Sunday Meditation: Pope St. Pius X, a Man for Today

In the traditional calendar, yesterday was the feast of Pope St. Pius X, a man for our age. 

The situation at the beginning of the 20th century was much the same as it was for us at the beginning of the 21st. Dissent was rampant. Catholics in the pew were being formed and misled by theologians and catechists espousing a novel religion at odds with the faith, the very essence of modernism which the pope called the "synthesis of all heresies."

Modernism both without and within the Church led Pius X to publish Pascendi, the encyclical against modernism, as relevant today as when it was published September 8, 1907. Pius lamented that the modernists preached that "Dogma is not only able, but ought to evolve and to be changed." That for the faith to be "living" it had to adapt to the spirit of the time. Like today's modernists, those of the early 20th century maintained that "all religions are true" and that doctrine "evolves." Nothing is fixed; the rock is smashed to sand. Although the Assisi meetings were decades away, the spirit of false ecumenism was already polluting the faith with syncretism.

Pope Pius described the modernist Judases who speak with a forked tongue. His words describe the teachings of many of our own bishops and, even, the pope. In outlining the methods of the modernists, Pius writes:

In their books you find some things which might well be expressed by a Catholic, but in the next page you find other things which might have been dictated by a rationalist. When they write history they make no mention of the divinity of Christ, but when they are in the pulpit they profess it clearly; again, when they write history they pay no heed to the Fathers and the Councils, but when they catechise the people, they cite them respectfully....So, too, acting on the principle that science in no way depends upon faith, when they treat of philosophy, history, criticism, feeling no horror at treading in the footsteps of Luther, they are wont to display a certain contempt for Catholic doctrines, or the Holy Fathers, for the Ecumenical Councils, for the ecclesiastical magisterium; and should they be rebuked for this, they complain that they are being deprived of their liberty. Lastly, guided by the theory that faith must be subject to science, they continuously and openly criticise the Church because of her sheer obstinacy in refusing to submit and accommodate her dogmas to the opinions of philosophy; while they, on their side, after having blotted out the old theology, endeavour to introduce a new theology which shall follow the vagaries of their philosophers.

Isn't this exactly what we are seeing today, a cognitive dissonance? Many Catholics try to rationalize and make the disparate proclamations of Francis unite. It's impossible! 

Pope Francis continuously says orthodox things and then turns around and undermines them with other contradictory words and by his actions. He has mouthed some pretty defenses of the unborn and the weak and vulnerable and then fills the Pontifical Academy of Life with the death peddlers and invites to the Vatican political ideologues advancing gross evils in society like Jeffrey Sachs. Francis treats questionable science as if it were dogma. With no expertise at all, he baptizes questionable and controversial issues like climate change and the COVID gene-therapy jab. He maligns those who prudently disagree. He makes dogma out of prudential matters and treats the unchanging dogma of the Church like putty. 

The fact is, that the greatest modernist in history, a man whose actions and statements would have been heartily condemned by Pope Pius X, sits in Peter's chair. If you read Pascendi, you will see Pope Francis and his cohort of modernists on every page.

Pope Pius X's motto was "To Renew All Things in Christ." He met the modernist insurrection boldly and fearlessly. We need a man like him today. Unfortunately, since most of the cardinal electors have been appointed by Francis we are unlikely to see a good pope elected by the next conclave. But God never abandons His people. Despair and hand-wringing are not an option. 

There's a simple answer. KNOW THE FAITH AND KEEP THE FAITH. 

There was a time in history when the faithful woke up and the world was Arian including those leading the Church. Today, the faithful woke up and the world was modernist including the very top echelon at the Vatican. It is nothing new. Take the time to listen to John Vennari share the world of Pope Pius X because we are in that world again today! Pope Pius saw his duty as to, "Restore the integrity of doctrine and discipline." What a novel idea, eh? Pray for the hierarchy to embrace the integrity of doctrine and discipline.