title: Italian Empire

text: The genesis of the Italian colonial empire was the purchase in 1869 of Assab Bay on the Red Sea by an Italian navigation company which intended to establish a coaling station at the time the Suez Canal was being opened to navigation. This was taken over by the Italian government in 1882, becoming modern Italy's first overseas territory.


title: Italian Empire

text: Italy's search for colonies continued until February 1886, when, by secret agreement with Britain, it annexed the port of Massawa in Eritrea on the Red Sea from the crumbling Egyptian Empire. Italian annexation of Massawa denied the Ethiopian Empire of Yohannes IV an outlet to the sea. At the same time, Italy occupied territory on the south side of the horn of Africa, forming what would become Italian Somaliland. However, Italy coveted Ethiopia itself and, in 1887, Italian Prime Minister Agostino Depretis ordered an invasion, leading to the Eritrea War. This invasion was halted after the loss of five hundred Italian troops at the Battle of Dogali. Depretis's successor, Prime Minister Francesco Crispi signed the Treaty of Wuchale in 1889 with Menelik II, the new emperor. This treaty ceded Ethiopian territory around Massawa to Italy to form the colony of Italian Eritrea, and – at least, according to the Italian version of the treaty – made Ethiopia an Italian protectorate. Relations between Italy and Menelik deteriorated over the next few years until the First Italo-Ethiopian War broke out in 1895, when Crispi ordered Italian troops into the country. Vastly outnumbered and poorly equipped, the result was a decisive defeat for Italy at the hands of Ethiopian forces at the Battle of Adwa in 1896. The Ethiopians were supported by Russian advisers and equipment, as well as by a unit of Russian volunteers. The death toll was 6,889, including 4,133 Italians. The Ethiopians counted at least 4,000 dead and 10,000 wounded. Total Italian, Eritrean, and Somali deaths, including those from disease, were estimated at 9,000.


title: Italian Empire

text: Italy also fought in the Mahdist War, and since 1890 it defeated Mahdist troops in the Battle of Serobeti and the First Battle of Agordat. In December 1893, Italian colonial troops and Mahdists fought again in the Second Battle of Agordat; Ahmed Ali campaigned against the Italian forces in eastern Sudan and led about 10–12,000 men east from Kassala, encountering 2,400 Italians and their Eritrean Ascaris commanded by Colonel Arimondi. The Italians won again, and the outcome of the battle constituted "the first decisive victory yet won by Europeans against the Sudanese revolutionaries". A year later, Italian colonial forces seized Kassala after the successful Battle of Kassala; Italy returned the city to the British at the end of the war three years later.


title: Italian Empire

text: In 1898, in the wake of the acquisition of leased territories by Germany, Russia, Britain and France in China earlier that year, the Italian government, as a matter of national prestige and to assert Italy's great power status, demanded the cession of Sanmen Bay to serve as a coaling station. Aware that Italy did not have sufficient naval power in Asian waters to back up its demand, the Chinese imperial government rejected the ultimatum and all subsequent requests, arguing that Italy had no real political or economic interests in China. This national humiliation, which for Italy's main newspaper made the country appear "like a third or fourth-rate power", provoked the fall of the Italian government. This prompted Italy to take part in the international expedition in Beijing at the outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion the following year, and resulted in the acquisition of an concession in Tianjin in 1901, its only outpost in Asia. The concession was administered by the Italian consul in Tianjin.


title: Italian Empire

text: A wave of nationalism that swept Italy at the turn of the 20th century led to the founding of the Italian Nationalist Association, which pressed for the expansion of Italy's empire. Newspapers were filled with talk of revenge for the humiliations suffered in Ethiopia at the end of the previous century, and of nostalgia for the Roman era. Libya, it was suggested, as an ex-Roman colony, should be "taken back" to provide a solution to the problems of Southern Italy's population growth. Fearful of being excluded altogether from North Africa by Britain and France, and mindful of public opinion, Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti ordered the declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire, of which Libya was part, in October 1911. As a result of the Italo-Turkish War, Italy gained Libya and the Dodecanese Islands. A distinguishing feature of this desert war in Libya in 1912 was the first use of an armoured fighting vehicle in military history. The war also featured the first significant employment of air power in warfare. Nine Italian aircraft flew both combat and support missions during the campaign. History's first war death of a pilot occurred when an aircraft crashed during a recon sortie.


title: Italian Empire

text: In 1914 Italy remained neutral and did not join its ally Germany in World War I. The Allies made promises and in 1915 Italy joined them. It was promised territorial spoils mainly from Austria and Turkey.


title: Italian Empire

text: Prior to direct intervention in World War I, Italy occupied the Albanian port of Vlorë in December 1914. In the fall of 1916, Italy started to occupy southern Albania. In 1916, Italian forces recruited Albanian irregulars to serve alongside them. Italy, with permission of the Allied command, occupied Northern Epirus on 23 August 1916, forcing the neutralist Greek Army to withdraw its occupation forces from there. In June 1917, Italy proclaimed central and southern Albania as a protectorate of Italy while Northern Albania was allocated to the states of Serbia and Montenegro. By 31 October 1918, French and Italian forces expelled the Austro-Hungarian Army from Albania. However, in 1920, an Albanian rebellion led the Italians to agree to return the occupied regions to Albania, with the exception of Sazan Island.


title: Italian Empire

text: Dalmatia was a strategic region during World War I that both Italy and Serbia intended to seize from Austria-Hungary. The Treaty of London guaranteed Italy the right to annex a large portion of Dalmatia in exchange for Italy's participation on the Allied side. From 5–6 November 1918, Italian forces were reported to have reached Lissa, Lagosta, Sebenico, and other localities on the Dalmatian coast. By the end of hostilities in November 1918, the Italian military had seized control of the entire portion of Dalmatia that had been guaranteed to Italy by the Treaty of London and by 17 November had seized Fiume as well. In 1918, Admiral Enrico Millo declared himself Italy's Governor of Dalmatia. Famous Italian nationalist Gabriele D'Annunzio supported the seizure of Dalmatia, and proceeded to Zara (today's Zadar) in an Italian warship in December 1918.


title: Italian Empire

text: At the concluding Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Italy received less in Europe than had been promised and none overseas mandate except for a promise of colonial compensations made on 7 May 1919 during the partition of Germany's colonies between France and Britain. To satisfy this promise, France and Britain directly or indirectly gave Italy, from 1919 to 1935, a number of territories to expand Libya (Cufra, Sarra, Giarabub, the Aouzou strip, other lands in the Sahara), Somalia (Jubaland), the Dodecanese (Kastellorizo), and Eritrea (Raheita, the Hanish islands). In April 1920, it was agreed between the British and Italian foreign ministers that Jubaland would be Italy's first compensation from Britain, but London held back on the deal for several years, aiming to use it as leverage to force Italy to cede the Dodecanese to Greece.


title: Italian Empire

text: In 1922, the leader of the Italian fascist movement, Benito Mussolini, became Prime Minister and dictator. Mussolini resolved the question of sovereignty over the Dodecanese at the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which formalized Italian administration of both Libya and the Dodecanese Islands, in return for a payment to Turkey, the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, though he failed in an attempt to extract a mandate of a portion of Iraq from Britain.


title: Italian Empire

text: The month following the ratification of the Lausanne treaty, Mussolini ordered the invasion of the Greek island of Corfu after the Corfu incident. The Italian press supported the move, noting that Corfu had been a Venetian possession for four hundred years. The matter was taken by Greece to the League of Nations, where Mussolini was convinced by Britain to evacuate Italian troops, in return for reparations from Greece. The confrontation led Britain and Italy to resolve the question of Jubaland in 1924, which was merged into Italian Somaliland.


title: Italian Empire

text: During the late 1920s, imperial expansion became an increasingly favoured theme in Mussolini's speeches. Amongst Mussolini's aims were that Italy had to become the dominant power in the Mediterranean that would be able to challenge France or Britain, as well as attain access to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Mussolini alleged that Italy required uncontested access to the world's oceans and shipping lanes to ensure its national sovereignty. This was elaborated on in a document he later drew up in 1939 called "The March to the Oceans", and included in the official records of a meeting of the Grand Council of Fascism. This text asserted that maritime position determined a nation's independence: countries with free access to the high seas were independent; while those who lacked this, were not. Italy, which only had access to an inland sea without French and British acquiescence, was only a "semi-independent nation", and alleged to be a "prisoner in the Mediterranean":


title: Italian Empire

text: In the Balkans, the Fascist regime claimed Dalmatia and held ambitions over Albania, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vardar Macedonia, and Greece based on the precedent of previous Roman dominance in these regions. Dalmatia and Slovenia were to be directly annexed into Italy while the remainder of the Balkans was to be transformed into Italian client states. The regime also sought to establish protective patron-client relationships with Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, and Bulgaria.


title: Italian Empire

text: In both 1932 and 1935, Italy demanded a League of Nations mandate of the former German Cameroon and a free hand in Ethiopia from France in return for Italian support against Germany (see Stresa Front). This was refused by French Prime Minister Édouard Herriot, who was not yet sufficiently worried about the prospect of a German resurgence.


title: Italian Empire

text: In its second invasion of Ethiopia in 1935–36, Italy was successful and it merged its new conquest with its older east African colonies to create Italian East Africa. In 1939, Italy invaded Albania and incorporated it into the Fascist state. During the Second World War (1939–1945), Italy occupied British Somaliland, parts of south-eastern France, western Egypt and most of Greece, but then lost those conquests and its African colonies, including Ethiopia, to the invading allied forces by 1943. It was forced in the peace treaty of 1947 to relinquish sovereignty over all its colonies. It was granted a trust to administer former Italian Somaliland under United Nations supervision in 1950. When Somalia became independent in 1960, Italy's eight-decade experiment with colonialism had ended.


title: Italian Empire

text: The Second Italo-Ethiopian War cost 4,359 killed in action—2,313 Italians, 1,086 Eritreans, 507 Somalis and Libyans, and 453 Italian laborers. Ethiopian military and civilian dead, many of them from Italian bomb and mustard gas attacks, were estimated as high as 275,000.


