NYNEWYOR-L Archives

From: "Elizabeth V Cardinal" <>
Subject: Interesting family history
Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 14:28:32 -0400

You never know just who you might be related to....and you will never know
if you don't research.

Patricia Szalwinski, third cousin of Pope St. Pius X, shows off a drawing
done of the late Pope in 1955, a second-class relic. (Staff photos by Holly
Mutz)
Amy Seiford 01.JUN.05
With the recent passing of Pope John Paul II, the papacy has been a topic on
the lips of not only Catholics, but people of all denominations around the
world.

More than a billion Catholics worldwide look to the Pope as a leader in
faith. So imagine how it must feel to find out you're related to a past
Pope.

A number of area residents know that feeling, because they are related to
Giuseppe Sarto, who became Pope Pius X. Pope Pius X was elected Pope in 1903
and served until 1914.

Among the late Pope's local relatives are Patricia Szalwinski and her
daughter, Pamela Ramos.

They learned they are related to Pope Pius X through the exhaustive research
of Szalwinski's aunt, the late Gladys Collins.

Szalwinski knew about the religious relationship when she was in high
school, but didn't realize the significance of it.

"Now, I can't believe it," Szalwinski said. "This is a wonderment."

Ramos also learned of the relationship to the Pope in her childhood.

"It's interesting because some people are related to the president, and to
me, the Pope is above that," Ramos said.

The relationship goes back hundreds of years. Three Sarto brothers were born
in Italy in the early 1700s: Giuseppe (who later changed his name to Joseph
Krawiec), Marco, and Angelo. Krawiec's great-great-great-granddaughter is
Szalwinski. Angelo Sarto's great-grandson was Giuseppe Sarto, who would
become Pope Pius X. Therefore, the two are distant cousins, according to
Szalwinski.

Pope Pius X is known most for encouraging the revision of the Catholic
church's music, including incorporating the Gregorian chant into Masses. He
also urged frequent communion and lowered the age for children to receive
communion.

He was canonized on May 29, 1954, making him the first Pope to be named a
saint in 342 years. Collins attended the event in Rome.

"She received a sliver of bone at the canonization," Szalwinski said. "She
kept it locked away in her home."

The sliver of bone is a first-class relic of the deceased Pope. In the
Catholic religion, relics are treated with the utmost respect and honor.

Szalwinski said her sister, the late Virginia Zaiontz, helped Collins with
much of her research.

"She helped organize the information," Szalwinski said. "She wrote a lot
down and made a calendar charting our relation to Pope Pius X."

After Collins passed away, Zaiontz received many of the relics and religious
memorabilia that Collins had collected. Although Zaiontz has passed away as
well, Szalwinski works hard to keep the legacy alive.

Szalwinski's family, who are all Catholic, have embraced their religion more
so because of the bloodline.

Ramos said the relationship, although not the basis for her spirituality,
serves as a driving force behind her Catholic ties.

"It's made us stronger as far as religion," Ramos said. "My kids and I pray
before I drop them off at school to help with guidance and things like
that."

Recently, Szalwinski and her brother-in-law, Fabian Zaiontz (husband of the
late Virginia Zaiontz), unlocked a safe holding a Pope St. Pius X
first-class relic from the Vatican.

But because both Szalwinski's aunt and sister have passed away, she isn't
sure what the relic is: the sliver of bone or the fabric from one of the
former Pope's garments. It may be a question both she and Zaiontz may never
have answered.

"There's so much we don't know, because there is no one to ask," Szalwinski
said. "But these are things that are very dear to me. It just shows how much
you should talk to people when they are alive."

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• Interesting family history by "Elizabeth V Cardinal" <>