Pope St Pius X and Modernists

St Pius X apparently once said of Modernists, "Kindness is for fools! They want them to be treated with oil, soap, and caresses but they ought to be beaten with fists! In a duel you don't count or measure the blows, you strike as you can! War is not made with charity, it is a struggle, a duel."

As my fellow trads have been getting quite a kick out of that quote since it came to light, let's take a look at the saint's treatment of Modernists, as reported in St Pius X: Restorer of the Church by Yves Chiron, so we can get a clear idea of what "beating with fists" entails:

From his very first encyclical, Pius X urged charity even towards "those who oppose us and persecute us, and perhaps seem worse than they really are." This charity was not a sign of weakness, but was grounded in hope: "the hope," wrote the Pope, "that the flame of Christian charity, patient and kind, will dissipate the darkness of their souls and bring God's light and peace."

Pius X also had this hope - of seeing the Church's adversaries mending their ways and renouncing their errors - as regards the Modernists. The testimonies we shall quote will prove this beyond dispute. But Pius X did more: he directly gave financial assistance to some of them or found them other posts; in other cases, he showed himself prudent before condemning them....

We now turn to this question of Pius X's personal attitude towards the Modernists, and will cite a number of cases.... Modernism's historians do not mention Pius X's gestures of charity or justice, or only in passing. The number and consistency of these deeds show, however, that they were not the result of exceptional decisions on his part, but manifested a state of mind and a spiritual attitude. In the struggle against the phenomenon of Modernism, all methods were used, and without pity, because Pius X considered that the faith of believers was in danger, and that what was at stake was the Church's future; on the other hand, where the fate of Modernists was concerned, Pius X, when he knew of it, was at pains to be just, prudent and charitable as possible.

An examination of Pius X's relations with Loisy, the most famous of the Modernists, gives us a good idea of his profound feelings. As we have already seen, when Loisy manifested willingness to submit, Pius X was demanding, insisting that the French exegete should make a complete and sincere submission "with his heart." Loisy, who persisted in his errors after Pascendi, was finally excommunicated. He lived in retirement at Ceffonda in the Haute-Marne, and would soon be elected to the College de France. However, Pius did not regard him as a son lost to the Church. In 1908, receiving the new Bishop of Chalons, Msgr Sevin, Pius X commended Loisy (whom he had excommunicated some time previously) to him. The Pope's words were reported by Loisy himself: "You are going to be Fr Loisy's bishop. If you have the opportunity, treat him kindly; and if he makes one step towards you, make two towards him."

Another case the book mentions is that of Fr Murri, who, having been excommunicated, suffered financial difficulties, whereupon Pius X arranged for him to receive a monthly subsidy!

Yves Chiron concludes the section of his book regarding Pius X's treatment of Modernists thus: 

Pius X felt it his duty, as the guardian of the faith, to combat Modernism, and to do so using the most varied methods and without weakness, because, as he saw it, the very existence of the Church was threatened. At the same time, without making any concession to error, he was at pains to help people who were incriminated or under suspicion, and he took care to limit the excesses of the anti-Modernists. One of his favourite maxims was, "we must combat error without injuring the persons concerned."

Not as exciting as beating with fists!

(These, and more examples, can be found on pages 236-242 of Yves Chiron's St Pius X: Restorer of the Church.)