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

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Pius XI

Forty years later, Pope Pius XI, in “Quadragesimo Anno,” criticized concentrations of capital amid the widespread destitution during the Great Depression, but he also criticized the totalitarian responses sweeping Europe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

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

Kertzer, a professor at Brown University, won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in biography for his book “The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe.”

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 16, 2018

The coat of arms of Pope Pius XI was engraved on to the ceiling, flanked by four chandeliers.

From BBC ● May 17, 2016

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