title: Italian Empire

text: In July 1936, Francisco Franco of the Nationalist faction in the Spanish Civil War requested Italian support against the ruling Republican faction, and guaranteed that, if Italy supported the Nationalists, "future relations would be more than friendly" and that Italian support "would have permitted the influence of Rome to prevail over that of Berlin in the future politics of Spain". Italy intervened in the civil war with the intention of occupying the Balearic Islands and creating a client state in Spain. Italy sought the control of the Balearic Islands due to its strategic position – Italy could use the islands as a base to disrupt the lines of communication between France and its North African colonies and between British Gibraltar and Malta. After the victory by Franco and the Nationalists in the war, Italy pressured Franco to permit an Italian occupation of the Balearic Islands but he did not do so.


title: Italian Empire

text: After the United Kingdom signed the Anglo-Italian Easter Accords in 1938, Mussolini and foreign minister Ciano issued demands for concessions in the Mediterranean by France, particularly regarding Djibouti, Tunisia and the French-run Suez Canal. Three weeks later, Mussolini told Ciano that he intended for Italy to demand an Italian takeover of Albania. Mussolini professed that Italy would only be able to "breathe easily" if it had acquired a contiguous colonial domain in Africa from the Atlantic to the Indian Oceans, and when ten million Italians had settled in them. In 1938, Italy demanded a sphere of influence in the Suez Canal in Egypt, specifically demanding that the French-dominated Suez Canal Company accept an Italian representative on its board of directors. Italy opposed the French monopoly over the Suez Canal because, under the French-dominated Suez Canal Company, all Italian merchant traffic to its colony of Italian East Africa was forced to pay tolls on entering the canal.


title: Italian Empire

text: In 1939, Italy invaded and captured Albania and made it a part of the Italian Empire as a protectorate and separate kingdom in personal union with the Italian crown. The region of modern-day Albania had been an early part of the Roman Empire, which had actually been held before northern parts of Italy had been taken by the Romans, but had long since been populated by Albanians, even though Italy had retained strong links with the Albanian leadership and considered it firmly within its sphere of influence. It is possible that Mussolini simply wanted a spectacular success over a smaller neighbour to match Germany's absorption of Austria and Czechoslovakia. Italian King Victor Emmanuel III took the Albanian crown, and a fascist government under Shefqet Verlaci was established to rule over Albania.


title: Italian Empire

text: Mussolini entered World War II in June 1940 on the side of Adolf Hitler with plans to enlarge Italy's territorial holdings. He had designs on an area of western Yugoslavia, southern France, Corsica, Malta, Tunisia, part of Algeria, an Atlantic port in Morocco, French Somaliland and British-controlled Egypt and Sudan.


title: Italian Empire

text: On 10 June 1940, Mussolini declared war on Britain and France; both countries had been at war with Nazi Germany since September of the previous year. In July 1940, Italian foreign minister Count Ciano presented Hitler with a list of Italy's goals that included: the annexation of Corsica, Nice, and Malta; protectorate in Tunisia and a buffer zone in Eastern Algeria; independence with Italian military presence and bases in Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Transjordan as well as expropriation of oil companies in those territories; military occupation of Aden, Perim and Sokotra; Cyprus given to Greece in exchange for Ionian islands and Ciamuria given to Italy; Italy is given British Somaliland, Djibuti, French Equatorial Africa up to Ubangi-Shari, as well as Ciano adding at the meeting that Italy wanted Kenya and Uganda as well. Hitler made no promises.


title: Italian Empire

text: In October 1940, Mussolini ordered the invasion of Greece from Albania, but the operation was unsuccessful. In April 1941, Germany launched an invasion of Yugoslavia and then attacked Greece. Italy and other German allies supported both actions. The German and Italian armies overran Yugoslavia in about two weeks and, despite British support in Greece, the Axis troops overran that country by the end of April. The Italians gained control over portions of both occupied Yugoslavia and occupied Greece. A member of the House of Savoy, Prince Aimone, 4th Duke of Aosta, was appointed king of the newly created Independent State of Croatia.


title: Italian Empire

text: During the height of the Battle of Britain, the Italians launched an invasion of Egypt in the hope of capturing the Suez Canal. By 16 September 1940, the Italians advanced across the border. However, in December, the British launched Operation Compass and, by February 1941, the British had cut off and captured the Italian 10th Army and had driven deep into Libya. A German intervention prevented the fall of Libya and the combined Axis attacks drove the British back into Egypt until summer 1942, before being stopped at El Alamein. Allied intervention against Vichy French-held Morocco and Algeria created a two-front campaign. German and Italian forces entered Tunisia in late 1942 in response, however, forces in Egypt were soon forced to make a major retreat into Libya. By May 1943, Axis forces in Tunisia were forced to surrender.


title: Italian Empire

text: The East African Campaign started with Italian advances into British-held Kenya, British Somaliland, and Sudan. In the summer of 1940, Italian armed forces successfully invaded all of British Somaliland. But, in the Spring of 1941, the British had counter-attacked and pushed deep into Italian East Africa. By 5 May, Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia had returned to Addis Ababa to reclaim his throne. In November, the last organised Italian resistance ended with the fall of Gondar. However, following the surrender of East Africa, some Italians conducted a guerrilla war which lasted for two more years.


title: Italian Empire

text: In November 1942, when the Germans occupied Vichy France during Case Anton, Italian-occupied France was expanded with the occupation of Corsica.


title: Italian Empire

text: By the autumn of 1943, the Italian Empire and all dreams of an Imperial Italy effectively came to an end. On 7 May, the surrender of Axis forces in Tunisia and other near continuous Italian reversals, led King Victor Emmanuel III to plan the removal of Mussolini. Following the Invasion of Sicily, all support for Mussolini evaporated. A meeting of the Grand Council of Fascism was held on 24 July, which managed to impose a vote of no confidence to Mussolini. The "Duce" was subsequently deposed and arrested by the King on the following afternoon. Afterwards, Mussolini remained a prisoner of the King until 12 September, when, on the orders of Hitler, he was rescued by German paratroops and became leader of the newly established Italian Social Republic.


title: Italian Empire

text: After 25 July, the new Italian government under the King and Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio remained outwardly part of the Axis. But, secretly, it started negotiations with the Allies. On the eve of the Allied landings at Salerno, which started the Allied invasion of Italy, the new Italian government secretly signed an armistice with the Allies. On 8 September, the armistice was made public. In Albania, Yugoslavia, the Dodecanese, and other territories still held by the Italians, German military forces successfully attacked their former Italian allies and ended Italy's rule. During the Dodecanese Campaign, an Allied attempt to take the Dodecanese with the cooperation of the Italian troops ended in total German victory. In China, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied Italy's concession in Tientsin after getting news of the armistice. Later in 1943 the Italian Social Republic formally ceded control of the concession to Japan's puppet regime in China, the Reorganized National Government of China under Wang Jingwei.


title: Italian Empire

text: In 1947, the Treaty of Peace with Italy formally ended the empire that was now totally defunct. There were discussions to maintain Tripolitania (a province of Italian Libya) as the last Italian colony, but these were not successful. In November 1949 the former Italian Somaliland then under British military administration, was made a 10-year United Nations Trust Territory under Italian administration (Trust Territory of Somaliland). On 1 July 1960, Somalia merged with British Somaliland to form the independent Somali Republic.


title: Graham cracker

text: A graham cracker (pronounced or in America) is a sweet flavored cracker made with graham flour that originated in the United States in the mid-19th century, with commercial development from about 1880. It is eaten as a snack food, usually honey- or cinnamon-flavored, and is used as an ingredient in some foods.


title: Graham cracker

text: The graham cracker was inspired by the preaching of Sylvester Graham who was part of the 19th-century temperance movement. He believed that minimizing pleasure and stimulation of all kinds, including the prevention of masturbation, coupled with a vegetarian diet anchored by bread made from wheat coarsely ground at home, was how God intended people to live, and that following this natural law would keep people healthy. His preaching was taken up widely in the midst of the 1829–51 cholera pandemic. His followers were called Grahamites and formed one of the first vegetarian movements in America; graham flour, graham crackers, and graham bread were created for them. Graham neither invented nor profited from these products. Herman Melville has an early reference to the crackers in Book XXII, Chapter I of his 1852 novel "Pierre; or The Ambiguities" - "For all the long wards, corridors, and multitudinous chambers of the Apostles' were scattered with the stems of apples, the stones of prunes, and the shells of peanuts. They went about huskily muttering the Kantian Categories through teeth and lips dry and dusty as any miller's, with the crumbs of Graham crackers."


title: Graham cracker

text: The main ingredients in its earlier preparations were graham flour, oil, shortening or lard, molasses and salt. Graham crackers have been a mass-produced food product in the United States since 1898, with the National Biscuit Company being the first to mass-produce it at that time. The Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company also began mass-producing the product beginning sometime in the early 1910s. The product continues to be mass-produced in the U.S. today. In earlier times, mass-produced graham crackers were typically prepared using yeast-leavened dough, which added flavor to the food via the process of fermentation, whereas contemporary mass-production of the product typically omits this process. The dough is sometimes chilled before being rolled out, which prevents blistering and breakage from occurring when the product is baked.


title: Graham cracker

text: Graham cracker crumbs are used to create graham cracker crusts for pies and moon pies, and as a base, layer or topping for cheesecake. Graham cracker pie crusts are also mass-produced in the United States, and consumer versions of the product typically consist of a graham cracker crumb mixture pressed into an aluminum pie pan. The graham cracker is a main ingredient in the preparation of the s'more. Graham crackers are also commonly used in place of "broas" in the traditional Filipino icebox cake mango float.


title: Karyn Parsons

text: Karyn Parsons Rockwell (born October 8, 1966) is an American actress, author and comedian. She is best known for her role as Hilary Banks on the NBC sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" from 1990 to 1996. Parsons also starred in the 1995 film "Major Payne" opposite Damon Wayans, and in "The Job" (2001–2002) as Toni.


title: Karyn Parsons

text: Parsons was born on October 8, 1966, in Los Angeles, California. In an interview for "Essence" in 2008, she described her parentage as biracial. Her mother, Louise Parsons, is African American from Charleston, South Carolina and her father, Kenneth B. Parsons, is British American of English and Welsh descent and from Butte, Montana. She attended Santa Monica High School.


title: Karyn Parsons

text: Parsons starred as Hilary Banks on the sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", which aired on NBC from 1990 to 1996. She co-created, co-produced, co-wrote, and co-starred on the Fox sitcom "Lush Life" in 1996, which was later canceled after four episodes. In 2001, she starred in the critically acclaimed but short-lived television series "The Job" with Denis Leary. Besides television, Parsons has starred in several films, particularly in comedies such as "Late Nights" (1992), "Major Payne" (1995), and "The Ladies Man" (2000). Parsons is the founder of the Sweet Blackberry Foundation, which produces animated films and books about unsung black heroes. The first video in the series was about Henry "Box" Brown, a slave who mailed himself to freedom.


title: Karyn Parsons

text: Parsons has also published three books for children: a middle-grade novel, "How High the Moon" (2019), which was loosely inspired by stories of her mother's childhood in the Jim Crow South; and two Sweet Blackberry picture-book biographies about black historical figures, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie: "Flying Free" (2020) about pioneering aviator Bessie Coleman, and "Saving the Day" (2021) about inventor Garrett Morgan.


title: Karyn Parsons

text: Parsons married director Alexandre Rockwell in 2003. Together they have a daughter, Lana, and a son, Nico.


