Pius XII
Pius XII (1876–1958). Pope from 2 Mar. 1939. Born Eugenio Pacelli he came from a family with a long history of service to the papacy. He became secretary of state in 1930, and negotiated a number of concordats, most notably that with Hitler in 1933. He has been accused of being insufficiently active in opposition to Nazi policy towards the Jews, and this inactivity may have sprung from his search for a diplomatic settlement of the war. In the later part of his pontificate he vigorously opposed the spread of communist régimes in E. Europe. Within Roman Catholicism he did much to encourage scholarship, and instituted a number of liturgical reforms. He spoke frequently on major topics of the day, in a manner which reflected his elevated view of the papal office. In the definition of the dogma of the assumption of Mary he was the last pope (to date) explicitly to invoke papal infallibility.
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Pius XII
