Pius X Praises Layman Louis Veuillot & His Defense of the Church

Following the example of the two Popes who preceded Us in this Apostolic See, and especially Pius IX of holy memory, it is a pleasure for Us to bear witness to this great and good man (Louis Veuillot), an unwavering defender of the rights of God and the Church.

With the fire of his apostolic spirit, he entered … the holy battles to defend sacred principles, his pen was both a sharp sword and a luminous torch. … What enveloped him in light and increased his energy a hundredfold, was, along with his profound faith, his love for the Church, whose triumph he desired, and his love for his fatherland, which he wanted to remain faithful to God.

Guided by this faith, inspired by this dual love, he knew how to reject as impiety any diminution of the sovereignty of Christ and any renunciation of the teachings of the Apostolic Chair.

He understood that the strength of societies lies in the full and complete recognition of the Social Kingship of Our Lord and in the unreserved acceptance of the supremacy of His Holy Church.

With an upright and proud spirit and indomitable heart, he made the most courageous proclamations on these fundamental issues, confessing the Catholic truth without hesitation and without attenuation, never wishing to distinguish between the rights that the modern world admits and those it claims to proscribe. With generous frankness he knew how to unmask liberal theories with their disastrous deductions in sophisms hidden under the name of liberty! …

He devoted himself with all the ardor of his soul to dispelling the prejudices and ambiguities of Gallicanism, and was a powerful force in the great movement for the Apostolic See that marked his era. No one is unaware of his perseverance in always opposing the perverted minds that attacked the living sources of Christian traditions, the strength and glory of his fatherland.

It is certainly a great honor for a servant of the Church to have, for nearly half a century, projected onto the events … in the world, the pure light of Catholic doctrine and to have pursued without respite or mercy the error that spreads in broad daylight as well as the error that lurks in the shadows.

He has the merit and the glory of having done so with the courage, ardor and enthusiasm of a man who possesses merit and who knows that this Truth has imprescriptible rights. … He is left with the merit and glory of having done so with complete selflessness, never yielding to seduction, praise or promises, braving unpopularity, intrigue and antipathy, the slanderous accusations of his adversaries and, at times, even the disapproval of his comrades-in-arms , rejoicing to be accounted worthy to suffer insults for the name of Jesus. (Acts 5:41)

The entirety of his illustrious career is worthy of being presented as a model to those who fight for the Church and holy causes, and who are subject to the same contradictions, the same outbursts of passion. May they, following the example of Louis Veuillot, be proud of their titles of Christians and servants of the Church; may they know that God will fight with them and grant them victory in the time appointed by His Providence.

Excerpt from Louis Veuillot Vie Populaire,
by François Veuillot, Paris, 1913, pp. 5-6.

Posted on August 2, 2025