Pope Pius V

About Pope Pius V

Pope Pius V (1504–1572) was a pivotal religious figure who served as Pope from 1566 until his death. He is most remembered for his role in the Counter-Reformation, notably promulgating the Roman Catechism and reforming the Roman Rite of the Mass with the *Quo Primum* decree, solidifying traditional Catholic practice after the Council of Trent. His considerable influence in shaping modern Catholicism secures his position at #675 on the Historical Popularity Index (HPI) among approximately 15,000 influential figures.

Despite this significant historical standing, the modern internet pays relatively little attention to him, exhibiting a notable attention gap of -2x. In 2025, his Wikipedia pageviews totaled 157K. This is markedly lower than that of Benedict of Nursia, a contemporary religious figure ranked slightly less important at #725 but who garnered 433K views, or even Pope Leo I (#720 importance) with 759K views. The data suggests a significant contemporary online oversight of Pius V's critical role in post-Reformation Catholicism.

Interestingly, while his overall momentum is slightly down (-4% from Q1 to Q3), his year-over-year growth was strong at +56.9%, suggesting recent, albeit perhaps temporary, spikes in interest.