O.P., (Order of Preachers, Dominicans)
who implemented the reforms of the
Council of Trent; promulgated the
Roman Catechism, the Roman Missal,
and the Roman Breviary used until
Vatican II; canonized 22 May, 1712.
Born 17 January 1504 to impoverished
Italian nobility, the son of Paolo Ghislieri and Domenica
Augeria. He worked as a shepherd as a boy; received an
excellent education in piety and holiness, including a
scholastic education from a Dominican friar and joined the
Order in 1518, taking the name Michele. He studied in
Bologna, Italy; was ordained in 1528 in Genoa, and was
appointed teacher of philosophy and divinity in Genoa. He
was professor of theology in Pavia for sixteen years, and
Master of novices and Prior of several Dominican houses,
working for stricter adherence to the Order’s rule. He was
Inquisitor in Como and Bergamo and Commissary General
of the Roman Inquisition in 1551. On 4 September 1556
Michele was ordained Bishop of Nepi and Sutri and
created a cardinal on 15 March 1557. Upon his ascension
to the papacy, Pius V enacted the reforms of the Council of
Trent. New seminaries were opened, a new breviary, new
missal, and new catechism were published. Pius spent
much time personally working with the needy. He built
hospitals and used the papal treasury to care for the poor.
Pius faced many difficulties in the public forum, both in the
implementation of the Tridentine reforms and interaction
with other heads of state. At the time of his death he was
working on a Christian European alliance to break the
power of the Islamic states.