PIUS
137
PIUS
was the longest pontificate in the history of the papacy.
In 1871 he celebrated his twenty-fifth, in 1876 his thir-
tieth, anniversary as pope, and in 1877 his golden
episcopal jubilee. His tomb is in the church of San
Lorenzo fuori le mura. The so-called diocesan pro-
cess of his beatification was begun on 11 February,
1907.
Acta Pii IX (Rome, 1854-78); Ada Sanda: Sedis (Rome, 1865 sq )■ Rl\NCET, Recueil des allocutions consisCorialcs (Paris, 1853 sq ) ■ Discorsi del Sommo Pont. Pio IX (Rome, 1872-8) ; Magiiibe, Piu-i IX and his Times (Dublin, 1885) ; Tbollope, Life of Pius IX (London, 1877) ; Shea, Life and Pontificate of Pius IX (New York, 1877); Brenn-.\n, .-1 Popular Life of Our Holy Father Pope Pius IX (New York, 1877); O'Reilly, Life of Pius IX (New Y'ork, 187S); McCaffrey, Hist, of the Cath. Church in the Nine- teenth Century. I (Dublin, 1909) ; Lyons. Dispatches resp. the con- dition of the Papal States (London. 1860) ; B.4LLerini, Le$ pre- miires pages du pontificat de Pie IX (Rome, 1909) ; Pougeois, Hisloire de Pie IX. son pontificat et son siecle (Paris, 1877-86) ; Vil- LEFRANCHE, Pie IX, sa tie, son histoire, son siecle (Paris, 1878) ; Saq^s. SS. Pie IX, sa trie, ses icrits, so dodrine (Paris. 1896): RocFER. Souvenirs d'un prelat romain sur Rome et la cour pontifi- cale au temps de Pie IX (Paris, 1896); Van Duerm, Rome et la Franc- Mafonnerie (Brussels, 1896); CJillet, Pie IX, sa vie, et les ades de son pontificat (Paris, 1877); Rutjes. Leben, wirken und leiden Sr. Heiligkeit Pius IX (Oberhausen, 1870); Hulskamp, Papst Pius IX in seinem Leben und Wirken (Munster, 1875); Steppischxegg, Papst Pius IX und seine Zeit (Vienna, 1879); Wappmanssperqeb, Leben und Wirken des Papst Pius IX (Ratis- bon, 1879); Nurnberger, Papsttum und Kirchenstaat, II, III (Mainz, 1898-1900) ; Marocco. Pio IX (Turin. 1861-1) ; Mo- Bosi, Vita di SS. Pio papa IX (Florence. 1885-6) ; Bonetti. Pio IX ad Imola e Roma — Memorie inedite di un suo famigliare segreto (Rome. 1892) ; Cesare. Roma e lo stato del Papa dal ritorno di Pio IX al iO Sdtembre (Rome. 1906).
Michael Ott.
Pius X, Pope (Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto), b. 2 June, 1835, at Riese, Province of Trevaso, in Venice. His parents were Giovanni Battista Sarto and Margarita {nee Sanson); the former, a postman, died in 1S.52, but Margarita lived to see her son a cardinal. After finishing his elements, Giuseppe at first received private lessons in Latin from the arch- priest of his town, Don Tito Fusaroni, after which he studied for four years at the gj'mnasium of Castel- franco Veneto, walking to and fro everj' day. In 1850 he received the tonsure from the Bishop of Tre- viso, and was given a scholarship of the Diocese of Treviso in the seminary of Padua, where he finished his classical, philosopliical, and theological studies with distinction. He was ordained in 1858, and for nine years was chaplain at Tombolo, ha\'ing to assume most of the functions of parish priest, as the pastor was old and an invalid. He sought to perfect his knowledge of theology by assiduously studjdng Saint Thomas and canon law; at the same time he estab- lished a night school for adult students, and devoted himself to the ministry of preaching in other towns to which he was called. In 1867 he was named arch- priest of Salzano, a large borough of the Diocese of Treviso, where he restored the church, and provided for the enlargement and maintenance of the hospital by his own means, consistently with his habitual generosity to the poor; he especially thstinguished himself by his abnegation during the cholera. He showed great .solicitude for the religious instruction of adults. In 1875 he was made a canon of the cathe- dral of Treviso, and filled several offices, among them those of spiritual director and rector of the seminary, examiner of the clergj', and \'icar-general; moreover, he made it possible for the students of the public schools to receive religious instruction. In 1878, on the death of Bishop Zanelli, he was elected \-icar- capitular. On 10 November, 1884, he was named Bishop of Mantua, then a very troublesome see, and consecrated on 20 November. His chief care in his new position was for the formation of the clergj' at the seminary, where, for several years, he himself taught dogmatic theologj', and for another year moral theology. He wished the doctrine and method of St. Thomas to be followed, and to many of the poorer students he gave copies of the "Summa theo- logica" ; at the same time he cultivated the Gregorian
Chant in company with the seminarians. The tem-
poral administration of his see imposed great sacri-
fices upon him. In 1887 he held a diocesan synod.
