Papal States under Pope Pius IX
The Papal States under Pope Pius IX assumed a much more modern and secular character than had been seen under previous pontificates, and yet this progressive modernization was not nearly sufficient in resisting the tide of political liberalization and unification in Italy during the middle of the 19th century.
A view of the Papal States from the perspective of the mid-19th century is readily available.[1]
Pius' internal administration
Pius IX was not only Pope, but until 1870 also the
Governmental structure
The governmental structure of the Papal States reflected the dual spiritual-secular character of the papacy at the time. The secular or lay persons were strongly in the majority with 6850 persons versus 300 members of the clergy. But the clergy occupied the key decision making positions and every job applicant had to present a character evaluation from his Parish priests in order to be considered.[4]
The Cardinal Secretary of State appointed and dismissed ministers of which three were lay people. Their decisions were subject to papal approvals. They were ministers for: Internal Affairs including Police and Health; Commerce, including trade, crafts and industry, agriculture, arts, railways; War, including the papal army; Clemency and Justice including police and the judiciary.[4]
Finance
The financial administration in the Papal States under Pius IX were increasingly put in the hands of lay persons. The budget and financial administration in the Papal States had long been subject to criticism even before Pius IX, and did not end with his papacy. In 1850, he created a governmental finance congregation consisting of four lay persons with finance background for the twenty provinces. The chronic budget deficit disappeared by 1858. There was a steady increase in
The criticism of the economic policies of Pius IX included the argument that the Pope maintained in Rome large areas for
In 1866 the Papal States joined the new Latin Monetary Union, which resulted in the replacement of the old Roman scudo with the new Papal lira.
Commerce and trade
Pius IX is credited with systematic efforts to improve
To increase commerce, Pius engaged in numerous and far-reaching agreements with neighbouring states but also with Belgium, United States, Russia, France, and Prussia to reduce mutual tariffs, equal treatment of commercial entities and ships from different states, crime fighting and postal conventions[8]
Justice
The justice system of the Papal States was subject to numerous accusations at the time, not unlike the justice systems in the rest of Italy. There was a general lack of legal books and standards, and accusations of partiality of the judges. Throughout Italy but also in the Papal States, mafia-type criminal bands threatened commerce and travellers in several regions, engaging in robbery and murder at will.[9] This problem, immortalized by Alessandro Manzoni's The Betrothed, and vividly described by the English Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, existed long before Pius IX. In 1854 a reform was issued, intended to clarify jurisdiction. In 1859, Pius ordered the creation of a unified criminal code. He also ordered a reform of Papal prisons and penal houses. The police was put under the Secretary of State, and given more authority and power. This contributed to a significant reduction of crime but also to accusations of partiality.[9]
Military
A unique position was granted to the Papal army, consisting almost exclusively of foreigners, since the Roman
During much of his pontificate, the military security was guaranteed by either Austria or France. However, the Austrian and French troops did not always behave like model Christians, creating resentments in the local population and furthering the nationalistic tendencies towards a unified Italy, free of any foreigners.[5]
Education
Liberals attacked Pius IX for his educational policies, which largely were a continuation of traditional Catholic education priorities with an accompanying neglect of the natural sciences on the primary and secondary level. Education was not mandatory in the Papal States, a fact which some attributed to the low educational standards in comparison to other countries. Secondary education was largely in private hands or in the control of Catholic institutes and religious orders. During his reign, Pius IX undertook innovative efforts: he created new schools for the handicapped and evening academies for persons to improve their education after working hours. He also created all-day schools for children whose parents were absent during the working hours.[8] To improve the overall situation, he created a ministry of education in 1851.[10]
The two papal universities in
Social life
There was one newspaper Giornale di Roma and one periodical,
Arts
Pius IX was a patron of the arts like most of his predecessors. The two theatres in Rome were popular in part because he exempted them from any papal
Great efforts were undertaken to restore historic walls, fountains, streets and bridges. He ordered the excavation of Roman sites, which led to several major discoveries. He ordered the strengthening of the
Protestants and Jews
The Papal States were a
In 1858, in a highly publicized case, a six-year-old Jewish boy,
were politely rejected.Foreign relations and effects of Italian unification
Rising tide of Italian nationalism
Pressures from Sardinia and Savoy
In the years that followed, Italian nationalists – both those who wished to unify the country under the Kingdom of Sardinia and its ruling House of Savoy and those who favored a republican solution – saw the Papal States as the chief obstacle to Italian unity. Louis Napoleon, who had now seized control of France as Emperor Napoleon III, tried to play a double game, simultaneously forming an alliance with Sardinia, playing on his famous uncle's nationalist credentials on the one hand and maintaining French troops in Rome to protect the Pope's rights on the other.
