Pius X, the pope not the society, is an interesting feature of study. I’m currently writing an essay for History of Modern France on Catholics in the Third Republic. More specifically, this essay is on the changes between 1900 and 1940.
Everyone knows that Pius X was a saint – a holy man with a spiritual outlook. However, historians, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, are scathing of the Holy Father’s actions (or inaction). Many blame him and his Secretary of State Merry del Val for the harsh treatment of the Church during his papacy and one or two blame him for the Separation of Church and State (I don’t agree with them, however).
Does anyone else have a view on this? The papacy of St. Pius X was obviously a stark contrast to Leo XIII and his Ralliement, but was he really to blame for the failings of the French Church and the Masonic and secular policies of the Republic?
1 comment:
It's a bt of a long story about diplomatic affairs between Paris and Rome at the time and immediately after the Laws of Separation of Church and state in France. Pius X took a hard line of no compromise which a number of histrians believe didn't help the Church in France at all.
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