Pius X

Roman Catholic pope (1903-1914)

• Born: June 2, 1835
• Birthplace: Riese, Venetia, Austrian Empire (now in Italy)
• Died: August 20, 1914
• Place of death: Rome, Italy

Pius X eliminated the interference of secular governments in the election of the Roman Catholic pope, emphasized the importance of orthodoxy, and simplified Holy Communion. He was a staunch opponent of Catholic modernism, which sought to adapt Catholicism to the intellectual, social, and moral spirit of the twentieth century.

Early Life

Pope Pius X was born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto to humble working-class parents. His father, Giovanni Sarto, was a cobbler by trade and a postmaster. Margherita Sanson, his mother, was a seamstress. With the aid of his parish priest, he entered the seminary in Padua in 1850 and was ordained in 1858. He served as a curate at Tombolo for eight years, organizing a night school for adults, and was a pastor at Salzano for nine years. Working with the poor he earned a reputation as a simple, pious priest who, much to the consternation of his sister who was his housekeeper often gave away much of his food and clothing to those in need. He also believed that many lacked not only physical necessities but also spiritual necessities, so he established instruction in the fundamentals of Christian doctrine for both young and old and opened clubs and Catholic societies. Father Sarto also encouraged the members of these organizations to vote in opposition to anticlerical politicians.

In 1875, at the request of his bishop, Sarto returned to the seminary to serve as spiritual director and to act as chancellor of the diocese. Pope Leo XIII appointed him bishop of Mantua in 1884, and nine years later made him cardinal and patriarch of Venice. During the conclave to elect Leo XIII’s successor (Leo died in 1903), the candidacy of the favorite, Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro, was vetoed by Cardinal Jan Puzyna de Kozielsko, archbishop of Kraków, on behalf of his apostolic majesty, Emperor Francis Joseph I of Austria. The veto came because of Rampolla’s opposition to the Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy, and the Habsburg monarchy. Rampolla wanted the alliance to be counterbalanced by the rapprochement between France and Russia.

Consequently, Cardinal Sarto, who was known for his piety and pastoral experience, was elected pope in 1903, chose the name Pius X, and adopted the motto “To restore all things in Christ.” He selected as secretary of state the conservative Spanish cardinal Merry del Val and replaced career diplomats in the Vatican service with pastoral bishops and men who had served as heads of religious orders.

As pope, Pius decreed that all vetoes of papal candidates by Catholic powers were henceforth prohibited. Although he intended to be a pastoral rather than a political leader, his decisions had important political repercussions. His most serious diplomatic concern was with France. Since the time of the French Revolution there had been hostility between the Church and the government of France. In 1905 the French government passed the Loi de Séparation des Eglises et de l’Etat (Law of Separation of the Churches and the State), authorizing, among other things, the confiscation of Church property, including the possessions of clergy, which could then be used as the government saw fit. Bishops, priests, nuns, and seminarians were also expelled from their institutions. The pope considered the passage of this law an attempt to separate the Church in France from the authority of Rome, as had occurred in England. The French government attempted to assign bishops, but Pius refused to accept this. On August 10, 1906, he issued the encyclical Gravissimo officii munere , which expressed his dissent. The Church made a diplomatic break with France. At the time, Pius was criticized by some for not trying to reach a compromise with the French government, but others thought the decision was in the best interest of the Church. He also brought the displeasure of some Americans when he refused to receive former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt, who was visiting Italy to speak at a Methodist church in Rome.

Life’s Work

The pontificate of Pius X was very controversial, and it is generally believed that some of the negative consequences of his actions to protect against heresy lasted until the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). He was obsessed with Catholic modernism, which he believed was heretical, and with keeping the Church free from that heresy. Writers believed to be guilty of heresy were excommunicated and their works were placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum , or Index of forbidden books. On July 3, 1907, the decree Lamentabili sane exitu was issued by the Holy Office (formerly the Inquisition and now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) condemning in sixty-five propositions the major, and erroneous, tenets of modernism, such as those concerning the nature of the Church, revelation, biblical exegesis, the sacraments, and the divinity of Christ.

