) and sent to the world the radio message of 29 Sept. 1938, in which he offered to God the gift of his life. The minister N. Chamberlain gave public testimony in the Commons of Pius XI's work for peace (cf. Oss. Romano, 2 Feb. 1939).

VI. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH

Pius XI, besides securing and increasing the prestige of the Church in the face of the nations, provided for its progress through wise reforms and constant exhortations.

1. The missions

Pius XI, conscious "that the apostolate is the truest and most precious substance of the Roman Pontificate" (address to the Superior Council of the Propagation of the Faith, 20 March 1923), gave a broad impulse to the spread of the Church in mission lands: he transferred to Rome the work of the Propagation of the Faith (3 May 1922), thus beginning a new era for the Pontifical Missionary Works (v.); he solemnly celebrated the III Centenary of Propaganda Fide (June 1922); he called for the Missionary Exposition (1925), which he made permanent with the institution of the Lateran Ethnological Missionary Museum, and endowed the College and the Urban Athenaeum of Propaganda Fide with a grand seat on the Janiculum (1931). Of great importance for the missions were the encyclical Rerum Ecclesiae (28 Feb. 1926), in which he dealt principally with the indigenous clergy, the letter of 15 June of the same year on the missions in China, and the three recommendations to the procurators of the missions of 6 Dec. 1929. In conformity with the principles established in these documents, he gave the start to the constitution of the indigenous episcopate with the consecration in St. Peter's of 6 Chinese bishops (28 Oct. 1926), followed then by other consecrations on 28 Oct. 1928 and 5 June 1933. He promoted Catholic Action in the mission countries (cf. message to the Chinese bishops, 1 Aug. 1928; other documents in A. Cavagna, La parola del Papa [v. bibl.], pp. 280-84).

2. The Eastern Churches

Equally active was the solicitude he showed for the Eastern Churches, both united and separated, whose problems he knew profoundly and directly. He dealt with the questions concerning them, both as regards union and as regards the rites, in various documents, such as the encyclicals Ecclesiam Dei (12 Nov. 1923, for the III centenary of the martyrdom of St. Josaphat), Mortalium animos (6 Jan. 1928, reprobation of pan-Christianity), Rerum orientalium (8 Sept. 1928, oriental institute and studies), and the motu proprio of 25 March 1938 concerning the jurisdiction of the S. Congregation for the Eastern Church. He promoted the printing of various liturgical books (cf. I. Cecchetti [v. bibl.], pp. 67-73); he received into the Church the Jacobite Archbishop Mar Ivanios, with a large group of faithful (Sept. 1930); he declared the Commission for Russia autonomous (6 Apr. 1930) and erected the "Russicum" (15 Aug. 1929); he instituted the Commission for the codification of Eastern law (2 Dec. 1929), which became pontifical on 17 July 1937 with the task of proceeding to the drafting of the Code of Eastern Canon Law (v. COMMISSIONS, PONTIFICAL).

Faithful to the established principle of "knowing and loving one another" (address to the FUCI of 16 Jan. 1927), he provided that in all seminaries Eastern history, liturgy and theology should be treated (cf. circular letters of the S. Congr. of Studies and Universities of 28 Aug. 1929 and 27 Jan. 1935).

3. Formation of the clergy

The sanctification of the clergy and its adequate intellectual formation were likewise at the center of Pius XI's solicitude. To this end he issued norms for the studies and for the spiritual formation of clerics in the seminaries (cf. the Enchiridion clericorum, Vatican City 1938, pp. 602-841) and provided for the erection, especially in Italy, of regional seminaries (cf. the Elenchus Seminariorum, ibid. 1934). He gave a strong impulse to higher ecclesiastical studies and favored the erection of new universities and scientific institutes, in which he regulated the ordering of studies with the constitution Deus scientiarum Dominus (24 May 1931). In order to be more useful to the good of souls, as he declared on 1 March 1938 to the parish priests and Lenten preachers of Rome, upon the death of Cardinal Bisleti, prefect of the S. Congr. of Studies and Universities, he wished to reserve to himself the prefecture of that Congregation (cf. letter to Cardinal Pacelli, 3 Sept. 1937). The most important documents in which he set forth his guiding principles on the clergy are: the letter to Cardinal Bisleti of 1 Aug. 1922; the encyclical Studiorum ducem (29 June 1923, for the IV centenary of the canonization of St. Thomas Aquinas); the letter to the superiors of Orders of 19 March 1924; the addresses given on the occasion of the international pilgrimage of seminarians (21-25 July 1929). But the document that Pius XI, almost on the eve of his death (cf. letter to the episcopate of the Philippines, 18 Jan. 1939, published in the Osservatore Romano on the day of his death), esteemed most important on the subject is the encyclical Ad Catholici sacerdotii (20 Dec. 1935); it constitutes, together with the encyclical Mens nostra (20 Dec. 1929) on spiritual exercises, the remembrance that Pius XI wished to give to the clergy of his priestly jubilee. The documents issued by Pius XI for religious are collected in the Enchiridion de statibus perfectionis, I, Rome 1949, pp. 384-530.

