The first pope to be elected in the 20th century was Pius X, whose real name was Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto. As World War I was starting, he passed away in 1914, eleven years after taking office as pope in 1903.

Born in Riese, close to Venice, in 1835, he was one of eight children and his family was not well-off. From an early age, he sensed a calling to the priesthood, and in 1858 he was ordained. After serving for 26 years, he was made a bishop of Mantua, Italy, and in 1893, he was elected Venice's patriarch.

In his capacity as Pope, Pius promulgated laws lowering the age of First Holy Communion to seven years old and promoting regular, if not daily, receiving of the Eucharist. He brought back Gregorian chant, reorganized the liturgy, encouraged concise and understandable homilies, and encouraged laypeople to read the Bible. He started the process of codifying canon law, rewrote the Breviary, and rearranged the curia.

He passed away in 1914 from natural causes that were allegedly made worse by concerns about the outbreak of World War I.

In 1954, Pope Pius XII canonized Pope Pius X.

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