On September 8, 1907, Pius issued the encyclical Pascendi Dominici gregis (feeding the Lord’s flock), which characterized modernism as the synthesis of all heresies. That same year Pius issued a letter stating that Catholics must accept all decisions, past and future, of the Biblical Commission, which Pius believed also shared papal infallibility. However, the commission concluded that all Catholic scholars believe that Moses had written the first five books of the Old Testament and that the Gospel of St. Matthew was the first of the four gospels to be written (now generally acknowledged as incorrect).

Three years later, all clerics were required to take an oath denouncing modernism. The oath required assent to traditional beliefs regarding knowledge of God, acceptance of miracles and prophecies, the establishment of the institutional Church by Jesus, and the immutability of sacred dogma. However, at the request of German bishops, professors of theology in that country were not required to take the oath. In a further attempt to protect the Church, seminary students were forbidden to read secular magazines or newspapers to ensure that they would not be unduly influenced by modernism. Candidates for the priesthood had to take an antimodernist oath and repeat it each time they received a higher position in the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Bishops were required to submit a report every three years indicating their progress in combating the influences of modernism. The oath was finally rescinded by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1967 during the pontificate of Paul VI.

Monsignor Umberto Benigni, an ecclesiastical historian and journalist, founded in 1909 a secret organization called Sodalitium Pianum, or Sodality of St. Pius V (frequently referred to as La Sapinière), whose function was to eliminate heretical or modernist thought from the Church. Although the organization never was officially approved by Pius, its general aim was endorsed on several occasions. Names of those “accused” of having modernist ideas were published in “Correspondance de Rome.” La Sapinière was disbanded for a year after the death of Pius, then revived until it was finally terminated in 1921 by Pope Benedict XV.

Pius left instructions that upon his death he not be embalmed. This set a precedent that has continued to the present. Pius’s body lies beneath the altar of the Chapel of the Presentation in St. Peter’s Basilica. The inscription on his tomb reads “Born poor and humble of heart, Undaunted champion of the Catholic faith, Zealous to restore all things in Christ, Crowned a holy life with a holy death.”

Significance

Despite the negative effects of his obsession with modernism on Catholic theologians, biblical scholars, religious educators, and other Catholics, Pius X also made advances in the Church. He reorganized the Roman Curia, reformed the Code of Canon Law, improved catechetical education, established the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and encouraged Gregorian chant. He is perhaps best known, however, as the “pope of frequent Communion.” He not only encouraged more frequent reception of Holy Communion, but lowered the age for First Communion to the age of discretion, or approximately seven. In recognition of his personal piety, he was canonized in 1954, becoming the first pope to receive that honor since Pius V, nearly 250 years earlier.

Bibliography

Browne-Olf, Lillian. Their Name Is Pius. Reprint. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1970. A good, comprehensive, and somewhat detailed account of the life and pontificate of Pius X, covering the important stages from birth to death. Includes a black-and-white photograph of Pius.

McBrien, Richard. Lives of the Popes. San Francisco, Calif.: HarperCollins, 1997. Presents brief but informative biographies of every pope from Peter to John Paul II and including Pius X. Also included is an extensive glossary of related terminology.

Vann, Joseph, ed. Lives of Saints. New York: John J. Crawley, 1954. Somewhat detailed account of the positive aspects of the life and pontificate of Pius X. Lacks a discussion of the controversial issues for which he is often criticized. Contains excerpts from his 1905 encyclical Il fermo proposito (on Catholic action) and the 1905 encyclical letter Acerbo nimis (on the teaching of Christian doctrine).

Walsh, Michael. Lives of the Popes, Gordon, S. Aust.: Universal International, 1998. Much briefer biography of popes from Peter to John Paul II. Contains many illustrations as well as photographs of places, works of art, famous people, and popes.