Editing Pope Pius XI (section)

=== Persecution of Christians ===
{{Main|Persecution of Christians|Anti-Catholicism|Anti-Christian sentiment}}
Pius XI was faced with unprecedented persecution of the [[Catholic Church in Mexico]] and [[Catholic Church in Spain|Spain]] and with the persecution of all Christians, especially the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]], in the [[Soviet Union]]. He called this the "terrible triangle".<ref>Fontenelle, 164.</ref>

==== Soviet Union ====
{{Main|Holy See–Soviet Union relations}}

Worried by the persecution of Christians in the [[Soviet Union]], Pius XI mandated Berlin nuncio [[Eugenio Pacelli]] to work secretly on diplomatic arrangements between the Vatican and the Soviet Union. Pacelli negotiated food shipments for Russia and met with Soviet representatives, including Foreign Minister [[Georgi Chicherin]], who rejected any kind of religious education and the ordination of priests and bishops but offered agreements without the points vital to the Vatican.<ref>Hansjakob Stehle, Die Ostpolitik des Vatikans, Piper, München, 1975, pp. 139–141.</ref> Despite Vatican pessimism and a lack of visible progress, Pacelli continued the secret negotiations, until Pius XI ordered them discontinued in 1927 because they generated no results and would be dangerous to the Church if made public.

The "harsh persecution short of total annihilation of the clergy, monks, and nuns and other people associated with the Church",{{sfn|Riasanovsky|1963|p=617}} continued well into the 1930s. In addition to executing and exiling many clerics, monks and laymen, the confiscation of Church implements "for victims of famine" and the closing of churches were common.{{sfn|Riasanovsky|1963|p=634}} Yet according to an official report based on the census of 1936, some 55% of Soviet citizens identified themselves openly as religious.{{sfn|Riasanovsky|1963|p=634}}

==== Mexico ====
{{See also|Cristero War}}
During the pontificate of Pius XI, the Catholic Church was subjected to extreme persecutions in [[Mexico]], which resulted in the death of over 5,000 priests, bishops and followers.<ref name="Franzen 398">Franzen, 398.</ref> In the state of [[Tabasco]] the Church was in effect outlawed altogether. In his encyclical ''Iniquis afflictisque''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pope Pius XI |date=18 November 1926 |title=Iniquis afflictisque |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_18111926_iniquis-afflictisque_en.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091108133917/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_18111926_iniquis-afflictisque_en.html |archive-date=8 November 2009 |access-date=21 October 2009 }}</ref> from 18 November 1926, Pope Pius protested against the slaughter and persecution. The United States intervened in 1929 and moderated an agreement.<ref name="Franzen 398" /> The persecutions resumed in 1931. Pius XI condemned the Mexican government again in his 1932 encyclical ''[[Acerba animi]]''. Problems continued with reduced hostilities until 1940, when in the new pontificate of [[Pope Pius XII]] President [[Manuel Ávila Camacho]] returned the Mexican churches to the Catholic Church.<ref name="Franzen 398" />

There were 4,500 Mexican priests serving Mexican believers before the rebellion. In 1934 over 90% of them suffered persecution as only 334 priests were licensed by the government to serve fifteen million people. Excluding foreign religious, over 4,100 Mexican priests were eliminated by emigration, expulsion and assassination.<ref>Scheina, Robert L. [https://books.google.com/books?id=8aWQ_7oKJfkC&dq=cristero+war+priests+killed&pg=PA33 ''Latin America's Wars: The Age of the Caudillo, 1791–1899''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519041505/https://books.google.com/books?id=8aWQ_7oKJfkC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=cristero+war+priests+killed&source=web&ots=YNDpLM2ukb&sig=YWccvtnJKnSpaI15bTHCOX3zoyc |date=19 May 2016 }} p. 33 (2003 Brassey's) {{ISBN|1-57488-452-2}}.</ref><ref>Van Hove, Brian [http://www.ewtn.com/library/HOMELIBR/FR94204.TXT ''Blood-Drenched Altars''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315054458/http://www.ewtn.com/library/HOMELIBR/FR94204.TXT |date=15 March 2008 }} Faith & Reason 1994.</ref> By 1935, 17 Mexican states were left with no priests at all.<ref>[[Ramón Eduardo Ruiz|Ruiz, Ramón Eduardo]] [https://archive.org/details/triumphstragedyh00ruiz/page/392 <!-- quote=Tomás Garrido Canabal. --> ''Triumphs and Tragedy: A History of the Mexican People''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117164553/https://books.google.com/books?id=AfdjWl1xKpwC&pg=PA392&dq=Tom%C3%A1s+Garrido+Canabal&as_brr=3&sig=HkfPtdqMt3qrdcMuprgfjnfnq60 |date=17 January 2016 }} p. 393 (1993 W. W. Norton & Company) {{ISBN|0-393-31066-3}}.</ref>

==== Spain ====
{{Main|Pope Pius XI and Spain}}
The [[Second Spanish Republic|Republican government]] which came to power in Spain in 1931 was strongly anti-clerical, secularising education, prohibiting religious education in the schools, and expelling the [[Jesuits]] from the country. On [[Pentecost]] 1932, Pope Pius XI protested against these measures and demanded [[restitution]].