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.