Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI issued numerous encyclicals, including In the 40th Year (Quadragesimo anno) on the 40th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s groundbreaking social encyclical Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor (Rerum novarum), highlighting the capitalistic greed of international finance, and social justice issues.

In the 40th Year emphasized the ethical implications of the social and economic order and describes the major dangers for human freedom and dignity arising from unrestrained capitalism and totalitarian socialism/communism. It also called for the reconstruction of the social order based on the principle of solidarity and subsidiarity.