''E supremi'' is a papal

encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally fr ...

(On High) issued by

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

on October 4, 1903. This was the first encyclical issued by the

pontiff In Roman antiquity, a pontiff () was a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term ''pontiff'' was later applied to any h ...

. He expressed his deep feelings of unworthiness by quoting the plight of

Anselm of Canterbury Anselm of Canterbury OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also known as (, ) after his birthplace and () after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher, and theologian of the Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Canterb ...

. The pope saw the current age as wracked with troubles and even thought that we had perhaps reached the end of days. He fervently wished to administer to the spiritual needs of the day - emphasizing the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

position on marriage, education, respect for property, maintaining order and justice in the social classes. He emphasized the great importance of educating priests and of maintaining the highest level of morals in seminarians. His Holiness Pope St

External links

The English text of the ''E Supremi'' encyclical
Documents of Pope Pius X Papal encyclicals Religion and politics 1903 documents 1903 in Christianity October 1903 {{RC-document-stub