From the bulletin of February 21
Returning to our journey through major documents of recent popes, it is time to move on to Pope St. Pius X. Born with the name Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, he lived from 1835 to 1914. He lived in Riese, which was in the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, though it is now Italy. He became a priest in 1858. He served in a few placed, including as spiritual director and rector (president) of the seminary. By 1880, he was a teacher at the seminary until he was named the Bishop of Treviso in 1884 by Pope Leo XIII. Typically, bishops at this time were expected to have a doctorate, so Pope Leo actually gave him special permission to become bishop without one.
In 1893, Bishop Sarto was named a Cardinal. In 1903, he was elected Pope and took the name Pius X. This made him the last pope to get elected without having a doctorate degree until Pope Francis. As a man with a simple upbringing, Pope Pius X brought a lot of simplicity to the papacy. He wore a simpler cross, cut down on ceremonies, and often invited friends to join him for meals. He was known to be friendly with children, often carrying candy in his pockets to offer to children on the street, usually taking the chance to teach them about the faith too. His passion for education was also shown in his requirement that every parish have a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, also known as CCD.
As we’ve seen before, the practice of receiving communion was not very frequent in the Church. Like Popes before him Pius X encouraged people to receive communion more frequently, even daily. He also lowered the age of First Communion from 12 to 7. He strove to foster devotion to the Eucharist and published a few reforms of the liturgy, particularly regarding liturgical music and Gregorian Chant.
At this time in the Church, there was a growing concern with the heresy called Modernism. Basically, Modernism was a combination of different heresies that denied the inspiration of scripture, miracles, the power of God in our daily lives, and a variety of other, long-established Catholic doctrines. Pope Pius X took a vigorous stand against modernism, even requiring every priest to take an oath against it as part of their ordination.
Pope Pius X also began the process of reforming Canon Law (the laws of the Church) which would not be complete until 1918. These reforms greatly helped to clarify and organize the inner workings of the Church and were basis of the later reform by Pope John Paul II in 1983, which is the form we use in the Church today. His relationships with governments outside the Church were often strained as he challenged growing secularization and continued the Church’s opposition to socialism and communism. Until this point in history, the United States was seen as missionary territory, but it was under Pope Pius X in 1908 that we were recognized as a mature branch of the Church. He was pretty popular with American Catholics because of his simple upbringing.
There are a few miracles known to have occurred during his lifetime, including the cure of a paralyzed child that he was holding during a a papal audience. He had a heart attack in 1913 and fell in in 1914, leading to his death. A cause for his canonization began almost immediately and he was canonized in 1954. As we’ll see over the next few weeks, he wrote a few important documents and had a lasting impact on the Church. Devotion to him remains strong and we will do well to learn from both his example and his teaching.
In Christ,
-Fr. Albert