 As Cardinal Secretary of State , Pacelli signed concordats with a number of countries and states . Immediately on becoming Cardinal Secretary of State , Pacelli and Ludwig Kaas took up negotiations on a Baden Concordat which continued until the spring and summer of 1932 . Papal fiat appointed a supporter of Pacelli and his concordat policy , Conrad <unk> , the new Archbishop of Freiburg , and the treaty was signed in August 1932 . Others followed : Austria ( 1933 ) , Germany ( 1933 ) , Yugoslavia ( 1935 ) and Portugal ( 1940 ) . The Lateran treaties with Italy ( 1929 ) were concluded before Pacelli became Secretary of State . Roman Catholicism had become the sole recognized religion ; the powerful democratic Catholic Popular Party , in many ways similar to the Centre Party in Germany , had been disbanded , and in place of political Catholicism the Holy See encouraged Catholic Action , ' an anaemic form of <unk> dominated religious rally @-@ rousing . ' It was permitted only so long as it developed " its activity outside every political party and in direct dependence upon the Church hierarchy for the dissemination and implementation of Catholic principles . ' Such concordats allowed the Catholic Church to organize youth groups , make ecclesiastical appointments , run schools , hospitals , and charities , or even conduct religious services . They also ensured that canon law would be recognized within some spheres ( e.g. , church decrees of nullity in the area of marriage ) . 
