Note: E.M. Standing, long-time friend of Maria Montessori, bequeathed all of his writings to the Montessori Study Center at Seattle University, from whom Julia Fogassy obtained permission to reprint the following article:

Though Montessori, in carrying out the vow she had made to herself to make known to the world the higher possibilities of childhood which had been revealed to her, met with opposition from Catholics (including some members of the clergy) there was never any doubt thrown upon the essential Catholicity of her work by the highest ecclesiastical authorities in Rome.

Some half dozen Pontiffs reigned on the throne of St. Peter during her long lifetime, and with most of these she was in some way or other personally connected.

First was Leo XIII.

Whether Montessori actually met this great and learned Pope in person we do not know; but we do know that when, as a student, she made up her mind to study medicine at the University of Rome, it created a great fuss, and much opposition was raised against the propriety of anyone of her sex becoming a medical student. Finally, the matter was placed before the Pope, who is reported to have said that he "knew of no authority which could forbid the mission of healing to women."

When Montessori began her first experiments with normal children in the slum tenement district in San Lorenzo, Rome - the results of which made her suddenly famous throughout the world - Pius X was then reigning on the Papal throne.

This Holy Father, now St. Pius X, was well-acquainted with the Dottoressa's method and described it as "a work for the regeneration of the child." In 1910, he gave his personal permission, in an autographed letter, for the course which Montessori gave at the Mother House of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in Via Guisti.

On Easter Sunday of the following year, St. Pope Pius sent the following blessing to the children in the Montessori Home run by the sisters of the same order:

To the dear children in the Montessori Home, accepting with true gratitude their cordial good wishes for the Holy Eastertide, with the wish that they continue to propser; to their charming teacher and to the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, with special benevolence and auspices of divine grace, we impart from our heart the Apostolic Benediction (Given from the Vatican, 1911 by Pope Pius X)

St. Pius X was succeeded by Pope Benedict XV.

It was probably through the instrumentality of Monsignor Barbere, SJ, who used to say Mass in Montessori's own home, that she was enabled to have a private interview with him. Monsignor was at that time Confessor to Benedict XV.

"At that interview," said Dr. Montessori, "I began to speak to the Holy Father about the idea I had in mind at the time of founding a White Cross movement for children who were war victims; but he brushed that aside and said, 'Tell me about your method.' which I did; and we talked together for some two hours."

Shortly after this interview, Montessori went to Spain. Whilst there, she received a message from the Pope the purport of which was that she should return to Italy and found a new organization. Later that very day, however, came the news that Benedict had fallen ill. And at the same time, Montessori herself fell ill. By the time she had recovered, the Pope himself had died and his confessor "tucked away in some remoted spot and forgotten." This same Pope had sent her an autographed photograph with his Apostolic Blessing; and also requested that her books be placed in the Vatican Library.

It would be tedious to mention all the points of connection which Dr. Montessori had between the members of the hierarchy in Rome and in other countries, such as the private audience with Pope Pius XII in 1947.

On that occasion she was taken to the Pope's own apartment on his private elevator, issuing from which she found His Holiness' own wheelchair waiting to convey her to his private library. It was this same Pope who sent his personal blessing on Montessori's 80th birthday, which was read aloud by the archbishop at a birthday celebration at the municipal palace at Perugia.

Before we leave the subject, we might recall that Pope John XXIII was personally acquainted with Montessori when he was still Patriarch of Venice.

He had a very high appreciation of the value of her work and described it in the following terms:

It is possible to see a clear analogy between the mission of the Shepherd of the Church and that of the prudent and generous Montessori directress - who with tenderness and love knows how to discover and bring to light the most hidden virtues and capacities of the child.