Saint of the Day
Saint Pope Pius X
St Pius X was born into a large poor family in Italy in 1835. Becoming a priest in a small mountain town he would go on to be Bishop of Mantua and then a Cardinal, becoming Pope in 1903.
As pope he ended the right of the Italian government to use a veto in Papal elections. He also rejected Frances attempt to gain control over the church’s property in France. He changed the age of Holy Communion to 7 years old. St Puis X encouraged children to learn the meaning of the holy sacrament.
St Pius X famously defended the church against the growing heresy of Modernism. Enacting the Oath Against Modernism which all clergy were required to take. Along with this he released the encyclicals Pascendi Dominici Gregis and Lamentabili Sane Exitu which defined modernism.
He died in 1914 and was canonised in 1954.
RC