Lenten campaign 2026
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Just 10 days before his death, Pope Francis surprised the world by making a short visit to St. Peter's Basilica, but not dressed in his papal clothing. Pushed in a wheelchair by his personal nurse, the Holy Father was covered in a blanket, under which you could see black trousers and a white shirt. He also didn't have on the white skullcap.
The Holy Father spent some time watching restoration work in the basilica, and also in prayer, specifically at the tomb of his predecessor, Pope St. Pius X.
Francis had a particular devotion to Pius.
Pope Francis referred to the 257th pope on a number of occasions.
He began the papacy on April 9, 1903, and served through the difficult period of the lead-up to World War I, dying August 20, 1914, just a month after the Great War had officially started.
"I love Pius X very much and have always loved him," Pope Francis wrote in the preface to a book dedicated to this pope. "Pius X was a pope who wept in the face of [the First] World War, of which he was considered the first victim, imploring the powerful to lay down their arms."
He also paid tribute to St. Pius X's support for the creation of the Pontifical Biblical Institute. Francis expressed his gratitude, "as a Jesuit,” for the "theological and spiritual benefits" offered by this institution.
The Church marks his feast day each August 21.
Pius X is especially known for expanding the frequency of the reception of Holy Communion, and lowering the age of First Communion.
Pope Francis said in 2024:
Today, memorial of Saint Pius X, the day of the catechist is celebrated in many parts of the world. Let us think of our catechists who do so much work and, in some parts of the world, are the first to bring the faith forward. Let us pray today for catechists, that the Lord may make them courageous and that they may continue.
A saint of the people
Beatified in 1951 and canonized in 1954, Pius X was greatly venerated "by simple people, the faithful, priests, parishes, students of Catholic schools scattered around the world with many religious devoted to them, but also by intellectuals and statesmen,” Francis underlined in the aforementioned preface.
The preface was for “Omaggio a Pio X. Ritratti coevi” (“Tribute to Pius X. Contemporary Portraits”), written by an official of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, Father Lucio Bonora, and released in Italian by the publisher Kappadue.
"Pius X is not confined to past eras of history or monopolized by particular groups, but belongs to the Church today, to the people of the Church, that is, to the people, the baptized of all ages," Francis also reflected.
On August 21, 2015, Francis attended a Mass celebrated by Father Bonora, the priest-author of the book, in the chapel housing the tomb of Pius X, in St. Peter's Basilica. To everyone's surprise, the Argentine Pontiff slipped in among the ordinary faithful, sat in the 6th row, and stood in in line to receive Communion without any of the usual protocol.
“Viva St. Pius X and may he live deeply in the heart of the Church today!” the Pope concluded the preface.
