Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII (Italian: Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (Italian pronunciation: [euˈdʒɛːnjo maˈriːa dʒuˈzɛppe dʒoˈvanni paˈtʃɛlli]; 2 March 1876 – 9 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his election to the papacy, he served as secretary of the Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, papal nuncio to Germany, and Cardinal Secretary of State, in which capacity he worked to conclude treaties with European and Latin American nations, such as the Reichskonkordat with the German Reich.While the Vatican was officially neutral during World War II, the Reichskonkordat and his leadership of the Catholic Church during the war remain the subject of controversy—including allegations of public silence and inaction about the fate of the Jews. Pius employed diplomacy to aid the victims of the Nazis during the war and, through directing the church to provide discreet aid to Jews and others, saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Pope Pius XII has received more than 3,615,440 page views. His biography is available in 95 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 92 in 2019). Pope Pius XII is the 50th most popular religious figure (down from 33rd in 2019), the 52nd most popular biography from Italy (down from 43rd in 2019) and the 6th most popular Italian Religious Figure.

Pope Pius XII was most famous for his efforts to help the Jews during World War II.