Pope Pius XI

About Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI, born Achille Ratti, served as the 259th Pope of the Catholic Church from 1922 until his death in 1939. His papacy was pivotal in navigating the Church through the complex political landscape of the early 20th century, most notably through the negotiation of the Lateran Treaty in 1929, which formally resolved the long-standing 'Roman Question' by establishing Vatican City as an independent sovereign state. He also issued the encyclical Mit brennender Sorge (With Burning Concern) in 1937, which was smuggled into Germany and secretly read in churches to condemn the ideology of the Nazi regime's racial policies, directly opposing Hitler's attempts to control the Church's teachings.

Pius XI is ranked #282 in historical importance by MIT's Pantheon project, suggesting a significant, though not top-tier, global cultural impact. For a figure of this stature, his modern digital footprint appears relatively modest: he accrued 424K Wikipedia views in 2025. This places his online attention in a similar tier to other religious figures whose historical scope may be narrower or more contemporary; for instance, he received approximately one-fifth the attention of Brigham Young (#947 importance, 2.5M views) and significantly less than the 14th Dalai Lama (#661 importance, 1.9M views), suggesting a relative deficit in current search interest compared to his historical weight.

Interestingly, despite his relatively low attention compared to his importance index, Pope Pius XI showed strong growth in 2025, with Wikipedia views increasing by a dramatic +115.2% year-over-year, though this momentum slightly declined by -19% between the first and third quarters, suggesting perhaps a localized spike in interest or media coverage that was not fully sustained throughout the year.