Pius XI

American  

noun

1. Achille Ratti, 1857–1939, Italian ecclesiastic: pope 1922–39.

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Pius XI British  

noun

1. original name Achille Ratti. 1857–1939, Italian ecclesiastic; pope (1922–39). He signed the Lateran Treaty (1929), by which the Vatican City was recognized as an independent state. His encyclicals condemned Nazism and Communism

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Example Sentences

In 1931, Pope Pius XI issued his encyclical “Quadragesimo Anno,” or “40th Anniversary,” commemorating Rerum Novarum’s release with expanded teachings on labor and how “the worker’s human dignity in it must be recognized.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2025

Built on land donated by Pope Pius XI to the theologian and physician Agostino Gemelli in 1934, it has become known as the "Pope's Hospital."

From BBC • Feb. 21, 2025

The book follows on the heels of Kertzer’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Pope and Mussolini,” about Pius’ predecessor, Pius XI.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 7, 2022

Pius – whose birth name was Eugenio Pacelli – was Vatican secretary of state under his predecessor, Pope Pius XI, and a former papal nuncio, or envoy, to Germany.

From The Guardian • Mar. 1, 2020

In the 1930s, Pope Pius XI presented the icon to a group of exiled Mexican nuns as the centerpiece of their new Roman parish.

From New York Times • Feb. 19, 2012