Shortly before his death wise old Pope Leo XIII told Cardinal Giuseppe Sarto that he would
be the next pope and would do much for the Church. Leo was right on both counts. In the
conclave of 1903. "Beppi" unwillingly accepted his election as The Vicar of
Christ and took the name Pius X.
Pope Pius XII said of Pope Puis X, "Pius X from the first day of his priestly career
lived a life of perfect self-sacrifice according to the example of Jesus Christ. This holy
pope was firmly convinced that modern man, Living in the age of machines, technology and
organization, can find the solution of all his difficulties in the personal and social
field only by a life based on the Christian principles. For that reason Pius' goal was 'To
renew all things in Christ'.
Pius made every effort to live up to this. He reformed Church music He reorganized the
papa! court and Italian seminaries He reformed the breviary. He started the tremendous
work of codifying canon law. Pius taught the laity to apply Christian principles to social
problems and made the Catholics of several countries aware of their political rights. He
summoned all the faithful to an active participation in the liturgical ceremonies,
reinstated the old and beautiful Gregorian Chant But above all Pius will be remember
as the Eucharistic Pope. He wished children to receive Holy Communion when they reached
the age of reason, and in a return to the early Christian practice he begged Catholics to
receive the Holy Eucharist frequently.
Pope Pius stood up with apostolic zeal for the liberty of the Church in Italy, France,
Portugal, Germany or wherever the rights of the Church were jeopardized. He condemned one
of the most dangerous heresies in the history of the Church, modernism, and unmasked it's
tenets as incompatible with the Catholic Faith.
The changes and reforms which Pius X initiated in the Catholic Church were perpetuated by
his successors, particularly Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI who by means of the current
Ecumenical Council have endeavored to strengthen Catholic life and adapt it to modern
conditions and Thus 'renew all things in Christ'.
