Today's saint is the perfect example of how sanctity is not about always getting it right. All one has to do his google his name and all the criticism in the world, literally, is instantly available.
But which of us has never heard the term CCD. Some people today use it completely unaware that it was St. Pius X who mandated the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in 1905 with the idea that religious education should be something more than sporadic, uneven, sacramental prep.
On every Sunday and holy day, with no exception, throughout the year, all parish priests and in general all those having the care of souls, shall instruct the boys and girls, for the space of an hour from the text of the Catechism on those things they must believe and do in order to attain salvation.
Which of our parishes meet that standard even now ?
This Pope lowered the age at which a person was presumed to have the use of reason from 12 to 7, so that children might participate more fully in the life of the Church.
Today, as much as at any time in our history, we need to turn to this saint for his intercession, to assist us in focusing our attention as he did on our youth. For every youth minister, and catechist, this is your saint.
Was he perfect in the earthy sense? No. But that simply reminds us that we are all capable of being saints.
