Timeline of The Catholic Church - 20th Century

20th Century

• 1903–1914:Saint Pope Pius X numerous reforms, staunch defender of the faith, introducing frequent communion, promoting Gregorian Chant Problems with France. He is the most recent Pope to be canonized a saint. Prior to him was Pope St. Pius V.
• 1914–1918 Pope Benedict XV declares neutrality during World War I his peace innitatives are rejected by both sides as favoring the other. Massive papal charity in Europe.
• 1916: Charles I of Austria is crowned Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He is one of the last Catholic monarchs. Charles attempted to negotiate peace between the warring nations during World War I. His attempts at peace are largely ignored.
• 1917: Canon Law for the Roman Catholic Church published by Pope Benedict XV

The apparition of Our Lady of Fatima occurs in Fátima, Portugal over the course of six months ending in the Miracle of the Sun. This apparition is considered to be among the most important in the Catholic Church.

• 1918: Persecution of the Roman Catholic Church and especially the Eastern Catholic Churches in the Soviet Union (until 1985)
• 1922: Emperor Charles I of Austria dies in exile and poverty in Portugal. Later to become beatified as Blessed Charles.
• 1925: Holy Year proclaimed by Pope Pius XI
• 1926: Beginning of Church persecutions in Mexico until 1940 also known as the Cristero War or La Cristiada.
• March 19, 1927 Foundation of the Sisters of the Destitute (SD) at Chunungumvely, Kerala by Fr.Varghese Payapilly Palakkappilly.
• October 2, 1928: Saint Josemaría Escrivá founded Opus Dei, a worldwide organization of lay members of the Catholic Church.
• February 11, 1929: The Lateran treaty is signed by Benito Mussolini and Cardinal Gasparri establishing the independent State of the Vatican City and resolving the Roman Question between Italy and the Holy See since the seizure of the Papal States in 1870.
• October 5, 1929 Death of Varghese Payapilly Palakkappilly
• February 12, 1931: Vatican Radio is set up by Guglielmo Marconi and inaugurated by Pope Pius XI. First signal broadcast is in Morse code: In nomine Domini, amen.
• 1931–1936: Persecution of the Church in Spain It is estimated that in the course of the Red Terror (Spain), 6,832 members of the Catholic clergy were killed.
• July 20, 1933: Concordat Between the Holy See and the German Reich signed by Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli and Franz von Papen on behalf of Pope Pius XI and President Paul von Hindenburg, respectively.
• 1937: Mit Brennender SorgeEncyclical against National Socialism by Pope Pius XI, written by Cardinals Eugenio Pacelli and Michael von Faulhaber
• September 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland. Start of the Second World War. The Vatican, after trying to avoid the war, declares neutrality to avoid being drawn into the conflict. Massive Vatican relief intervention for displaced persons, prisoners of war and needy civilians in Europe.

1939 St.Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia was finished being built.

• During World War II: Convents, monasteries, and the Vatican are used to hide Jews and others targeted by the Nazis for extermination. (see The Myth of Hitler's Pope) St. Maximilian Kolbe is martyred in Auschwitz concentration camp after volunteering to die in place of a stranger. The Nazis imprison and at times execute Catholic clergy, monks and nuns not compliant to Nazi ideology.
• 1943: Encyclicals of Pope Pius XII Mystici Corporis defining the Catholic Church as the Body of Christ;
• 1943: Encyclical Mediator Dei, opening biblical research to Catholic scholars
• 1944: The German Army occupies Rome. Adolf Hitler proclaims he will respect Vatican neutrality; however several incidents, such as giving aid to downed Allied airmen, nearly cause Nazi Germany to invade the Vatican. Rome is liberated by the Allies after only a few weeks of occupation.
• 1950:Holy Year declared by Pope Pius XII, who announced on December 25, 1950 that the Tomb of Saint Peter had been identified by archeologists underneath Saint Peter Basilica; canonization of Pope Pius X, Maria Goretti; encyclical Humani Generis
• 1950: The Assumption of Mary is defined as dogma by Pius XII
• 1954: First Marian year in Church history proclaimed by Pius XII, who introduced Marian Feast Queenship of Mary
• October 11, 1962: Pope John XXIII opens the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council. The 21st ecumenical council of the Catholic Church emphasized the universal call to holiness and brought many changes in practices, including an increased emphasis on ecumenism; fewer rules on penances, fasting and other devotional practices; and initiating a revision of the services, which were to be slightly simplified and made supposedly more accessible by allowing the use of native languages instead of Latin. Opposition to changes inspired by the Council gave rise to the movement of Traditionalist Catholics who disagree with changing the old forms of worship and disagree with the rise of previously condemned philosophies now being adopted by clergy and laity.
• December 7, 1965: Joint Catholic-Orthodox Declaration of Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I. Mutual excommunication of the Great Schism of 1054 against Catholic and Orthodox is lifted by both parties.
• December 8, 1965: Pope Paul VI solemnly closes the Second Vatican Council.
• 1970: Revision of the Roman Missal, following on gradual introduction of vernacular languages in celebration of Mass.
• 1973: Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa in the remote area of Yuzawadai, near the city of Akita in Japan reports seeing a number of apparitions now known as Our Lady of Akita.
• August 26, 1978: Pope John Paul I becomes the first pope to use a double regnal name. He reigns for only 33 days.
• October 16, 1978: Pope John Paul II becomes the first Polish pope and first non-Italian pope elected in 450 years; influential in overthrowing communism in Europe.
• 1984: First World Youth Day instituted by Pope John Paul II celebrated in Rome. Celebrated between Rome and a different city in alternating sequence every year.
• 1987 Marian year announced by John Paul II in the encyclical Redemptoris Mater
• June 30, 1988: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), consecrates four men as bishops at Écône, Switzerland without the express permission of the Pope. Lefebvre et al. automatically incurs excommunication according to canon law. Traditionalist bishops of the SSPX continue to be suspended "a divinis" to this day.
• December 31, 1991: The Soviet Union is officially dissolved. Persecuted Catholic Church re-emerges out of hiding, especially in the Ukraine and Baltic States.
• 1992: The new Catechism of the Catholic Church is first published, in Latin and French.
• 1994: Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, an Apostolic Letter upholding a prohibition against ordination of women to the priesthood, is promulgated by Pope John Paul II.