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: Holly Elizabeth Robinson Peete (born September 18, 1964) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Judy Hoffs on the Fox police drama "21 Jump Street", Vanessa Russell on the ABC sitcom "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper", and Dr. Malena Ellis on the NBC/The WB sitcom "For Your Love". She also served as one of the original co-hosts of the CBS Daytime talk show, "The Talk".


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: After graduating from high school, Peete entered Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She majored in Psychology and French. After she graduated in 1986, she considered attending graduate school and perhaps working in languages for the U.S. State Department. However, she decided to give an acting career a chance. Within a short time, Peete found roles on a television series and in two films.


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: Peete's children's book, "My Brother Charlie", won her an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in March 2011. In 2012 the book was awarded the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award.


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: Peete was born Holly Elizabeth Robinson in Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Dolores and Matt Robinson (the original Gordon on "Sesame Street"). Her mother was a school teacher, in public relations, and later a personal talent manager, and her father a producer/writer. She has an older brother named Matthew Thomas Robinson III. She attended Greene Street Friends School in nearby Germantown. In 1974, her family moved to California. Peete graduated from Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California, where her classmates included Rob Lowe and Yvette Lee Bowser. Peete graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in psychology and French. Peete studied abroad for a year at the Sorbonne, and is fluent in French. While there she sang in Paris nightclubs, including a performance with jazz musician Lionel Hampton at the Hotel Meridian Jazz Club.


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: She made her first television appearance on "Sesame Street". She recalls that when she was six years old, she kept blowing her line, saying "Hi, Daddy", instead of "Hi, Gordon", his character's name. She ended up with just an appearance where she walked down the street with Big Bird. At the age of 11, Holly worked for the children's show "Kidsworld" as a celebrity correspondent; she interviewed many actors and actresses for the program. As an actress, she has appeared on the TV series "21 Jump Street" (1987–1991), "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" (1992–1997), "For Your Love" (1998–2002), and "Like Family" (2003–2004). She was featured in the video for the 1990 hit single "Whip Appeal" by Babyface as the sultry radio host at the beginning of the video. In 1992, she portrayed Diana Ross in "". Robinson most recently starred on the UPN comedy "Love, Inc.". The show lasted just one season, and was canceled after the WB/UPN merger.


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: Robinson has also had a limited career as a singer and recording artist, including the introductory song to "21 Jump Street." She contributed a variety of songs to the soundtrack of the film "Howard the Duck". (She appeared as a musician/singer in a minor role in the film.) She recorded the theme song "We Got Our Love" for the 1988 film "Three for the Road". She and Dawnn Lewis, along with R&B quartet En Vogue, performed the theme song for the first season of "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper".


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: In 2006, she won, along with fellow writer Daniel Paisner, the Quills Award in Sports for the book "Get Your Own Damn Beer, I'm Watching the Game!: A Woman's Guide to Loving Pro Football".


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: In 2010, she participated in "The Celebrity Apprentice 3", playing for her own charity, the HollyRod Foundation, which provides support for families with Parkinson's disease or autism.


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: Robinson began co-hosting "The Talk", a CBS daytime talk show, on October 18, 2010. In this forum, Robinson was known for expressing herself through her ethnicity and being especially vocal about African American issues and, since her son Rodney is affected by it, autism. In April 2011, Robinson hosted a weekly series on "The Talk" promoting autism awareness.


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: After serving on "The Talk" for its first season, Peete along with Leah Remini were released from the show. Failure to ever disclose why the two were let go brought on a great deal of audience criticism of the show, as well as protests from the stars' fans. Sharon Osbourne, Peete's former co-host on "The Talk", reasoned why the two former hosts were released from the program in a guest appearance on "The Howard Stern Show", criticizing both Peete and Remini. In early 2021, Osbourne was later embroiled in a scandal for her remarks made on "The Talk" to Sheryl Underwood, leading to Osbourne's termination from the program. During Osbourne's scandal and termination, both Peete and Remini took to social media to reproach Osbourne over her behaviors, additionally pointing out that they were on the receiving end of similar behaviors by Osbourne. Osbourne responded with threats of defamation lawsuits against both women, but ultimately did nothing.


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: The Peete family starred in a reality TV series on OWN, entitled "For Peete's Sake" from 2016 to 2017. The series followed the lives of Peete and her husband Rodney as they juggle career choices with their family life.This was followed by a similar Hallmark Channel reality series "Meet the Peetes", which also ran for two seasons from 2018 to 2019.


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: On June 10, 1995, Robinson married Rodney Peete, a National Football League quarterback. He proposed by surprising Holly during an episode of "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" on October 7, 1994. They have four children: twins, daughter Ryan Elizabeth Peete and son Rodney Peete, Jr. (born October 17, 1997), and sons Robinson Peete (born August 11, 2002), and Roman Peete (born February 25, 2005).


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: One of their twins, Rodney Jr., was diagnosed with autism at age three. Robinson played baseball for Sierra Canyon School (2017-2019), the same school where Bronny James and Zaire Wade play basketball.


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: After her father was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, Robinson and her husband co-founded the HollyRod Foundation, which is dedicated to help find a cure for the disease, as well as for autism, and assist those living with the conditions.


title: Holly Robinson Peete

text: In September 2012, Nestle's Carnation Breakfast Essentials announced they had teamed up with Robinson, featuring her as the spokesperson for the brand. On October 4, 2012, Robinson was inducted as an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.


title: Thucydides Trap

text: Thucydides Trap, or Thucydides' Trap, is a term popularized by American political scientist Graham T. Allison to describe an apparent tendency towards war when an emerging power threatens to displace an existing great power as a regional or international hegemon. It was coined and is primarily used to describe a potential conflict between the United States and the People's Republic of China.


title: Thucydides Trap

text: The term is based on a quotation of ancient Athenian historian and military general Thucydides, in which he posited that the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta had been inevitable because of Spartan fears of the growth of Athenian power.


title: Thucydides Trap

text: Supporting the thesis, Graham Allison led a study at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs which found that among 16 historical instances of an emerging power rivaling a ruling power, 12 ended in war. That study, however, has come under considerable criticism, and scholarly opinion on the veracity of the Thucydides Trap—particularly as it relates to a potential U.S.–China military conflict—is divided.


title: Thucydides Trap

text: The term was coined by American political scientist Graham T. Allison in a 2012 article for the "Financial Times". Based on a quote by ancient Athenian historian and military general Thucydides in his text "History of the Peloponnesian War" positing that "it was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable", Allison used the term to describe a tendency towards war when a rising power (exemplified by Athens) challenges the status of a dominant power (exemplified by Sparta). Allison expanded upon the term significantly in his 2017 book "Destined for War", in which he argued that "China and the US are currently on a collision course for war".


title: Thucydides Trap

text: The term describes the theory that when a great power's position as hegemon is threatened by an emerging power, there is a significant likelihood of war between the two powers. In Graham Allison's words:


title: Thucydides Trap

text: Thucydides's Trap refers to the natural, inevitable discombobulation that occurs when a rising power threatens to displace a ruling power...[and] when a rising power threatens to displace a ruling power, the resulting structural stress makes a violent clash the rule, not the exception.


title: Thucydides Trap

text: To advance his thesis, Allison led a case study by the Harvard University Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs which found that among 16 historical instances of an emerging power rivaling a ruling power, 12 ended in war.


title: Thucydides Trap

text: The term and arguments surrounding it have had influence in international media (including Chinese state media) and among American and Chinese politicians. A case study of the term by Alan Greeley Misenheimer published by the Institute for National Strategic Studies, the military research arm of the National Defense University, stated that it "has received global attention since entering the international relations lexicon". Foreign policy scholars Hal Brands and Michael Beckley have stated that the Thucydides Trap has "become canonical", a "truism now invoked, ad nauseam, in explaining U.S.–China rivalry". Furthermore, BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus has quipped that Graham Allison's book expanding on the Thucydides trap, "Destined For War", "has become required reading for many policymakers, academics and journalists".


title: Thucydides Trap

text: The term is primarily used and was coined in relation to a potential military conflict between the United States and the People's Republic of China. Chinese leader and CCP general secretary Xi Jinping referenced the term, cautioning that "We all need to work together to avoid the Thucydides trap". The term gained further influence in 2018 as a result of a surge in US-Chinese tensions after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on almost half of China's exports to the US, leading to a trade war.


title: Thucydides Trap

text: Western scholars have noted that there are a number of pressing issues the two nations are at odds over that increase the likelihood of the two powers falling into the Thucydides trap, including the continued "de facto" independence of Taiwan, China's digital policing and its use of cyber espionage, differing policies towards North Korea, China's increased naval presence in the Pacific and its claims over the South China Sea, and human rights issues in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong. Some also point to the consolidation of power by Xi Jinping, the belief in an irreconcilable differences in values, and the trade deficit as further evidence the countries may be slipping into the Thucydides trap.


