Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI, born Achille Ratti, was pope from 1922 to 1939. A scholar and former librarian, he signed the Lateran Treaty with Mussolini's Italy in 1929, creating Vatican City, and concordats with many states, including Germany in 1933. He condemned communism, Italian Fascism's claims over youth and, in the encyclical Mit brennender Sorge of 1937, Nazi violations of the Church's rights.