Who he was
The son of a village postman, he walked daily to school, trained at the seminary of Padua and spent his early years as a country curate and parish priest, caring for the sick through cholera. He became Bishop of Mantua, where he taught in the seminary himself, and then Cardinal Patriarch of Venice. As pope he took as his motto 'to restore all things in Christ'.
What he is remembered for
He opened Holy Communion to the faithful frequently and even daily, and to children once they reach the age of reason, restored Gregorian chant, and pressed for sound teaching of the catechism. He began the codification of canon law, reorganised the Roman Curia, founded the Biblical Institute, and condemned Modernism in Pascendi (1907). Pius XII canonised him on 29 May 1954.
He is honoured by the Church as Saint. Read his page in the dictionary of saints.
Sources
All popes · Home · All saints