title: Thucydides Trap

text: A number of scholars have criticized the application of the Thucydides trap to US-China relations. For instance, Richard Hanania, a research fellow at Columbia University, has argued that there is no Thucydides Trap between the United States and China because China's ambitions are limited primarily to combating internal issues, signifying that China does not pose a significant threat to US interests. Lawrence Freedman, writing in "Prism", the National Defense University's journal of complex operations, has similarly argued that "China’s main interest has always been its regional position, and if that is the case, then there are strong arguments for it to show patience, as its economic pull becomes progressively stronger". Hu Bo, a professor at Peking University's Institute of Ocean Research and one of China's foremost naval strategists, has also said that he does not believe the current balance of power between the United States and China supports the Thucydides hypothesis.


title: Thucydides Trap

text: Scholars and journalists like Arthur Waldron and Ian Buruma have contended that China is still far too weak for such a conflict, pointing to China's "economic vulnerabilities", its aging population, an exodus of Chinese people out of China, domestic ecological problems, an inferior military relative to the United States, a weaker system of alliances than the United States, and a censorship regime that limits innovation. Foreign policy scholars Hal Brands and Michael Beckley have similarly argued that the Thucydides Trap "fundamentally misdiagnoses where China now finds itself on its arc of development", contending that it is China—and not the United States—that faces impending stagnation. Relatedly, Harvard University political scientist Joseph S. Nye has argued that the primary concern is not the rise of China leading to a Thucydides trap, but rather domestic issues leading to a weakening of China in what he calls a "Kindleberger Trap".


title: Thucydides Trap

text: Others have derided the Thucydides Trap as a quaint piece of ancient history that is not particularly applicable to modern times. James Palmer, a deputy editor at "Foreign Policy", in his article "Oh God, Not the Peloponnesian War Again", wrote of the Thucydides Trap that "conflicts between city-states in a backwater Eurasian promontory 2,000 years ago are an unreliable guide to modern geopolitics—and they neglect a vast span of world history that may be far more relevant". He further derisively noted that Thucydides shouldn't "hold the same grip on international relations scholars that Harry Potter does on millennial readers". Lawrence Freedman has similarly argued that "[t]he case studies deployed by Allison", which "come from times when issues of war and power were viewed differently than they are today", tell us "very little of value", concluding that "the Thucydides Trap is an unhelpful construct".


title: Thucydides Trap

text: Finally, some have noted that Chinese state propaganda outlets have latched onto the narrative of the Thucydides trap in order to promote a set of power relations that favors China.


title: Thucydides Trap

text: The research by Graham Allison supporting the Thucydides trap has been criticized. Harvard University political scientist Joseph S. Nye has contested the claim that 12 of the 16 historical cases of a rising power rivaling a ruling power resulted in war on the basis that Allison misidentifies cases. For example, he points to the case of World War I, which Allison identifies as an instance of an emerging Germany rivaling a hegemonic Britain, saying that the war was also caused by "the fear in Germany of Russia's growing power, the fear of rising Slavic nationalism in a declining Austria-Hungary, as well as myriad other factors that differed from ancient Greece". Historian Arthur Waldron has similarly argued that Allison mischaracterizes several conflicts. For example, he says of the Japan–Russia conflict included by Allison: "Japan was the rising power in 1904 while Russia was long established. Did Russia therefore seek to preempt Japan? No. The Japanese launched a surprise attack on Russia, scuttling the Czar’s fleet." Lawrence Freedman, writing in "Prism", the National Defense University's journal of complex operations, has likewise argued that Allison misunderstands the causes of several of his case studies, particularly World War I, which he argues resulted more from "the dispute between Austria and Serbia, and its mismanagement by their allies, Germany and Russia".


title: Thucydides Trap

text: Foreign policy scholars Hal Brands and Michael Beckley have argued that, for many of the cases Allison identifies with the Thucydides Trap, the impetus that led to war was not the impending threat of a hegemonic power being surpassed but rather an emerging power lashing out when its rapid rise transmogrified into stagnation. They write:


title: Thucydides Trap

text: [T]he calculus that produces war—particularly the calculus that pushes revisionist powers, countries seeking to shake up the existing system, to lash out violently—is more complex (than the Thucydides Trap). A country whose relative wealth and power are growing will surely become more assertive and ambitious. All things equal, it will seek greater global influence and prestige. But if its position is steadily improving, it should postpone a deadly showdown with the reigning hegemon until it has become even stronger...Now imagine a different scenario. A dissatisfied state has been building its power and expanding its geopolitical horizons. But then the country peaks, perhaps because its economy slows, perhaps because its own assertiveness provokes a coalition of determined rivals, or perhaps because both of these things happen at once. The future starts to look quite forbidding; a sense of imminent danger starts to replace a feeling of limitless possibility. In these circumstances, a revisionist power may act boldly, even aggressively, to grab what it can before it is too late. The most dangerous trajectory in world politics is a long rise followed by the prospect of a sharp decline.


title: Thucydides Trap

text: They claim that several of Allison's cases in fact follow this pattern—and not that of the Thucydides Trap—including the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, and the Pacific War (they also point to America's imperial foray after the American Civil War and modern-day Russia under Vladimir Putin). They further claim that it is this effect that is more likely to push the United States and China into conflict, as China is "slowing economically and facing growing global resistance".


title: Thucydides Trap

text: Harvard University political scientist Joseph S. Nye, pointing to research by Yale historian Donald Kagan, has argued that Graham Allison misinterprets the Peloponnesian War; Nye argues that the war was not the result of a rising Athens challenging Sparta, but rather the consequence of Athenian stagnation leading Sparta to think that a number of "Athenian policy mistakes" made war "worth the risk". Historian Arthur Waldron likewise argued that Kagan and Harvard classics scholar Ernst Badian had "long ago proved that no such thing exists as the 'Thucydides Trap'" with regards to the Peloponnesian War. Relatedly, political scientists Athanassios Platias and Vasilis Trigkas submitted that the Thucydides Trap is based on "inadvertent escalation" whereas the Peloponnesian war was an outcome of rational calculations.


title: Thucydides Trap

text: Others have questioned Allison's reading of Thucydides. In a case study for the Institute for National Strategic Studies, the military research arm of the National Defense University, Alan Greeley Misenheimer says that "Thucydides’ text does not support Allison's normative assertion about the 'inevitable' result of an encounter between 'rising' and 'ruling' powers" and that while it "draws welcome attention both to Thucydides and to the pitfalls of great power competition" it "fails as a heuristic device or predictive tool in the analysis of contemporary events".


title: James Rhodes (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Colonel James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes, more commonly known as James Rhodes sometimes referred to by his alias, War Machine, and briefly Iron Patriot, is a fictional character primarily portrayed by Don Cheadle (initially by Terrence Howard) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. He is depicted as a U.S. Air Force officer who is the best friend of technological savant Tony Stark. He becomes involved in Stark's heroic efforts, later gaining armor like that of Stark's Iron Man persona, but with heavier weaponry, and becoming a member of the Avengers.


text: Rhodes first appeared in the 2008 film "Iron Man" and has since become a central figure in the MCU. As of 2021, he has appeared in eight films, as well as the Disney+ series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" and the animated series "What If...?" (both 2021) as an alternate version. Rhodes is set to return in the upcoming series "Secret Invasion" (2023), with his story in the show leading into the film "Armor Wars" (TBA), in which Rhodes will serve as the main protagonist.


text: The character of James "Rhodey" Rhodes first appeared in "Iron Man" #118, in January 1979. In "Iron Man" #170, in May 1983, Rhodes became Iron Man for a time. Other variations of the character debuted later, with an up-armored Rhodes becoming known as War Machine in "Iron Man" #282, in July 1992, and as Iron Patriot in "Gambit" #13, in May 2013. In the mid-2000s, with a number of movies having been made from other Marvel properties licensed to other studios, Kevin Feige realized that Marvel still owned the rights to the core members of the Avengers, which included those from Iron Man's supporting characters. Feige, a self-professed "fanboy", envisioned creating a shared universe just as creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had done with their comic books in the early 1960s.


text: Terrence Howard was contracted to play Rhodes in the 2008 film "Iron Man". Howard was signed on before any of the other major actors and was the highest paid actor in the film. Favreau cast Howard because he felt he could play War Machine in a sequel. Howard prepared for the role by visiting Nellis Air Force Base on March 16, 2007, where he ate with the pilots and observed HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters and F-22 Raptors.


text: Howard and his father are Iron Man fans, partly because Rhodes was one of the few black superheroes when he was a child. He was a Downey fan since he saw him in "Weird Science", and the two competed physically on set.


text: "Entertainment Weekly" reported that Howard was offered a 50 to 80 percent pay cut for "Iron Man 2", though it said that it was unclear whether Howard turned down the role or whether Marvel withdrew their offer. Following the contract dispute between Howard and Marvel Studios, Don Cheadle was cast to portray War Machine, and Cheadle has portrayed the character for the rest of his MCU appearances. Isaac Perlmutter, who had previously overseen the development of Marvel Studios, was alleged to have been removed from that position in part due to replacing Howard with Cheadle on the grounds that black people "look the same". A person with knowledge of his creative approach said, however, that Perlmutter "neither discriminates nor cares about diversity, he just cares about what he thinks will make money".


text: Cheadle only had a few hours to accept the role and did not even know what storyline Rhodes would undergo. He commented that he is a comic book fan, but had not previously participated in comics-themed films due to the scarcity of black superheroes. Cheadle said he thought Iron Man was a robot before the first film came out.


text: A friend of Stark's and the liaison between Stark Industries and the United States Air Force in the department of acquisitions, specifically weapons development. He holds the rank of lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force and acts as the military's chief liaison to Stark Industries' weapons division, and is initially oblivious to Obadiah Stane's actions. While Rhodes is roguish in the comics after he met Stark, his earlier disciplinarian character forms a dynamic with Stark, and he is unsure whether or not Stark's actions are acceptable. "Rhodey is completely disgusted with the way Tony has lived his life, but at a certain point he realizes that perhaps there is a different way", Howard said. "Whose life is the right way; is it the strict military life, or the life of an independent?"


