Local family & Cardinal Sarto –  aka, ‘St. Pius X’ – go back a long way

Above: Descendants of Giovanni Lachin stand next to a bust of St. Pius X, the man who confirmed Lachin in 1896. Pictured (from left) are Lachin’s granddaughter, Patricia Lachin Gillen; great grandson Gavin Gillen; great-great grandson Daniel Gillen; great-great granddaughter Deanna Gillen Rolling; and great-great-great grandson Everett Rolling. Daniel, 6, and Everett, 8, also happen to be students at St. Pius X School in New Orleans. (Photo by Beth Donze, Clarion Herald)

By BETH DONZE
Clarion Herald

On Aug. 10, 1896 – a time in which Catholics received their First Communion and the Rite of Confirmation at the same Mass – 7-year-old Giovanni Lachin of Venice, Italy, approached the altar of St. Mark’s Basilica to accept the two sacraments from Cardinal Giuseppe Sarto.

So, when the teenaged Lachin immigrated to New Orleans in 1905 and ultimately settled in New Orleans’ up-and-coming Lake Vista neighborhood in the mid-1950s, it was something of a coincidence that Lachin’s new church parish – St. Pius X – had been named for the very man who had given Lachin those early sacraments.

Cardinal Sarto went on to become Pope Pius X, serving as pontiff from 1903-14, and was later canonized a saint.

“My grandfather was a walking second-class relic, because he received the holy chrism from St. Pius X! To anoint him, he had to touch my grandfather’s forehead,” said Lachin’s granddaughter, Patricia Lachin Gillen.

Although Gillen, 81, raised her own family of 12 children in St. Clement of Rome Parish in Metairie, she maintains strong ties to St. Pius X Church as a longtime member of two prayer groups.

In addition, three of Gillen’s grandchildren are students at St. Pius X School, two of whom visibly embraced the Gillen family’s ties to St. Pius the man: kindergartner Daniel Gillen, Giovanni Lachin’s great-great grandson, dressed as St. Pius X at his school’s recent Mass marking the Feast of All Saints; and Giovanni Lachin’s great-great-great grandson – now third grader Everett Rolling – donned St. Pius X’s white papal robes and mitre for St. Pius X School’s All Saints Mass in 2018, the year he was in kindergarten.

“Our school was named after St. Pius X, so I thought it would be really special if I was dressed as our saint,” Everett said.

Going to America

A little less than a decade after receiving Communion and being confirmed by Cardinal Sarto, 16-year-old Giovanni Lachin immigrated to America after his father Angelo, a woodworker, was hired to work at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Upon learning that there was ample work for skilled artisans in New Orleans, Angelo Lachin had his wife and two sons join him in his adopted country and city.

Giovanni Lachin went on to establish Lachin and Company, the celebrated ornamental plasterworks business that created decorative elements for the Saenger Theater, Jesuit High School’s Chapel of the North American Martyrs, the exterior of the Lakefront Airport and countless banks, hotels and private homes.

Despite moving to Lake Vista with his wife Adelena in the 1950s, Giovanni Lachin’s sacramental connection to Cardinal Sarto/St. Pius X wasn’t well known to succeeding generations, Patricia Gillen said.

“(My grandfather) would always point to a picture of St. Mark’s Basilica and tell me ‘That’s where I made my First Communion,’ but that was it,” she said.

A breakthrough came in 1978, when Giovanni Lachin shared the story of his childhood moment with Cardinal Sarto with his fellow parishioners during St. Pius X’s 25th anniversary celebration. To document the papal connection, Lachin ordered a copy of his “Certificato di Cresima” (Certificate of Confirmation) from Italy, which clearly states that Cardinal Sarto conferred the sacrament on him 125 years ago.

“My grandparents were very devout,” said Patricia Gillen, recalling how her elders taught their children and grandchildren to give 100% of their attention to the Mass. They also prayed a daily rosary – half in Italian, half in English.


Giovanni Lachin remained a St. Pius parishioner through his death in 1986 at age 97. 

A people’s pope

Cardinal Sarto – the man who became Pope St. Pius X – was making waves on the other side of the Atlantic.

Ordained to the priesthood on Sept. 18, 1858, he was appointed a bishop in 1879; a cardinal in 1893; and the Patriarch of Venice in 1894. (It was during his tenure as Patriarch of Venice – in 1896 – that Cardinal Sarto confirmed Giovanni Lachin.)

Pope Pius X was elected the church’s 257th pope in 1903, following the death of Pope Leo XIII.

During his 11-year papacy, Pope Pius X promoted frequent reception of holy Communion – something that is accepted as a common practice today, but which was considered irreverent back then. As such, Pope Pius X became known as “The Pope of the Blessed Sacrament.”

Another habit practiced by Pope Pius X, also considered unusual at that time, was to leave the pulpit to deliver his homilies. His motto, which was adopted by St. Pius X Church and School, is “Renew All Things in Christ.”

Pope Pius X died on Aug. 20, 1914, at age 79 (His feast day is Aug. 21). The patron saint of First Communicants and pilgrims, he was canonized on May 29, 1954 by another Pius – Pope Pius XII.

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Left: Everett Rolling, pictured as a kindergartner (and now a third grader) at St. Pius X School in New Orleans, costumed as St. Pius X at his school’s 2018 Mass of All Saints. Everett is the great-great-great grandson of Giovanni Lachin, who received his First Communion and confirmation from St. Pius X himself 125 years ago in Venice, Italy.

Right: Lachin's great-great grandson, St. Pius X kindergartner Daniel Gillen, carried on the family tradition by dressing as St. Pius X at St. Pius X School’s 2021 Mass of All Saints. Daniel, who is Giovanni Lachin’s great-great grandson, is pictured with his grandmother, Patricia Lachin Gillen, and his second cousin, Camille Rolling – Everett Rolling’s sister and a fellow St. Pius X kindergartner. Camille dressed as Mary at the Mass. Both boys donned the same St. Pius X costume and hat made by Deanna Gillen Rolling, Everett and Camille’s mother. (Photos courtesy of the Gillen and Rolling families)