Pascendi Dominici Gregis

encyclical by Pius X

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July 23, 2026

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The encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis was issued by Pope Pius X in 1907. It was a strong condemnation of Modernism, an intellectual movement within the Roman Catholic Church that sought to reinterpret traditional teachings in light of contemporary philosophical and scientific theories.12

Pius X viewed Modernism as a threat to the church's doctrines and authority. The encyclical rejected Modernist ideas, particularly those concerning biblical interpretation and the evolution of religious thought. Pius X also issued a decree, Lamentabili Sane Exitu, and mandated an oath against Modernism for clergy. This action marked a significant effort to suppress the movement and reinforce traditional Catholic teachings.12

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Modernism
…X in the papal encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis and in the decree Lamentabili Sane Exitu prepared by the Curia’s Holy Office and confirmed by Pius X. In order to ensure enforcement, the priest-scholar Umberto Benigni organized, through personal contacts with theologians, a nonofficial group of censors who would report to…
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…X in the papal encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis and in the decree Lamentabili Sane Exitu prepared by the Curia’s Holy Office and confirmed by Pius X. In order to ensure enforcement, the priest-scholar Umberto Benigni organized, through personal contacts with theologians, a nonofficial group of censors who would report to…
Read More

Alfred Firmin Loisy
Pope Pius X’s encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907), which condemned Modernism as heresy, was aimed chiefly at Loisy and was the last of a series of papal censures dating from 1893. Although Loisy had reluctantly submitted to the first censure, Leo XIII’s encyclical Providentissimus Deus (on biblical scholarship), he…
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Pope Pius X’s encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907), which condemned Modernism as heresy, was aimed chiefly at Loisy and was the last of a series of papal censures dating from 1893. Although Loisy had reluctantly submitted to the first censure, Leo XIII’s encyclical Providentissimus Deus (on biblical scholarship), he…
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George Tyrrell
…X issued his crucial encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (“Feeding the Lord’s Flock”), in which he condemned Modernism and declared its teachings to be the very essence of heresy. Rather than submit to papal authority, Tyrrell published a letter denouncing the encyclical and was subsequently excommunicated. He settled at Storrington, despondent…
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…X issued his crucial encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (“Feeding the Lord’s Flock”), in which he condemned Modernism and declared its teachings to be the very essence of heresy. Rather than submit to papal authority, Tyrrell published a letter denouncing the encyclical and was subsequently excommunicated. He settled at Storrington, despondent…
Read More