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Pope Pius XI

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Religious Figure

The Resume

    (May 31, 1857-February 10, 1939)
    Born in Desio, Italy
    Birth name was Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti
    259th Pope of the Catholic Church (1922-1939)

Why he might be annoying:

    The conclave that elected him was the longest of the 20th century. It took fourteen ballots to elect him.
    He continued the policy of his predecessors of condemning modernism.
    He felt all children should go to Christian rather than secular schools.
    He was against artificial insemination.
    He labeled massive persecutions of Catholics in Mexico, Spain and the Soviet Union 'the terrible triangle' yet was powerless to stop it.
    He wanted to die fighting the Soviet Union in Poland but was recalled from his post by the church.
    He signed the Lateran Treaty with Benito Mussolini. This made him the head of state of the smallest country in the world, at the expense of being banned from political activity in Fascist Italy.
    He also earned compensation from the lost Papal States and then gambled it all on the stock market.
    He refused to excommunicate Adolf Hitler.
    He signed a concordat with Nazi Germany.
    He refused to take medicine.
    He made divorce in Italy illegal.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Despite the ban on political activity he still spoke out against the Nazis, fascists and communists.
    When Hitler congratulated him on the anniversary of his coronation, he responded with criticisms of what was going on in Germany.
    In 1938, he said 'Mark well that in the Catholic Mass, Abraham is our Patriarch and forefather. Anti-Semitism is incompatible with the lofty thought which that fact expresses.'
    He was against racism of all kinds and spoke out against it when it was not politically favorable to do so.
    He felt families should be free to decide the education of their children.
    He was a successful librarian and scholar before becoming pope.
    He was the first pope to consider democracy a valid form of government.
    He believed in income equality (though not along communists lines) and was against the way financial markets worked.
    He was the first pope to broadcast on the radio.
    He condemned Catholic forces in France that were attempting to bring back the monarchy.
    He mended bridges with the Eastern Orthodox and Anglican Churches.
    He had three doctorates.
    He was interested in the sciences, a rarity for a pope.

Credit: D & Captain Howdy


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 195 Votes: 48.21% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 27 Votes: 48.15% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 20 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 112 Votes: 51.79% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 97 Votes: 47.42% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 23 Votes: 60.87% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 71 Votes: 47.89% Annoying