Cardinals created by Pius XI
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In sixteen years, Pope Pius XI (r. 1922–1939) created 76 cardinals in 17 consistories. Though he created 18 cardinals at a consistory in 1935, he typically created very few cardinals at one time, holding small, frequent consistories, some of them less than six months apart. He held a consistory in 1929 to create just one cardinal, and created just two on eight occasions.
Of his appointments to the College of Cardinals, 43 were Italians.[1] He appeared to strive to maintain an equilibrium between Italians and non-Italians and two of his consistories produced an equal division between the two groups, in March 1924 and December 1927. Non-Italians formed a majority of the college for several months in 1925 and again from 1928 to 1933. This balance reflected concerns about the independence of the Holy See and Italy during Benedict's papacy, and their new relationship established with the Lateran Treaty in 1929.
At its largest during his papacy, in December 1935, the college had 68 members, two short of the maximum size of 70 set by Pope Sixtus V in 1586.[2] In 1927, he accepted a cardinal's resignation, the only one to occur in the 20th century. The cardinals he created included one future pope, Pope Pius XII.