text: On how he approached his character in "Iron Man 2", Cheadle stated "I go, what's the common denominator here? And the common denominator was really his friendship with Tony, and that's what we really tried to track in this one. How is their friendship impacted once Tony comes out and owns 'I am Iron Man'?". Cheadle said his suit was of metal, and that he could not touch his face while wearing it.


text: In "Iron Man 3", Rhodes operates the redesigned/upgraded War Machine armor, taking on an American flag-inspired color scheme similar to the Iron Patriot armor from the comics. Feige said of Rhodes and the armor, "The notion in the movie is that a red, white and blue suit is a bold statement, and it's meant to be. With Rhodey, he's very much the foil to Tony's eccentricities, and in this one you get to see this and be reminded of the trust and friendship between them in that great Shane Black buddy-cop fashion." In the film, the president asks Rhodey to take up the moniker "Iron Patriot," and don the red, white, and blue suit, in order to be the government's "American hero" in response to the events in "The Avengers".


text: Cheadle called Rhodes' appearance in "Captain America: Civil War" a "bit more intense and pivotal" compared to his previous appearances. Following his paralysis during the events of "Civil War", Rhodes is given an apparatus by Stark to walk again, although according to Cheadle, in "Avengers: Infinity War", Rhodes is reluctant to don his War Machine armor and rejoin the Avengers due to his injury. Cheadle believed that Rhodes is "negotiating this reunion and his rejoining this team". He also explained that Rhodes's relationship with Stark "deepened" from his accident, saying, "I think Tony feels somewhat responsible and culpable in a way. But again, he's always had my back in a way that only he could really have".


text: In "Avengers: Endgame", Cheadle described Rhodes's newfound belonging as an Avenger as "not so much straddling one foot in the military. He's much more on the side of The Avengers than he was prior." This is reflected on Rhodes's more instinctive and realist worldview in the midst of encountering the fantastic, with Cheadle explaining, "He's definitely got some 'what-the-eff-is-happening' [attitude,] more than maybe the rest of them do, given his background. But it's a trial by fire, and he's quickly adapted to what [the threat] is, rather than what he wishes it were."


text: Early screenplay drafts written by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and David Hayter for New Line Cinema, pitted Iron Man against his father Howard Stark, who becomes War Machine instead of Rhodes. Artist Phil Saunders had created concept art for an unused "hall of armor" scene in the film which included the War Machine armor.


text: James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes served as an officer in the United States Air Force, for whom he flew 138 combat missions before becoming a liaison between the military's Department of Acquisitions and Stark Industries, where he became close friends with Tony Stark.


text: In 2009, when Stark is kidnapped by the Ten Rings, Rhodes personally leads the mission to rescue Stark. When the unidentified Iron Man armor encounters U.S. military aircraft, Rhodes deduces that it is Stark, and described the resulting damage to the press as the result of a training exercise. After Stark reveals his identity as Iron Man, Rhodes faces pressure from the United States Congress and the military to take possession of the armor for himself. In 2010, as Stark descends into reckless behavior, Rhodes feels he had no choice but to take the Mark II armor, handing it over to the military, for whom Justin Hammer upgrades it with new weapons to rebrand Rhodes as War Machine. Rhodes then helps Stark fend off an attack from Ivan Vanko and an army of Hammer Drones.


text: In 2012, Rhodes is rebranded as the Iron Patriot, working directly for the President of the United States, and is tasked with tracking down an enemy called the Mandarin. Rhodes discovers that the Mandarin is a ruse created by Aldrich Killian by hiring actor Trevor Slattery to portray the role. Killian captures Rhodes and steals the Iron Patriot Armor, using it to kidnap the president. Rhodes escapes, aiding Stark in fighting Killian's army of Extremis Soldiers, and rescuing the president.


text: Rhodes continues undertaking missions, and in 2015, he attends the Avengers' party at Avengers Tower, and later assists in their fight against Ultron in Sokovia. Afterwards, he is recruited to become a new member of the Avengers, alongside Wanda Maximoff, Vision, and Sam Wilson at the new Avengers Compound led by Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff.


text: In 2016, Rhodes is present at the Avengers Compound when U.S. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross arrives and talks to the team about the Sokovia Accords. Rhodes agrees with Stark and signs the Accords. In Bucharest, he apprehends Rogers, Wilson, Bucky Barnes, and T'Challa. Later, he joins Stark, Romanoff, Peter Parker, T'Challa, and Vision to intercept Rogers, Barnes, Wilson, Clint Barton, Scott Lang, and Maximoff at Leipzig/Halle airport in Germany, where a fight ensues. After Rogers and Barnes escape on a Quinjet, Rhodes is accidentally hit by Vision whose blast incapacitates his suit, causing him to fall. Stark and Wilson are unable to catch him and he lands on the ground, fracturing his spinal column and leaving him paralyzed. He is taken to the medical facility at the Avengers Compound and is able to move slowly after Stark designed bionic supports for his legs as he underwent physical therapy.


text: By 2018, Rhodes has become disillusioned with the Accords, and disobeys orders from Ross to arrest Rogers, Romanoff, Wilson, and Maximoff after they return with Vision to the Avengers Compound. He then joins Rogers and the others to Wakanda, where he helps fight against the Outriders. When Thanos arrives, Rhodes is incapacitated after Thanos uses the Space Stone to stop his cannons. After Thanos completes the Infinity Gauntlet, Rhodes is one of the survivors, along with the original Avengers and Rocket.


text: Shortly after returning to the Avengers Compound, Rhodes reports to Rogers and Romanoff that Fury's pager stopped transmitting a signal, but it was due to Carol Danvers's arrival.


text: Three weeks later, Rhodes is reunited with Stark and joins Rogers, Romanoff, Banner, Thor, Rocket, Danvers, and Nebula into space to the Garden, where they confront Thanos, only to learn that he destroyed the Infinity Stones.


text: In 2023, Rhodes continues missions as an Avenger while keeping track of Barton's whereabouts and reporting back to Romanoff. After Stark and Lang devise a plan to time travel via the Quantum Realm, Rhodes returns to the Avengers Compound and goes with Nebula to an alternate 2014 timeline into space to the planet Morag. There they watch an alternate version of Peter Quill arrive. After knocking him out, they retrieve the Power Stone in the Orb. After Banner reverses the Blip, an alternate version of Thanos attacks the Avengers Compound and causes Rhodes, Rocket, and Banner to get trapped under rubble. Lang rescues them and Rhodes is able to participate in the battle against alternate Thanos and his army. After Stark sacrifices himself to win the battle, Rhodes is at his side during his final moments, and later attends his funeral at Stark's house.


text: In 2024, Rhodes attends a ceremony at the Smithsonian Institution where Wilson donates Rogers' shield to the museum, and the two catch up with each other.


text: An alternate version of Rhodes appears in the animated series "What If...?", with Cheadle reprising his role.


text: In an alternate 2009, Rhodes is sent to purchase vibranium from Stark's contact, Ulysses Klaue, for an army of combat drones that Stark and Erik "Killmonger" Stevens are designing. T'Challa ambushes the transaction, having been tipped off by Klaue at Killmonger's behest, but is killed by the latter. Killmonger then kills Rhodes as well, and frames both him and T'Challa for killing each other in order to spark conflict between the United States and Wakanda.


text: Jacob Stalworthy of "The Independent" was negative of the character, opining that the character was "Iron Man without backstory or humour". However, Jeremy Schneider of NJ.com was more positive of the character and Cheadle's portrayal while highlighting the character being paralyzed in "Captain America: Civil War" as "one of the most poignant moments in the entire MCU".


text: For his 2008 performance, Howard was nominated for the Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor. For his 2021 appearance in "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier", Cheadle was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, and for promoting liturgical reforms and scholastic theology. He initiated the preparation of the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the first comprehensive and systemic work of its kind. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and is the namesake of the traditionalist Catholic Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pius X was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Confidence; while his papal encyclical "Ad diem illum" took on a sense of renewal that was reflected in the motto of his pontificate. He advanced the Liturgical Movement by formulating the principle of "participatio actuosa" (active participation of the faithful) in his motu proprio, "Tra le sollecitudini" (1903). He encouraged the frequent reception of Holy Communion, and he lowered the age for First Communion, which became a lasting innovation of his papacy.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Like his predecessors, he promoted Thomism as the principal philosophical method to be taught in Catholic institutions. He vehemently opposed various nineteenth-century philosophies which he viewed as an intrusion of secular errors incompatible with Catholic dogma, especially modernism, which he critiqued as the synthesis of every heresy.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pius X was known for his firm demeanour and sense of personal poverty, reflected by his membership of the Third Order of Saint Francis. He regularly gave sermons from the pulpit, a rare practice at the time. After the 1908 Messina earthquake he filled the Apostolic Palace with refugees, long before the Italian government acted. He rejected any kind of favours for his family, and his close relatives chose to remain in poverty, living near Rome. He also undertook a reform of the Roman Curia with the Apostolic Constitution "Sapienti consilio" in 1908.


title: Pope Pius X

text: After his death, a strong cult of devotion followed his reputation for piety and holiness. He was beatified in 1951 and canonized in 1954 by Pope Pius XII. A statue bearing his name stands within St. Peter's Basilica; and his birth town was renamed Riese Pio X after his death.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto was born in Riese, Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, Austrian Empire (now in the province of Treviso, Veneto, Italy), in 1835. He was the second born of ten children of Giovanni Battista Sarto (1792–1852), the village postman, and Margherita Sanson (1813–1894). He was baptised 3 June 1835. Though poor, his parents valued education, and Giuseppe walked to school each day.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Giuseppe had three brothers and six sisters: Giuseppe Sarto (born 1834; died after six days), Angelo Sarto (1837–1916), Teresa Parolin-Sarto (1839–1920), Rosa Sarto (1841–1913), Antonia Dei Bei-Sarto (1843–1917), Maria Sarto (1846–1930), Lucia Boschin-Sarto (1848–1924), Anna Sarto (1850–1926), Pietro Sarto (born 1852; died after six months). As Pope, he rejected any kind of favours for his family: his brother remained a postal clerk, his favourite nephew stayed on as village priest, and his three single sisters lived together close to poverty in Rome, in the same way as other people of humble background.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Giuseppe, often nicknamed as "Beppi" by his mother, possessed a sprightly disposition with his natural exuberance being so great that his teacher had to often control his lively impulses with a cane to the backside. Despite this, he was an excellent student who focused on his homework before engaging in any hobbies or recreations. In the evenings after sports or games with friends, he would spend ten minutes in prayer before returning home. Sarto also served as an altar boy. By the age of ten, he had completed the two elementary classes of his village school, as well as Latin study with a local priest; henceforth Sarto had to walk four miles to the gymnasium in Castelfranco Veneto for further classes. For the next four years, he would attend Mass before breakfast and his long walk to school. He often carried his shoes to make them last longer. As a poor boy, he was often teased for his meagre lunches and shabby clothes, but never complained about this to his teachers.


