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Saint Pius V, Pope

Saint Pius V, Pope

Feast date: Apr 30

St. Pius V was born Michele Ghislieri in 1504 to poor parents of noble lineage at Bosco, near Alexandria, Lombardy on January 17, 1504. He worked as a shepherd until the age of 14 when he encountered two Dominicans who recognized his intelligence and virtue. He joined the Dominicans and was ordained a priest at 24. He taught philosophy and theology for 16 years during which he was elected prior of many houses. He was known for his austere penances, his long hours of prayer and fasting, and the holiness of his speech.

He was elected Bishop of Sutri in 1556, and served as an inquisitor in Milan and Lombardi, and then as inquisitor general of the Church and a cardinal in 1557. He was known in this capacity as an able, yet unflinching man who rigorously fought heresy and corruption wherever he encountered it.

He was elected Pope on January 7, 1566, with the influential backing of his friend St. Charles Borromeo, and took the name Pius V.  He immediately put into action his vast program of reform by getting rid of many of the extravagant luxuries then prevalent in his court. He gave the money usually invested in these luxuries to the poor whom he personally cared for, washing their feet, consoling those near death, and tending to lepers and the very sick. He spent long hours before the Blessed Sacrament despite his heavy workload.

His pontificate was dedicated to applying the reforms of the Council of Trent, raising the standard of morality and reforming the clergy, and strongly supporting foreign missions. The Catechism of the Council of Trent was completed during his reign, and he revised the Roman Breviary and Missal, which remained in use until the reforms of Vatican II.

His six year pontificate saw him constantly at war with two massive enemy forces; the Protestant heretics and the spread of their doctrines in the West, and the Turkish armies who were advancing from the East. He encouraged efforts to battle Protestantism by education and preaching, and giving strong support to the newly formed Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola. He excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I, and supported Catholics who were oppressed and intimidated by Protestant princes, especially in Germany.

He worked hard to unite the Christian armies against the Turks, and perhaps the most famous success of his papacy was the miraculous victory of the Christian fleet in the battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. The island of Malta was attacked by the Turkish fleet, and nearly every man defending the fortress was killed in battle. The Pope sent out a fleet to meet the enemy, requesting that each man on board pray the Rosary and receive communion. Meanwhile, he called on all of Europe to recite the Rosary and ordered a 40 hour devotion in Rome during which time the battle took place. The Christian fleet, vastly outnumbered by the Turks, inflicted an impossible defeat on the Turkish navy, demolishing the entire fleet.

In memory of the triumph, he declared the day the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary because of her intercession in answering the mass recitation of the Rosary and obtaining the victory. He has also been called ‘the Pope of the Rosary’ for this reason.

Pope Pius V died seven months later on May 1, 1572, of a painful disease, uttering "O Lord, increase my sufferings and my patience!" He is enshrined at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, and was beatified by Clement X in 1672. He was canonized by Clement XI in 1712.

Reject the 'immoral possession of nuclear weapons,' Vatican diplomat urges (Holy See Mission)

In a statement for a UN committee meeting on nuclear non-proliferation, a leading Vatican diplomat said that “my Delegation notes with deep concern that many States have turned to extensive rearmament,” including “the expansion and modernization of nuclear arsenals.”

“This troubling development, together with the increasingly strident rhetoric associated with it, are regrettably contributing to a deteriorating climate of mistrust and threat, and dangerously jeopardizing international peace and security,” said Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations.

“There is a clear need to go beyond nuclear deterrence, to move past this illusory logic and to embrace the path of comprehensive disarmament, while definitively rejecting not only the use, but also the immoral possession of nuclear weapons,” he added in his statement, delivered on April 29.

Vatican publishes list of heads of state, other members of delegation at papal funeral (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))

Over 160 nations and international organizations sent delegations to Pope Francis’s funeral. The Vatican newspaper published a list of the members of the delegations in its April 29 edition.

The list includes heads of state, reigning sovereigns, heads of government, ambassadors, and other officials.

'Believe you can face the adventure of a lifelong love,' Pope Francis wrote in youth catechism preface (Vatican News (Italian))

In a previously unpublished preface to the youth catechism YOUCAT: Love forever, Pope Francis compared love to a tango and encouraged youth to “believe that you can face the adventure of a lifelong love.”

The Pope asked rhetorically, “How many marriages today fail after three, five, seven years? Wouldn’t it be better, then, to avoid pain, to only touch each other as in a passing dance, to enjoy each other, to play together, and then leave each other?”

He responded, “Don’t believe it! Believe in love, believe in God, and believe that you can face the adventure of a lifelong love.”

USCCB publishes novena in memory of Pope Francis (USCCB)

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has published, in English and in Spanish, a novena in memory of Pope Francis.

The novena “has been prepared to help pray for the Pope during the time of mourning,” the introduction notes.

Late Pope 'respectfully approached the conscience of all,' papal preacher writes (Avvenire (Italian))

Father Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap—appointed preacher to the papal household last year—reflected on the legacy of Pope Francis in an article for the Italian bishops’ newspaper.

Pope Francis “placed the Gospel at the center of all his reflections and placed the face—and the mystery—of each person before any other theological or moral evaluation,” Father Pasolini wrote. “By respectfully approaching the conscience of all, Pope Francis has not tried to impose new certainties. He contented himself with reopening the fundamental question: if God were truly the Father of all, what would be left for us to do?”

Focus on Christ and be open to the Holy Spirit, abbot tells cardinals (CWN)

Abbot Donato Ogliari, OSB—one of two prelates selected to preach meditations to the College of Cardinals before the election of the new Pope—preached his meditation during the cardinals’ sixth general congregation on April 29.

Vatican holds Jubilee event for persons with disabilities (Our Sunday Visitor)

The two-day Jubilee of People with Disabilities began on April 28 as part of the 2025 jubilee year.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, who served as one of the two pro-prefects of the Dicastery for Evangelization until the Pontiff’s death, celebrated Mass for participants in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls.

“I think it was a gift to be at this Mass,” said a father of children with Down syndrome. “People with disabilities don’t always experience that. Sometimes they experience the Church as their home. But as often as not, they experience marginalization in the Church or isolation in the Church, not necessarily by malice, but just a failure to appreciate the kinds of accommodations that they need.”

Cardinals discuss social issues, individualism, relativism (CWN)

On April 29, members of the College of Cardinals met in their sixth general congregation since Pope Francis’s death. 183 of the 252 members of the College of Cardinals—including 124 of the cardinal electors—were in attendance, the Vatican newspaper reported.

Mexican archdiocese launches buyback program for guns, ammunition (Border Report)

The Archdiocese of Tijuana has issued an offer to buy guns and ammunition from the public, with no questions asked, in a bid to combat violence at the border.

Archbishop Francisco Moreno Barrón said that the plan was conceived in cooperation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaun, who visited Tijuana last November. Parishoners are being encouraged to surrender their firearms, with payment offered according to the market value of the weapons.