4. Catholic Action and problems connected with it

From the collective letter of the Lombard episcopate (1921)

to his death, Pius XI patronized it with a constancy that knew no truce and defended it with all the means at his disposal, and held it as dear as "the apple of his eye" (an expression he repeated several times). He willed 1) that this "participation and collaboration of the laity in the hierarchical apostolate" (encyclical Non abbiamo bisogno) should be apolitical and apolitical in the sense of concrete politics and not of "true and good politics, that which studies and promotes the good of the πόλις" (letter to Cardinal Schuster, 26 Apr. 1931 and the encyclical cited) and 2) that a profound and lived religious culture should be the chief characteristic of those who intended to be part of it. Having secured these two conditions, he left it to the external organization of Catholic Action to assume the forms most suited to the individual nations. He gave a particular impulse to Italian Catholic Action and generally in all countries directed by totalitarian governments or governments hostile to the Church, as in Germany, in Mexico and in republican and red Spain. In Italy it was the only organization that fascism did not succeed in suppressing, although it harassed it with methods that were even base. Suffice it to recall the "punitive expeditions" of the early period, the action against the Young Explorers, which Pius XI was forced to dissolve (1927), and the campaign of 1931 for the dissolution of all the youth associations, in which the police and all the organizations of the Party took part. Pius XI reacted then with extreme decision and drafted with his own hand the encyclical Non abbiamo bisogno (29 June 1931), which struck national and international public opinion in such a way that the government had to enter into negotiations, which concluded on 2 Sept. of the same year. In order to ensure the free functioning of the organizations of Catholic Action, Pius XI wished that express mention of it be made in the concordats: Latvia (art. 13; 30 May 1922), Lithuania (art. 25; 27 Sept. 1927), Italy (art. 43; 11 Feb. 1929), Austria (additional protocol art. 14; 5 June 1933) and Germany (art. 31; 20 July 1933; cf. M. Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano, Concordatorum Pii XI P. M. concordantiae, Rome 1940, pp. 280-281).

Catholic Action was called by Pius XI to bring its active contribution to the realization of four great problems: the education of the young and the religious instruction of the people; the sanctification of the family; the sanctification of work by elevating it socially, and the Catholic press, the arma veritatis. He took care to expound each of these great problems according to the doctrine of the Church. In fact, he provided for the first with two encyclicals: Rappresentanti in terra on the education of youth (Dec. 31, 1929) and Vigilanti cura on the moralization of the cinema (June 29, 1936), and with countless references in his speeches. For the second, with the encyclical Casti connubii on the dignity and sanctity of marriage (Dec. 31, 1930) and by receiving and entertaining, with paternal kindness daily, from the conclusion of the Concordat with Italy, newlywed couples passing through Rome (he received about 200,000 couples: Fontenelle, op. cit. in bibl., p. 488). For the third, with Quadragesimo anno (May 15, 1931) on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Rerum novarum. For the fourth, with the encyclical Rerum omnium (Jan. 26, 1923, for the third centenary of the death of St. Francis de Sales, whom he proclaimed patron of Catholic writers) and with various references in his speeches, among them the one for the inauguration of the International Exhibition of the Catholic Press (May 12, 1936).

5. Canonizations, liturgical feasts, congresses

Pius XI carried out 40 beatifications with 494 blesseds (v. BEATIFICAZIONE), 16 canonizations with 32 saints (v. CANONIZZAZIONE). On the occasion of the reading of the decrees "coram sanctissimo" (of which 100 were for heroic virtue) for causes of beatification and canonization, he delivered 101 speeches from Apr. 2, 1922, to May 3, 1936 (partly collected by C. Testore, Invito all'eroismo, 3 vols., Rome 1941-42); only 15 readings were afterward without speeches because of the precarious state of health of the Pontiff. He introduced the feasts of Christ the King (1925), of the Divine Maternity of Mary Most Holy on the occasion of the centenary of the Council of Ephesus (encyclical Lux veritatis, Dec. 25, 1931) and of several saints into the Calendar of the universal Church (v.). He proclaimed 4 doctors of the Church (v.) and gave a new office to the feast of the Sacred Heart (1929), toward which he inculcated the duty of reparation with the encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor (March 12, 1928). For liturgical decorum he took particular care for sacred music, as is revealed by the constitution Divini cultus sanctitatem of Dec. 20, 1928, and by various speeches; he took an interest in the 13th (1923) and 14th (1928) National Congress of the Italian Association of St. Cecilia.