title: Pope Pius X

text: "In 1850 he received the tonsure from the Bishop of Treviso, and was given a scholarship [from] the Diocese of Treviso" to attend the Seminary of Padua, "where he finished his classical, philosophical, and theological studies with distinction".


title: Pope Pius X

text: On 18 September 1858, Sarto was ordained a priest by Giovanni Antonio Farina (later canonized), and became a chaplain at Tombolo. While there, Sarto expanded his knowledge of theology, studying both Thomas Aquinas and canon law, while carrying out most of the functions of the parish pastor Constantini, who was quite ill. Often, Sarto sought to improve his sermons by the advice of Constantini, who referred to one of his earliest as "rubbish". In Tombolo, Sarto's reputation for holiness grew so much amongst the people that some suggested the nickname "Don Santo".


title: Pope Pius X

text: In 1867, he was named archpriest of Salzano. Here he restored the church and expanded the hospital, the funds coming from his own begging, wealth and labour. He won the people's affection when he worked to assist the sick during the cholera plague of the early 1870s. He was named a canon of the cathedral and chancellor of the Diocese of Treviso, also holding offices such as spiritual director and rector of the Treviso seminary, and examiner of the clergy. As chancellor he made it possible for public school students to receive religious instruction. As a priest and later bishop, he often struggled over solving problems of bringing religious instruction to rural and urban youth who did not have the opportunity to attend Catholic schools. At one stage, a large stack of hay caught fire near a cottage, and when Sarto arrived he addressed the frantic people, "Don't be afraid, the fire will be put out and your house will be saved!" At that moment, the flames turned in the other direction, leaving the cottage alone. Despite his many duties, Sarto often made time for an evening walk with young children preparing their First Communion.


title: Pope Pius X

text: In 1879, Bishop Federico Maria Zinelli died, and Sarto was elected vicar-capitular to care for the diocese until the accession of a new bishop in June 1880.


title: Pope Pius X

text: After 1880, Sarto taught dogmatic theology and moral theology at the seminary in Treviso. On 10 November 1884, he was appointed bishop of Mantua by Leo XIII. He was consecrated six days later in Rome in the church of Sant'Apollinare alle Terme Neroniane-Alessandrine, Rome, by Cardinal Lucido Parocchi, assisted by Pietro Rota, and by Giovanni Maria Berengo. He was appointed to the honorary position of assistant at the pontifical throne on 19 June 1891. Sarto required papal dispensation from Pope Leo XIII before episcopal consecration as he lacked a doctorate, making him the last pope without a doctorate until Pope Francis.


title: Pope Pius X

text: When Sarto travelled back to his hometown from Rome after his consecration, he immediately went to visit his mother. There, she repeatedly kissed his ring and said to him: "But you would not have this fine ring, son, if I did not have this", showing him her wedding ring.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pope Leo XIII made him a cardinal of the order of cardinal priests in a secret consistory on 12 June 1893. Three days later in a public consistory on 15 June, Pope Leo XIII gave him his cardinal's red galero, assigned him the titular church of San Bernardo alle Terme, and appointed him Patriarch of Venice. This caused difficulty, however, as the government of the reunified Italy claimed the right to nominate the Patriarch, since the previous sovereign, the Emperor of Austria, had exercised that power. The poor relations between the Roman Curia and the Italian civil government since the annexation of the Papal States in 1870 placed additional strain on the appointment. The number of vacant sees soon grew to 30. Sarto was finally permitted to assume the position of patriarch in 1894. In regard to being named as a cardinal, Sarto told a local newspaper that he felt "anxious, terrified and humiliated".


title: Pope Pius X

text: After being named cardinal and before leaving for Venice, he paid his mother a visit. Overwhelmed with emotion and in tears, she asked: "My son, give your mother a last blessing", sensing that it would be the last time that they would see each other. Arriving in Venice, he was formally enthroned on 24 November 1894.


title: Pope Pius X

text: As cardinal-patriarch, Sarto avoided politics, allocating his time to social works and strengthening parochial banks. However, in his first pastoral letter to the Venetians, Sarto argued that in matters pertaining to the pope, "There should be no questions, no subtleties, no opposing of personal rights to his rights, but only obedience."


title: Pope Pius X

text: In April 1903, Pope Leo XIII reportedly said to Lorenzo Perosi: "Hold him very dear, Perosi, as in the future he will be able to do much for you. We firmly believe he will be our successor". As a cardinal, he was considered by the time of his papal election as one of the most prominent preachers in the Church despite his lesser fame globally. In his role as a cardinal, Sarto held membership in the congregations for Bishops and Regulars, Rites, and Indulgences and Sacred Relics.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Leo XIII died 20 July 1903, and at the end of that month the conclave convened to elect his successor. Before the conclave, Sarto had reportedly said, "rather dead than pope", when people discussed his chances for election. In one of the meetings held just before the conclave, Cardinal Victor-Lucien-Sulpice Lécot spoke with Sarto in French, however, Sarto replied in Latin, "I'm afraid I do not speak French". Lécot replied, "But if Your Eminence does not speak French you have no chance of being elected because the pope must speak French", to which Sarto said, "Deo Gratias! I have no desire to be pope".


title: Pope Pius X

text: According to historians, the favorite was the late pope's secretary of state, Cardinal Mariano Rampolla. On the first ballot, Rampolla received 24 votes, Gotti had 17 votes, and Sarto 5 votes. On the second ballot, Rampolla had gained five votes, as did Sarto. The next day, it seemed that Rampolla would be elected. However, the Polish Cardinal Jan Puzyna de Kosielsko from Kraków, in the name of Emperor Franz Joseph (1848–1916) of Austria-Hungary, proclaimed a veto ("jus exclusivae") against Rampolla's election. Many in the conclave protested, and it was even suggested to disregard the veto.


title: Pope Pius X

text: However, the third vote had already begun, resulting in no clear winner but increasing support for Sarto, with 21 votes. The fourth vote showed Rampolla with 30 votes and Sarto with 24. It seemed clear that the cardinals were moving toward Sarto.


title: Pope Pius X

text: The following morning, the fifth vote gave Rampolla 10 votes, Gotti 2, and Sarto 50. Thus, on 4 August 1903, Sarto was elected to the pontificate. This marked the last known exercise of a papal veto by a Catholic monarch.


title: Pope Pius X

text: At first, it is reported, Sarto declined the nomination, feeling unworthy. He had been deeply saddened by the Austro-Hungarian veto and vowed to rescind these powers and excommunicate anyone who communicated such a veto during a conclave. With the cardinals asking him to reconsider, he went into solitude in the Pauline chapel, and after deep prayer he accepted the position. Cardinal Luigi Macchi announced Sarto's election at around 12:10pm.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Sarto took as his papal name Pius X, out of respect for his recent predecessors of the same name, particularly Pope Pius IX (1846–1878), who had fought against theological liberals and for papal supremacy. He explained: "As I shall suffer, I shall take the name of those Popes who also suffered". Pius X's traditional coronation took place the following Sunday, 9 August 1903. As pope, he became ex officio Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, prefect of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, and prefect of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation.


title: Pope Pius X

text: The pontificate of Pius X was noted for conservative theology and reforms in liturgy and Church law. In what became his motto, the Pope in 1903 devoted his papacy to "Instaurare Omnia in Christo", "to restore all things in Christ." In his first encyclical ("E supremi apostolatus", 4 October 1903), he stated his overriding policy: "We champion the authority of God. His authority and Commandments should be recognized, deferred to, and respected."


title: Pope Pius X

text: Continuing his simple origins, he wore a pectoral cross of gilded metal on the day of his coronation; and when his entourage was horrified, the new pope declared he always wore it and had brought no other with him. He was well known for reducing papal ceremonies. He also abolished the custom of the pope dining alone, since the time of Pope Urban VIII, and invited his friends to eat with him.


title: Pope Pius X

text: When chided by Rome's social leaders for refusing to make his peasant sisters papal countesses, he responded: "I have made them sisters of the Pope; what more can I do for them?"


title: Pope Pius X

text: He developed a reputation as being very friendly with children. He carried candy in his pockets for the street urchins in Mantua and Venice, and taught them catechism. During papal audiences, he would gather children around him and talk about things that interested them. His weekly catechism lessons in the courtyard of San Damaso in the Vatican always included a special place for children, and his decision to require the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in every parish was partly motivated by a desire to save children from religious ignorance.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Noted for his humility and simplicity, he declared that he had not changed personally save for his white cassock. Aides consistently needed to remind him not to wipe his pen on the white cassock, as he had previously done on his black cassock which hid stains. The new pope's schedule was quite similar each day. He rose at 4:00am before celebrating Mass at 6:00am. He was at his desk at 8:00am to receive private audiences. On his desk stood statues of John Vianney and Joan of Arc, both of whom he beatified in his papacy. At noon, he conducted a general audience with pilgrims, then had lunch at 1:00pm with his two secretaries or whomever else he invited to dine with him. Resting for a short while after lunch, Pius X would then return to work before dining at 9:00pm and a final stint of work before sleep.


title: Pope Pius X

text: In his 1904 encyclical "Ad diem illum", he views Mary in the context of "restoring everything in Christ".


