Giuseppe Sarto was born in 1835 in Riese, Italy, the second of ten children in a farming family. He served as Patriarch of Venice and was elected Pope in 1903. He governed with a firm hand during an era that had to confront virulent secularism and numerous theological and biblical errors—particularly those of Modernism. He elevated the liturgy and facilitated active participation in it. He encouraged the practice of frequent Communion and promoted the study of the catechism. Today, many bishops and priests disregard the teachings of this saintly Pope because, in his own time, he challenged the very things that are now present in the Church in their nascent form.
