Pope Pius XII , born
Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 1876 – 9 October 1958), reigned from 2 March 1939 to his death in 1958. Before
his election to the papacy, Pacelli served as secretary of the
Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, papal
nuncio to Germany (1917–1929), and
Cardinal Secretary of State, in which capacity he worked to conclude treaties with European and Latin American nations, most notably the
Reichskonkordat with
Nazi Germany, with which most historians believe the Vatican sought to protect the Church in Germany while
Adolf Hitler sought the destruction of
"political Catholicism". A pre-war
critic of Nazism, Pius XII lobbied world leaders to avoid war and, as Pope at the outbreak of war, issued
Summi Pontificatus, expressing dismay at the invasion of Poland, reiterating Church teaching against racial persecution and calling for love, compassion and charity to prevail over war.