 By 1904 Pacelli received his doctorate . The theme of his thesis was the nature of concordats and the function of canon law when a concordat falls into abeyance . Promoted to the position of minutante , he prepared digests of reports that had been sent to the Secretariat from all over the world and in the same year became a papal chamberlain . In 1905 he received the title domestic prelate . From 1904 until 1916 , he assisted Cardinal Pietro Gasparri in his codification of canon law with the Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs . According to John Cornwell , " the text , together with the Anti @-@ Modernist Oath , became the means by which the Holy See was to establish and sustain the new , unequal , and unprecedented power relationship that had arisen between the papacy and the Church . " 