title: Pope Pius X

text: During Pius X's pontificate, many famed Marian images were granted a canonical coronation: Our Lady of Aparecida, Our Lady of the Pillar, Our Lady of the Cape, Our Lady of Chiquinquira of Colombia, Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos, Our Lady of La Naval de Manila, Virgin of Help of Venezuela, Our Lady of Carmel of New York, the Marian icon of Santuario della Consolata and the Immaculate Conception within the "Chapel of the Choir" inside Saint Peter's Basilica were granted this prestigious honor.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Within three months of his coronation, Pius X published his "motu proprio" "Tra le sollecitudini". Classical and Baroque compositions had long been favoured over Gregorian chant in ecclesiastical music. The Pope announced a return to earlier musical styles, championed by Lorenzo Perosi. Since 1898, Perosi had been Director of the Sistine Chapel Choir, a title which Pius X upgraded to "Perpetual Director". The Pope's choice of Joseph Pothier to supervise the new editions of chant led to the official adoption of the Solesmes edition of Gregorian chant.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pius X worked to increase devotion among both clergy and laity, particularly in the Breviary, which he reformed considerably, and the Mass.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Besides restoring to prominence Gregorian Chant, he placed a renewed liturgical emphasis on the Eucharist, saying, "Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to Heaven." To this end, he encouraged frequent reception of Holy Communion. This also extended to children who had reached the "age of discretion", though he did not permit the ancient Eastern practice of infant communion. He also emphasized frequent recourse to the Sacrament of Penance so that Holy Communion would be received worthily. Pius X's devotion to the Eucharist would eventually earn him the honorific of "Pope of the Blessed Sacrament", by which he is still known among his devotees.


title: Pope Pius X

text: In 1910, he issued the decree "Quam singulari", which changed the age at which Communion could be received from 12 to 7 years old, the age of discretion. The pope lowered the age because he wished to impress the event on the minds of children and stimulate their parents to new religious observance; this decree was found unwelcome in some places due to the belief that parents would withdraw their children early from Catholic schools, now that First Communion was carried out earlier. Pius X even personally distributed First Communion to a four-year-old boy the day after the child was presented to him and demonstrated an exceptional understanding of the meaning of the sacrament. When people would criticize Pius X for lowering the age of reception, he simply quoted the words of Jesus, "let the little children come to me".


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pius X said in his 1903 "motu proprio" "Tra le sollecitudini", "The primary and indispensable source of the true Christian spirit is participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public, official prayer of the Church."


title: Pope Pius X

text: He also sought to modify papal ceremonies to underscore their religious significance by eliminating occasions for applause. For example, when entering his first public consistory for the creation of cardinals in November 1903, he was not carried above the crowds on the "sedia gestatoria" as was traditional. He arrived on foot wearing a cope and mitre at the end of the procession of prelates "almost hidden behind the double line of Palatine Guards through which he passed".


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pope Leo XIII had sought to revive the inheritance of Thomas Aquinas, 'the marriage of reason and revelation', as a response to secular 'enlightenment'. Under Pius X, "neo-Thomism" became the blueprint for theology.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Most controversially, Pius X vigorously condemned the theological movement he termed 'Modernism', which he regarded as a heresy endangering the Catholic faith. The movement was linked especially to certain Catholic French scholars such as Louis Duchesne, who questioned the belief that God acts in a direct way in the affairs of humanity, and Alfred Loisy, who denied that some parts of Scripture were literally rather than perhaps metaphorically true. In contradiction to Thomas Aquinas they argued that there was an unbridgeable gap between natural and supernatural knowledge. Its unwanted effects, from the traditional viewpoint, were relativism and scepticism. Modernism and relativism, in terms of their presence in the Church, were theological trends that tried to assimilate modern philosophers like Immanuel Kant as well as rationalism into Catholic theology. Modernists argued that beliefs of the Church have evolved throughout its history and continue to evolve


title: Pope Pius X

text: Anti-Modernists viewed these notions as contrary to the dogmas and traditions of the Catholic Church. In the decree entitled "Lamentabili sane exitu" ("A Lamentable Departure Indeed") of 3 July 1907, Pius X formally condemned 65 propositions, mainly drawn from the works of Alfred Loisy and concerning the nature of the Church, revelation, biblical exegesis, the sacraments, and the divinity of Christ. That was followed by the encyclical "Pascendi dominici gregis" (or "Feeding the Lord's Flock"), which characterized Modernism as the "synthesis of all heresies." Following these, Pius X ordered that all clerics take the Anti-Modernist oath, "Sacrorum antistitum". Pius X's aggressive stance against Modernism caused some disruption within the Church. Although only about 40 clerics refused to take the oath, Catholic scholarship with Modernistic tendencies was substantially discouraged. Theologians who wished to pursue lines of inquiry in line with Secularism, Modernism, or Relativism had to stop, or face conflict with the papacy, and possibly even excommunication.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pius X's attitude toward the Modernists was uncompromising. Speaking of those who counseled compassion, he said: "They want them to be treated with oil, soap and caresses. But they should be beaten with fists. In a duel, you don't count or measure the blows, you strike as you can." He also instituted the "Sodalitium Pianum" (or League of Pius V), an anti-Modernist network of informants, which was much criticized due to its accusations of heresy on the flimsiest evidence. This campaign was run by Umberto Benigni in the Department of Extraordinary Affairs in the Secretariat of State, which distributed anti-Modernist propaganda and gathered information on "culprits". In Benigni's secret code, Pius X was known as "Mama".


title: Pope Pius X

text: In 1905, Pius X in his letter "Acerbo nimis" mandated the establishment of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (catechism class) in every parish in the world.


title: Pope Pius X

text: The "Catechism of Pius X" is his realisation of a simple, plain, brief, popular catechism for uniform use throughout the whole world; it was used in the ecclesiastical province of Rome and for some years in other parts of Italy; it was not, however, prescribed for use throughout the universal Church. The characteristics of Pius X were "simplicity of exposition and depth of content. Also because of this, Pius X's catechism might have friends in the future." The catechism was extolled as a method of religious teaching in his encyclical "Acerbo nimis" of April 1905.


title: Pope Pius X

text: The "Catechism of Saint Pius X" was issued in 1908 in Italian, as "Catechismo della dottrina Cristiana, Pubblicato per Ordine del Sommo Pontifice San Pio X". An English translation runs to more than 115 pages.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Asked in 2003 whether the almost 100-year-old "Catechism of Saint Pius X" was still valid, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said: "The faith as such is always the same. Hence the Catechism of Saint Pius X always preserves its value. Whereas ways of transmitting the contents of the faith can change instead. And hence one may wonder whether the Catechism of Saint Pius X can in that sense still be considered valid today."


title: Pope Pius X

text: Canon law in the Catholic Church varied from region to region with no overall prescriptions. On 19 March 1904, Pope Pius X named a commission of cardinals to draft a universal set of laws. Two of his successors worked in the commission: Giacomo della Chiesa, who became Pope Benedict XV, and Eugenio Pacelli, who became Pope Pius XII. This first Code of Canon Law was promulgated by Benedict XV on 27 May 1917, with an effective date of 19 May 1918, and remained in effect until Advent 1983.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pius X reformed the Roman Curia with the constitution "Sapienti Consilio" (29 June 1908) and specified new rules enforcing a bishop's oversight of seminaries in the encyclical "Pieni l'animo". He established regional seminaries (closing some smaller ones), and promulgated a new plan of seminary study. He also barred clergy from administering social organizations.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pius X reversed the accommodating approach of Leo XIII towards secular governments, appointing Rafael Merry del Val as Cardinal Secretary of State (Merry del Val would later have his own cause opened for canonization in 1953, but still has not been beatified). When the French president Émile Loubet visited the Italian monarch Victor Emmanuel III (1900–1946), Pius X, still refusing to accept the annexation of the papal territories by Italy, reproached the French president for the visit and refused to meet him. This led to a diplomatic break with France and to the 1905 Law of Separation between church and state, by which the Church lost government funding in France. The pope denounced this law, and removed two French bishops for recognising the Third Republic. Eventually, France expelled the Jesuits and broke off diplomatic relations with the Vatican.


title: Pope Pius X

text: The Pope adopted a similar position toward secular governments in Portugal, Ireland, Poland, Ethiopia, and in other states with large Catholic populations. His opposition to international relations with Italy angered the secular powers of these countries, as well as a few others like the UK and Russia. In Ireland, Protestants increasingly worried that a proposed "Home Rule" by an Irish parliament representing the Catholic majority (rather than the "status quo" of rule by Westminster since the 1800 Union of Ireland and Great Britain) would result in "Rome Rule" due to Pius X's uncompromising stance being followed by Irish Catholics (Ultramontanism).


title: Pope Pius X

text: In 1908, the papal decree "Ne Temere" came into effect which complicated mixed marriages. Marriages not performed by a Catholic priest were declared legal but sacramentally invalid, worrying some Protestants that the Church would counsel separation for couples married in a Protestant church or by civil service. Priests were given discretion to refuse mixed marriages or to lay conditions upon them, commonly including a requirement that the children be raised Catholic. The decree proved particularly divisive in Ireland, which its large Protestant minority, contributing indirectly to the subsequent political conflict there and provoking debates in the British House of Commons. The long term effect of "Ne Temere" in Ireland was that Irish Unionism which had had strongholds in Dublin as well as Ulster, but existed to some extent on the entire island of Ireland, declined overall and became virtually exclusively a phenomenon of what is today Northern Ireland. Furthermore, while historically both Protestant Irish nationalists and Catholic Unionists existed, the divide over who should rule Northern Ireland eventually came to almost exactly match the confessional divide.


title: Pope Pius X

text: As secular authority challenged the papacy, Pius X became more aggressive. He suspended the "Opera dei Congressi", which coordinated the work of Catholic associations in Italy, as well as condemning "Le Sillon", a French social movement that tried to reconcile the Church with liberal political views. He also opposed trade unions that were not exclusively Catholic.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pius X partially lifted decrees prohibiting Italian Catholics from voting, but he never recognised the Italian government.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Initially, Pius maintained his prisoner in the Vatican stance, but with the rise of socialism he began to allow the "Non Expedit", which prohibited Catholics from voting, to be relaxed. In 1905, he authorized bishops in his encyclical to offer a dispensation allowing their parishioners to exercise their legislative rights when "the supreme good of society" was at stake.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Under Pius X, the traditionally difficult situation of Polish Catholics in Russia did not improve. Although Nicholas II of Russia issued a decree 22 February 1903, promising religious freedom for the Catholic Church, and in 1905 promulgated a constitution which included religious freedom, the Russian Orthodox Church felt threatened and insisted on stiff interpretations. Papal decrees were not permitted and contacts with the Vatican remained outlawed.


