Pius X. The 253rd Roman Pontiff. His name was Giuseppe (Joseph) Sarto, and he was born June 2, 1835, at Riese, in the diocese of Treviso, his father being a minor municipal official. His relatives were shopkeepers and people of humble position. He was educated at Castelfranco and the diocesan seminary of Padua, and ordained priest September 18, 1858. He officiated nine years as curate at Tombolo, nine years as parish priest of Salzano; and was made canon and chancellor of the diocese of Treviso in 1875. In 1884, he was appointed Bishop of Mantua, and Leo XIII made him a cardinal and patriarch of Venice in 1893. His charity and tact brought him unbounded popularity, and he was more than once instrumental in settling serious strikes and labor disputes. He came into direct personal contact with the king and the queen of Italy while he was cardinal, but was credited with an inflexible resolve to maintain the rights and liberty of the church. On the death of Leo XIII, July 20, 1903, the conclave met, July 31st, and on August 4th, at the seventh scrutiny, elected Cardinal Sarto as pope; he chose to be known as Pope Pius X. As priest and bishop, his life was spent in the pastoral and Episcopal service of the church, rather than in the paths of diplomatic and official service. He always displayed deep interest in social questions and in bettering the life of the poor, to whom his charity at Venice was proverbial. He showed himself zealous in the reform of church music and in other matters of ecclesiastical discipline. Died 1914.

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