Kammala wannan jumla: An haifi Luigi Centoz a ranar 2 ga Afrilu 1883 a Saint-Pierre, kwarin Aosta, Italiya. An naɗa shi firist a ranar 9 ga Yuni, 1906. A shekara ta 1909 ya shiga ma'aikatan Sakatariyar Gwamnatin Vatican, inda ya yi aiki kai tsaye ga Sakataren Gwamnatin Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val. A ranar 6 ga Janairu, 1921, an sanya shi zuwa nunciatures zuwa Jamus da Bavaria (kuma daga 1925 zuwa Prussia), yana aiki ga Nuncio Eugenio Pacelli, daga baya Paparoma Pius XII. Ya shiga cikin
conclave na Fabrairu 1922, a matsayin mataimaki ga Cardinal Merry del Val.