title: Pope Pius X

text: In 1908, Pius X lifted the United States out of its missionary status, in recognition of the growth of the American Church. Fifteen new dioceses were created in the US during his pontificate, and he named two American cardinals. He was very popular among American Catholics, often depicted as an ordinary man from a poor family, raised by God to the papal throne.


title: Pope Pius X

text: In 1910, the pope refused an audience with former Vice-President Charles W. Fairbanks, who had addressed the Methodist association in Rome, as well as with former President Theodore Roosevelt, who intended to address the same association.


title: Pope Pius X

text: On 8 July 1914, Pope Pius X approved the request of Cardinal James Gibbons to invoke the patronage of the Immaculate Conception for the construction site of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Other than the stories of miracles performed through the pope's intercession after his death, there are also stories of miracles performed by the pope during his lifetime.


title: Pope Pius X

text: On one occasion, during a papal audience, Pius X was holding a paralyzed child who wriggled free from his arms and then ran around the room. On another occasion, a couple (who had made confession to him while he was bishop of Mantua) with a two-year-old child with meningitis wrote to the pope and Pius X then wrote back to them to hope and pray. Two days later, the child was cured.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Cardinal Ernesto Ruffini (later the Archbishop of Palermo) had visited the pope after Ruffini was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and the pope had told him to go back to the seminary and that he would be fine. Ruffini gave this story to the investigators of the pontiff's cause for canonization.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Once, a man who suffered from a paralyzed arm begged Pius X for his help. Taking his arm in his hand, the pope simply said, "have confidence in the Lord ... only have faith and the Lord will heal you". At that moment, the man could actually move his arm, calling out to the pope joyfully who simply put a finger to his lips so as not to draw any attention to what had happened, indicating that the man simply hold his peace. Another case saw an Irish girl covered in sores taken to see the pope by her mother. When Pius X saw her, he placed his hand on her head, and the sores completely disappeared. Another case saw a Roman schoolgirl contract a serious foot disease that rendered her crippled since she was only a year old. Through a friend she managed to acquire one of the pope's socks and was told that she would be healed if she wore it, which she did. At the moment she placed the sock on, the diseased foot was instantly healed. When Pius X heard about this, he laughed and said, "What a joke! I wear my own socks every day and still I suffer from constant pain in my feet!"


title: Pope Pius X

text: In addition to the political defense of the Church, liturgical reforms, anti-modernism, and the beginning of the codification of canon law, the papacy of Pius X saw the reorganisation of the Roman Curia. He also sought to update the education of priests, seminaries and their curricula were reformed. In 1904 Pope Pius X granted permission for diocesan seminarians to attend the College of St. Thomas. He raised the college to the status of "Pontificium" on 2 May 1906, thus making its degrees equivalent to those of the world's other pontifical universities. By Apostolic Letter of 8 November 1908, signed by the Supreme Pontiff on 17 November, the college was transformed into the "Collegium Pontificium Internationale Angelicum". It would become the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, "Angelicum" in 1963.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pius X published 16 encyclicals; among them was "Vehementer nos" on 11 February 1906, which condemned the 1905 French law on the separation of the State and the Church. Pius X also confirmed, though not infallibly, the existence of Limbo in Catholic theology in his 1905 Catechism, saying that the unbaptized "do not have the joy of God but neither do they suffer... they do not deserve Paradise, but neither do they deserve Hell or Purgatory." On 23 November 1903, Pius X issued a papal directive, a "motu proprio", that banned women from singing in church choirs (i.e. the architectural choir).


title: Pope Pius X

text: In the Prophecy of St. Malachy, the collection of 112 prophecies about the popes, Pius X appears as "Ignis Ardens" or "Burning Fire".


title: Pope Pius X

text: In November 1913, Pope Pius X declared tango dancing as immoral and off-limits to Catholics. Later, in January 1914, when tango proved to be too popular to declare off-limits, Pope Pius X tried a different tack, mocking tango as "one of the dullest things imaginable", and recommending people take up dancing the "furlana", a Venetian dance, instead.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pius X beatified a total of 131 individuals (including groups of martyrs and those by recognition of "cultus") and canonized four. Those beatified during his pontificate included Marie-Geneviève Meunier (1906), Rose-Chrétien de la Neuville (1906), Valentin de Berriochoa (1906), Clair of Nantes (1907), Zdislava Berka (1907), John Bosco (1907), John of Ruysbroeck (1908), Andrew Nam Thung (1909), Agatha Lin (1909), Agnes De (1909), Joan of Arc (1909), and John Eudes (1909). Those canonized by him were Alexander Sauli (1904), Gerard Majella (1904), Clement Mary Hofbauer (1909), and Joseph Oriol (1909).


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pius X created 50 cardinals in seven consistories held during his pontificate which included noted figures of the Church during that time such as Désiré-Joseph Mercier (1907) and Pietro Gasparri (1907). In 1911, he increased American representation in the cardinalate based on the fact that the United States was expanding; the pope also named one cardinal "in pectore" (António Mendes Belo, whom the media accurately speculated on) in 1911 whose name he later revealed in 1914. Pius X also named as a cardinal Giacomo della Chiesa, his immediate successor, Pope Benedict XV.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Among the cardinals whom he nominated came the first Brazilian-born (and the first Latin American-born; Arcoverde) and the first from the Netherlands (van Rossum) since 1523. The consistory of 1911 was the largest number of cardinals elevated at a single consistory in roughly a century.


title: Pope Pius X

text: In 1911, the pope reportedly wished to elevate Diomede Panici to the cardinalate, however, Panici died before the promotion ever took place. Furthermore, this came after Panici was originally considered but passed for the elevation by Pope Leo XIII who even had considered elevating Panici's brother. In the 1914 consistory, Pius X considered naming the Capuchin friar Armando Pietro Sabadel to the cardinalate, however, Sabadel declined the pope's invitation.


title: Pope Pius X

text: In 1913, Pope Pius X suffered a heart attack, and subsequently lived in the shadow of poor health. In 1914, the pope fell ill on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary (15 August 1914), an illness from which he would not recover, and it was reported that he suffered from a fever and lung complications. His condition was worsened by the events leading to the outbreak of World War I (1914–1918), which reportedly sent the 79-year-old into a state of melancholy. He died on Thursday, 20 August 1914, only a few hours after the death of Jesuit leader Franz Xavier Wernz, and on the very day when German forces marched into Brussels.


title: Pope Pius X

text: While the pope's condition was classified as serious, alarming symptoms did not develop until 19 August. While Pius X spent most of that day in and out of consciousness, he said at one stage, "In ancient times, the pope by a word might have stayed the slaughter, but now he is impotent". The pope shortly after received the Last Rites and eventually, an old bronchial infection that the pope had previously had in years past returned, further hastening his decline.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pius X died at 1:20am on 20 August 1914 and in a moment of lucidity just moments before he died, Pius X is reported to have said: "Now I begin to think the end is approaching. The Almighty in His inexhaustible goodness wishes to spare me the horrors which Europe is undergoing". His sister, Anna, was praying at his bedside when Pius X died. The pope's last act of life was to kiss the little crucifix that he had clasped in his hands at around 1:15am.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Pius X was buried in a simple and unadorned tomb in the crypt below Saint Peter's Basilica. His body was laid in state on 21 August in red pontifical vestments and then interred following the Requiem Mass following his coffin lying in state on a large catafalque in the Sistine Chapel. His original tombstone bore the inscription: "Pope Pius X, poor and yet rich, gentle and humble of heart, unconquerable champion of the Catholic Faith, whose constant endeavor it was to renew all things in Christ". Papal physicians had been in the habit of removing organs to aid the embalming process. Pius X expressly prohibited this in his burial and successive popes have continued this tradition. Pius X's tomb is located near the tombs of both Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II under the altar of the Presentation.


title: Pope Pius X

text: On 19 May 1944, the body of Pius X was exhumed for inspection as part of the beatification process, during which the remains were found to be miraculously incorrupt. In 1959, the remains of the late pope were sent, with the permission of Pope John XXIII (himself a former Patriarch of Venice), to Venice in 1959. Before the remains were taken to Venice via a train on 11 April, Pope John XXIII led a small prayer service alongside some other cardinals. The body was exposed for the veneration of the faithful at the Basilica of Saint Mark for one month (12 April–10 May) before returning them back to the late pope's original resting place, with Cardinal Giovanni Urbani acting as the papal legate for the month-long event.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Although Pius X's canonization took place in 1954, the events leading up to it began immediately with his death. A letter of 24 September 1916 by Monsignor Leo, Bishop of Nicotera and Tropea, referred to Pius X as "a great Saint and a great Pope." To accommodate the large number of pilgrims seeking access to his tomb, more than the crypt would hold, "a small metal cross was set into the floor of the basilica," which read "Pius Papa X", "so that the faithful might kneel down directly above the tomb". Masses were held near his tomb until 1930.


title: Pope Pius X

text: Devotion to Pius X between the two world wars remained high. On 14 February 1923, in honor of the 20th anniversary of his accession to the papacy, the first moves toward his canonization began with the formal appointment of those who would carry out his cause. The event was marked by the erecting of a monument in his memory in St. Peter's Basilica. On 19 August 1939, Pope Pius XII (1939–58) delivered a tribute to Pius X at Castel Gandolfo. On 12 February 1943, a further development of Pius X's cause was achieved, when he was declared to have displayed heroic virtues, gaining therefore the title "Venerable".


title: Pope Pius X

text: On 19 May 1944, Pius X's coffin was exhumed and was taken to the Chapel of the Holy Crucifix in St. Peter's Basilica for the canonical examination.