He participated through legates in the International Eucharistic Congresses (v.) and in those of the Kingship of Christ, of which the first (national) was held in Milan (May 20-23, 1926); the most magnificent congress (international) of this kind was the one held in Poznan (June 25-29, 1937).

VII. PATRON OF THE ARTS AND STUDIES

Pius XI, as has already been said, was a humanist in the true sense of the word, and therefore a lover of art, of studies, and of all who devoted themselves to them with seriousness of purpose. The building development of the State of Vatican City is in this regard irrefutable testimony, even if artists and technicians did not always succeed in interpreting the Pontiff's thought. Pius XI cared very much, for the decorum of the Church, that his small State should be in the forefront for the technical perfection of its installations, as, for example, the radio station, which he built with the personal collaboration of G. Marconi (v.) and inaugurated with a solemn message to the world (12 Feb. 1931). The objects of his particular care were: the Pinacoteca (new premises with the collaboration of L. Beltrami, inaugurated on 28 Oct. 1932); the Museums (an ingenious helical ramp devised by Pius XI and built by the architect Momo, 7 Dec. 1932); the Library and the Archive, the former equipped with about 20 and the latter with 13 linear km. of metal shelving. Among the most notable restorations, those of the Villa of Castel Gandolfo (v.), the triumphal arch of St. Mary Major and the vault of the Sistine Chapel should be remembered.

Pius XI gave a strong impulse to higher studies and to specialized scientific research. He instituted the Pontifical Central Commission for Sacred Art in Italy (1 Sept. 1924: v. ARTE, XI; ARTE SACRA, Pontificia commissione centrale per l') and expressed his thought on sacred art in the inaugural address of the Pinacoteca; the Institute of Christian Archaeology (motu proprio of 11 Dec. 1925); the Faculty of Ecclesiastical History (1929) and the chair of missiology (1933) in the Pontifical Gregorian University, endowed with a new imposing seat (1930); the historical section of the Sacred Congregation of Rites (v. CONGREGAZIONI ROMANE SACRE, VIII. C. DEI RITI) with the collaboration of Dom H. Quentin (motu proprio of 6 Feb. 1930); the scientific missionary Institute at the Pontifical Urban Athenaeum "de Propaganda Fide" (1 Sept. 1933) and the missionary Library at the Sacred Congregation "de Propaganda Fide" (1926); the Abbey of St. Jerome for the revision and emendation of the Vulgate (const. Inter praecipua of 15 June 1933); the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (motu proprio of 29 Oct. 1936; on 18 Dec. 1938 he delivered there one of his last and most lofty addresses) and finally he reorganized and provided with new premises the Lateran Athenaeum (1937) and strengthened with highly modern equipment the Specola, transferring it to Castel Gandolfo (29 Sept. 1935). Also to be remembered are his special care for the University of the Sacred Heart of Milan; for the imposing Milanese Seminary of Venegono; for the establishment of diocesan museums (1924); as well as the creation of a center of studies and research in the fields of ethnology, history of religions and missiology alongside the Lateran Missionary Ethnological Museum (1926), with its specialized library and the now well-known scientific journal: Annali Lateranensi (1937 agg.), and the school of library science (v.) at the Vatican Library (1934). He bestowed conspicuous financial aid for the publication of historical, scientific and artistic works: suffice it to recall the aid to P. F. Kehr (v.) for the preparation and publication of the Regesta Romanorum Pontificum, whose continuation is now assured by the Piusstiftung; to the Fathers G. Schmidt, Schebesta, Schumacher, Vanoverbergh and to the Lebzelter spouses for scientific expeditions among the most archaic peoples of the earth; and various scholarships for priests desirous of specializing in particular disciplines.

PIUS XI, pope - Photograph taken on the occasion of the address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on 18 Dec. 1938.

VIII. DEATH

From Dec. 1936 Pius XI's health was profoundly shaken and his painful illness dragged on for some months of 1937, but he never ceased working. His last burning desire was to be able to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the conciliation with Italy with a forceful address (drafted but kept secret) to the Italian episcopate, which he summoned to Rome for the occasion. But his state of health declined rapidly and at dawn on Feb. 10, 1939 he passed away, thus bringing to an end a glorious pontificate that only future historians will be able fully to assess. His remains rest in the Vatican Grottoes in a rich sarcophagus of Candoglia marble.

IX. SOME STATISTICS

He created 76 cardinals. He signed 18 concordats, agreements and modus vivendi. He brought the representations of the Holy See with diplomatic character to 37 (in 1922 there were 25) and those without diplomatic character to 23. The States with a diplomatic representative accredited to the Holy See rose to 37 (in 1922 there were 26). He created 128 archival and episcopal sees, 24 abbeys and prelatures nullius, 116 apostolic vicariates, 113 apostolic prefectures and 10 missions and districts sui iuris.

A. Pietro Frutaz