Second Italian War of Independence
After the
Rome declared capital of Italy
Rome was declared the capital of the new Kingdom of Italy in March 1861, when the first Italian Parliament met in the kingdom's old capital Turin in Piedmont. However, the Italian Government could not take possession of its capital, because Napoleon III kept a French garrison in Rome protecting Pope Pius IX. By the September Convention of 1864, Napoleon III agreed to withdraw French forces from Rome in return for Italy respecting the borders of the rump Papal States and moving its capital to Florence. French forces were withdrawn by 1866, but their absence encouraged Garibaldi to launch a renewed attempt to take Rome and French troops returned, defeating Garibaldi's expedition at the Battle of Mentana. The opportunity to eliminate the last vestige of the Papal States came when the Franco-Prussian War began in July 1870. Emperor Napoleon III had to recall his garrison from Rome for France's own defence and could no longer protect the pope, following the collapse of the Second French Empire at the Battle of Sedan.
Garibaldi's struggle against the papacy
After the defeat of Napoleon III at Sedan, Garibaldi went to France and assumed command of the Army of the Vosges, an army of volunteers that was never defeated by the Germans (see Giuseppe Garibaldi). widespread public demonstrations demanded that the Italian Government take Rome. King Victor Emmanuel II sent Count Gustavo Ponza di San Martino to Pius IX with a personal letter offering a face-saving proposal that would have allowed the peaceful entry of the Royal Italian Army into Rome, under the guise of offering protection to the pope.
- The Pope’s reception of San Martino (10 September 1870) was unfriendly. Pius IX allowed violent outbursts to escape him. Throwing the King’s letter upon the table he exclaimed: "Fine loyalty! You are all a set of vipers, of whited sepulchres, and wanting in faith." He was perhaps alluding to other letters received from the King. Later, growing calmer, he exclaimed: "I am no prophet, nor son of a prophet, but I tell you, you will never enter Rome!" San Martino was so mortified (or was aware of the impending hostilities) that he left the next day.[21]
Military resistance to Italy
On September 10, Italy declared war on the Papal States, and the Italian Army, commanded by General
Capture of Rome
This event, described in Italian history books as a liberation, was taken very bitterly by the Pope. The Italian government had offered to allow the Pope to retain control of the Leonine City on the west bank of the Tiber, but Pius rejected the overture. Early the following year, the capital of Italy was moved from Florence to Rome and the Italian parliament passed the Law of Guarantees, which the Pope also did not accept. The Pope, whose previous residence, the Quirinal Palace, had become the royal palace of the kings of Italy, withdrew in protest into the Vatican, where he lived as a self-proclaimed "prisoner", refusing to leave or to set foot in St. Peter's Square, and forbidding (Non Expedit) Catholics on pain of excommunication to participate in elections in the new Italian state, an action which effectively guaranteed that only persons hostile to the Catholic Church would be involved in the new government.
Prisoner of the Vatican
In 1929, the papacy – then under Pope Pius XI – renounced its claim to the Papal States[22] and signed with Italy the Lateran Treaty, which created the independent state of Vatican City, "under the sovereignty of the Supreme Pontiff".[23]
References
- ISBN 978-1-4255-1934-6. This book is a primary reference, written by a French Catholic observer who visited the Papal States at the time. It is opinionated, claiming to convey the opinions of the Pope's subjects at the time. The text is available a no cost from Project Gutenberg.
- ^ Schmidlin 45
- ^ Schmidlin 47
- ^ a b Stehle 47
- ^ a b c Schmidlin 50
- ^ a b Schmidlin 51
- ^ a b Schmidlin 52
- ^ a b c d Schmidlin 53
- ^ a b Schmidlin 49
- ^ a b c Schmidlin 63
- ^ 1851
- ^ a b Schmidlin 54
- ^ a b Schmidlin 55
- ^ Schmidlin 59
- ^ a b Schmidlin 61
- ^ Schmidlin 62
- ^ Pougeois II, p. 429.
- ^ Pougeois III, 258
- ^ Pougeois IV, p. 200.
- ^ Pougeois IV, p. 196.
- ^ De Cesare, Raffaele (1909). The Last Days of Papal Rome. London: Archibald Constable & Co.
- ^ "The Holy See ... declares that the 'Roman Question' has been definitely and irrevocably settled and therefore eliminated and it recognizes the Kingdom of Italy under the Dynasty of the House of Savoy with Rome as the capital of the Italian State" (Article 26 of the Lateran Treaty.) Archived 2011-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Article 26 of the Lateran Treaty
- Pougeois, Histoire de Pie IX, son pontificat et son siecle, Vol I-VI, Paris, 1877
- Schmidlin, Josef, Papstgeschichte, Vol I-IV, Köstel-Pusztet München, 1922-1939