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==Career==

==Career==

Pius XI was born in Italy on May 31,1857, as '''Achille Ratti''', to a working class family in Lombardy, Italy, near Milan. A brilliant student at the Milan Seminary and the Gregorian University in Rome, he taught theology and sacred eloquence. He joined the staff of the famed Ambrosian Library in 1888, where he was chief librarian (1907-1914), then became assistant librarian of the Vatican.

Pius XI was born in Italy on May 31, 1857, as '''Achille Ratti''', to a working class family in Lombardy, Italy, near Milan. A brilliant student at the Milan Seminary and the Gregorian University in Rome, he taught theology and sacred eloquence. He joined the staff of the famed Ambrosian Library in 1888, where he was chief librarian (1907-1914), then became assistant librarian of the Vatican.

In 1918, at age 60, [[Pope Benedict XV]] appointed him as apostolic visitor to the Polish Catholic Church, in the new nation of Poland. In 1920, he was papal nuncio and rallied Catholics by staying in Warsaw when the Soviet Red Army nearly captured that city. In 1921 he was mediator between the German and Polish clergies during the bitter plebiscite over the province of Upper Silesia. After eight months as archbishop of Milan, he was elected pope by the cardinals on Feb. 6, 1922, succeeding Benedict XV.

In 1918, at age 60, [[Pope Benedict XV]] appointed him as apostolic visitor to the Polish Catholic Church, in the new nation of Poland. In 1920, he was papal nuncio and rallied Catholics by staying in Warsaw when the Soviet Red Army nearly captured that city. In 1921 he was mediator between the German and Polish clergies during the bitter plebiscite over the province of Upper Silesia. After eight months as archbishop of Milan, he was elected pope by the cardinals on Feb. 6, 1922, succeeding Benedict XV.

==Further reading==

==Further reading==

*  Rhodes, Anthony ''The Vatican in the Age of the Dictators, 1922-1945'' (1974), 383 pages

*  Rhodes, Anthony ''The Vatican in the Age of the Dictators, 1922-1945'' (1974), 383 pages

* [http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/western/bldef_piusxi.htm| Biography]

* [http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/western/bldef_piusxi.htm Biography]

* [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/biography/index.htm| Vatican website]

* [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/biography/index.htm Vatican website]

[[Category:Catholic Church]][[Category:Popes]]

[[Category:Catholic Church]][[Category:Popes]]

[[category:World War II]]

[[Category:World War II]]