PIUS X°

PIUS X° (1835–1914), pope from 1903. Friendly to individual Jews and ready to acknowledge their philanthropic activities, he was, however, disdainful of Judaism and the Jewish people. On one occasion, while serving as bishop of Mantua, he prohibited the celebration of a solemn mass in honor of the king's birthday because the mayor had attended a prayer service in the synagogue on that day. The pope reacted bitterly to a festive address by ernesto nathan , mayor of Rome, on Sept. 20, 1910, delivered on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the occupation of Rome by Italian troops, and asked Catholics to pray for the Church "which was being attacked with impunity by its enemies." On Jan. 25, 1904, he received theodor herzl in private audience, only to inform him that he could not support the aspirations of Zionism despite Herzl's expressed statement that Jerusalem, because of its holy places, would be extraterritorial. The pope declared: "The Jews have not recognized our Lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jewish people," and settlement of Ereẓ Israel by the Jews, he felt, would only make it incumbent upon him to intensify missionary activities among them: "If you come to Palestine and settle your people there, we shall have churches and priests ready to baptize all of you." -BIBLIOGRAPHY: K. Burton, The Great Mantle. The Life of Giuseppe Melchiore Sarto, Pope Pius X (1950); T. Herzl, Complete Diaries, ed. by R. Patai, 5 (1960), index. (Willehad Paul Eckert)