"Surely you don't disbelieve": Tolkien and Pius X: anti-modernism in Middle-earth.(J.R.R. Tolkein and Pope Pius X)(Critical essay) From: Mythlore | Date: September 22, 2006| Author: Bossert, A.R. | COPYRIGHT 2006 Mythopoeic Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

The early Twentieth Century was an exciting time to be raised Roman Catholic in England. Historian Sheridan Gilley writes, "Catholic England came of age, when Pope Pius X in his Constitution Sapienti Consilio of 29 June 1908 declared England no longer a missionary territory" (34). English Catholics witnessed the consecration of Westminster Cathedral in 1910, but the optimism of its growth and renewed strength was tainted by external persecution--a procession of the Blessed Sacramen...