By his attendance at the confessional, he gave the
example of pastoral zeal. The Catholic organization
of Italy, then known as the "Opera dei Congressi",
found in him a zealous propagandist from the time
of his ministry at Salzano.
At the secret consistory of June, 1893, Leo XIII created him a cardinal under the title of San Bernardo alle Terme; and in the public consistorj-, three days later, he was preconized Patriarch of Venice, retain- ing meanwhile the title of Apostolic Administrator of Mantua. Cardinal Sarto was obliged to wait eighteen months before he was able to take possession of his new diocese, because the Italian government re- fused its exequatur, claiming the right of nomination as it had been exercised by the Emperor of Austria. This matter was di.s- cussed with bitterness in the newspapers and in pamphlets; the Gov- ernment, by way of re- prisal, refused its ex- equatur to the other bishops who were ap- pointed in the mean- time, so that the num- ber of vacant sees grew to thirty. Finally, the minister Crispi having returned to power, and the Holy See having raised the mission of Eritrea to the rank of an Apostolic Prefecture in favour of the Ital- ian Capuchins, the Government withdrew from its position. Its opposition had not been caused by any objection to Sarto personally. At Venice the cardinal found a much better condition of things than he had found at Mantua. There, also, he paid great atten- tion to the seminar)', where he obtained the establish- ment of the faculty of canon law. In 1898 he held the diocesan sjmod. He promoted the use of the Grego- rian Chant, and was a great patron of Lorenzo Perosi; he favoured social works, especially the rural parochial banks; he discerned and energetically opposed the dangers of certain doctrines and the conduct of cer- tain Christian-Democrats. The international Eu- charistic Congress of 1897, the centenary of St. Gerard Sagredo (1900), and the blessing of the comer-stone of the new belfrj' of St. Mark's, also of the commemo- rative chapel of'Mt. Grappa (1901), were events that left a deep impression on him and his people. Mean- while, Leo XIII ha\-ing died, the cardinals entered into conclave and after several ballots Giuseppe Sarto was elected on 4 August by a vote of 55 out of a pos- sible 60 votes. His coronation took place on the fol- lowing Sunday, 9 August, 1903.
In his first Encychcal, wishing to develop his programme to some extent, he said that the motto of his pontificate would be ' ' instaurare omnia in Christo " (Ephes., i, 10). Accordingly, his greatest care always turned to the direct interests of the Church. Before all else his efforts were directed to the promotion of piety among the faithful, and he advised all (Deer. S. Congr. Concil., 20 Dec, 1905) to receive Holy Commun- ion frequently and, if possible, daily, dispensing the sick from the obligation of fasting to the extent of enabUng them to receive Holy Communion twice each month, and even oftener (Deer. S. Congr. Kit., 7 Dec, 1906). Finally, by the Decree "Quam Singulari" (15 Aug., 1910), he recommended that the first Communion of children should not be deferred too long after they had reached the age of discretion. It was by his desire
