A snapshot from the past, colourised exclusively for The Southern Cross
Pope Pius X is seen in an undated photo. His papacy began on August 4, 1903, and ended with his death on August 20, 1914, just three weeks after World War I broke out. When Pope Pius XII canonised him in 1954, St Pius X became the first pope to be declared a saint since St Pius V in 1712. His feast day is on September 3.
Born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto in 1835, Pius X was known for his personal piety, charity and incorruptibility — none of his family members were allowed to benefit from his papacy. Pius promoted the active participation of the faithful in the Mass and encouraged the frequent reception of Holy Communion, also lowering the age for First Communion.
But his papacy was also controversial with his single-minded crusade against a vaguely-defined modernism, of which he suspected even future popes, such as his successor, Benedict XV, and the future John XXIII.
This History in Colour was published in the August 2022 issue of The Southern Cross magazine
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