| Name | Pope Pius XII |
| Date of Birth | March 2, 1876 |
| Place of Birth | Italy |
About
Pope Pius XII was born on March 2, 1876 in Italy. He died on Oct 9, 1958 (age 82). Pope Pius XII was the leader of the Catholic Church from 1939 until 1958. He is best known for signing the contentious Reichskonkordat in 1933, which was a contract between the Holy See and Nazi Germany.
At the age of eighteen, he enrolled in Rome’s oldest seminary, the Tridentine Collegio Capranica Seminary, to begin his studies in theology. He used diplomacy to help those who were affected by the Holocaust, and he urged his church to offer discreet and frequently covert assistance to Jewish people who were being persecuted. His grandfather, Marcantonio Pacelli, served in the Papal Ministry of Finances as an Under-Secretary.
Books
Pope Pius XII wrote a number of books during his lifetime, the most famous of which is probably his encyclical “Humani Generis” which was issued in 1950. In this document, he reasserts the Catholic Church’s stance on a number of topics including birth control, the theory of evolution, and Christian marriage. Other notable books written by Pope Pius XII include “Mystici Corporis Christi” and “Divino Afflante Spiritu.”
