The following commentary is from the EWTN series, The Papacy: A Living History, The Papal Artifacts Collection of Father Richard Kunst. Now available as a DVD, it may be purchased from EWTN. The artifact presented here is from Episode 3, Popes of the 20th Century.

Here is Father’s Commentary:

The predecessor of Benedict XV was Pius X. He was the last pope to be canonized a saint. In fact, he’s one of only two popes to be canonized in the last 550 years. Pope Pius XII canonized Pius X on May 29, 1954. Pope Clement XI canonized Pius V on May 22, 1712.

(NOTE: Three more 20th century popes have since been canonized: Popes John XXIII, John Paul II & Paul VI.)

This item is an autographed photo of Pius X as a cardinal. He was Giuseppe Sarto. He is standing in his cardinal vestments with his hand on the throne and his biretta in his other hand.

I’ve been collecting papal items for the better half of twenty years, and I’ve never once seen anything remotely close to this in that amount of time. To have an autographed photo of Pius X prior to his election? It’s one of those items I hold, and I just tremble to think that I have something so unique and so rare.