Pope Pius IX

Pope Pius IX (

In his 1849 encyclical Ubi primum, he emphasized Mary's role in salvation. In 1854, he promulgated the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, articulating a long-held Catholic belief that Mary, the Mother of God, was conceived without original sin. His 1864 Syllabus of Errors was a strong condemnation of liberalism, modernism, moral relativism, secularization, separation of church and state, and other Enlightenment ideas.

His appeal for financial support revived global donations known as Peter's Pence. He strengthened the central power of the Holy See and Roman Curia over the worldwide Catholic Church, while also formalizing the pope's ultimate doctrinal authority (the dogma of papal infallibility defined in 1870). Pope John Paul II beatified him in 2000.

Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti was born on 13 May 1792 in

In 1814, as a theology student in his hometown of Sinigaglia, he met Pope Pius VII, who had returned from French captivity. In 1815, he entered the Papal Noble Guard but was soon dismissed after an epileptic seizure.^[5] He threw himself on the mercy of Pius VII, who elevated him and supported his continued theological studies.

Mastai-Ferretti was ordained a priest on 10 April 1819. The Pope had originally insisted that another priest should assist Mastai-Ferretti during Holy Mass, but rescinded the stipulation after the seizures became less frequent.^[6] He initially worked as the rector of the Tata Giovanni Institute in Rome.

Shortly before his death, Pius VII – following Chilean leader

The conclave of 1846, following the death of Pope Gregory XVI (1831–1846), took place in an unsettled political climate within Italy. The conclave was steeped in a factional division between right and left. The conservatives on the right favoured the hardline stances and papal absolutism of the previous pontificate, while liberals supported moderate reforms.^[10] The conservatives supported Luigi Lambruschini, the late pope's Cardinal Secretary of State. Liberals supported two candidates: Tommaso Pasquale Gizzi and the then 54-year-old Mastai Ferretti.^[11]

During the first ballot, Mastai-Ferretti received 15 votes, the rest going to Lambruschini and Gizzi. Lambruschini received a majority of the votes in the early ballots but failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority. Gizzi was favoured by the

Faced with a deadlock and urgently persuaded by Bernetti to reject Lambruschini, liberals and moderates decided to cast their votes for Mastai-Ferretti, in a move that contradicted the general mood throughout Europe. On the evening of the second day of the conclave, 16 June 1846, Mastai-Ferretti was elected pope. "He was a glamorous candidate, ardent, emotional with a gift for friendship and a track-record of generosity even towards anti-Clericals and Carbonari. He was a patriot, known to be critical of Gregory XVI."^[11] Because it was night, no formal announcement was given, just the signal of white smoke.

On the following morning, the Cardinal protodeacon, Tommaso Riario Sforza, announced the election of Mastai Ferretti before a crowd of faithful Catholics. When Mastai-Ferretti appeared on the balcony, the mood became joyous. He chose the name of Pius IX in honour of Pope Pius VII, who had encouraged his vocation to the priesthood despite his childhood epilepsy. However, the new pope had little diplomatic experience and no curial experience at all. Pius IX was crowned on 21 June 1846.

The election of the liberal Pius IX created much enthusiasm in Europe and elsewhere. "For the next twenty months after the election, Pius IX was the most popular man on the Italian peninsula, where the exclamation "Long life to Pius IX!" was often heard.^[14]

Cardinal Mastai Ferretti entered the papacy in 1846, amidst widespread expectations that he would be a champion of reform and modernization in the Papal States, which he ruled directly, and in the entire Catholic Church. Admirers wanted him to lead the battle for Italian independence. His later turn toward profound conservatism shocked and dismayed his original supporters, while surprising and delighting the conservative old guard.[18]

The most notable event in Pius IX's long pontificate was the end of the Papal States, which lay in the middle of the "Italian boot" around the central area of Rome. In contrast, he led the worldwide Church toward an ever-increasing centralization and consolidation of power in Rome and the papacy. More than his predecessors, Pius used the papal pulpit to address the bishops of the world. The First Vatican Council (1869–1870), which he convened to consolidate papal authority further, was considered a milestone not only in his pontificate but also in ecclesiastical history through its defining of the dogma of papal infallibility.^[20]

After the First Vatican Council concluded, an emissary of the Roman Curia was dispatched to secure the signatures of Patriarch Gregory II Youssef and the rest of the Melkite delegation who had voted non placet at the general congregation and left Rome prior to the adoption of the dogmatic constitution Pastor aeternus on papal infallibility. Gregory and the Melkite bishops ultimately subscribed to it, but added the qualifying clause used at the Council of Florence: "except the rights and privileges of Eastern patriarchs."^[21] This earned Gregory the enmity of Pius IX; during his next visit to the pontiff, before leaving Rome, when Gregory was kneeling, Pius placed his knee on the patriarch's shoulder, just saying to him: Testa dura! (You headstrong!).^[22][23] In spite of this event, Gregory and the Melkite Greek Catholic Church remained committed to their union with the Holy See.

Part of a series on
Integralism
Principles Anti-communism Anti-liberalism Anti-fascism Anti-Masonry Anti-Zionism Catholic social teaching Common good Confessionalism Consistent life ethic Corporatism Counter-revolution Fueros ) Medievalism (Medieval Church-State Estamentalism Manorialism Feudal duties Medieval Communalism) Organicism Doctrine of the two swords Cooperativism Guildism) Deposing power ) Ecclesiastical court "Error has no rights" Familialism Gelasian Diarchy Integral Education Integral nationalism Integral state Monarchism (Accidentalism) Natural law Panhispanism Patriotism Political traditionalism Res publica Christiana Sun and Moon allegory Social Kingship Solidarity Traditionalist Catholicism Ultramontanism
Variants Brazilian Neo- Catholic French Lusitano Spanish
Thinkers Aquinas Augustine Balmes Barbey d'Aurevilly Billot Blanc de Bonald Castellani Cuesta Delassus Donoso Cortés Eyzaguirre Ezcurra Feser Fita Fontcuberta Gago Gaume Gelasius I Genta Gómez Gómez Davila González Groulx Hahn Madiran Maeztu Maurras Meinvielle Menéndez y Pelayo Ousset Pemán Pie Pius IX Pius X le Play Raposo Reale Salgado Salvany dos Santos Sardinha Solana Taparelli Urquiza Valdivieso Vázquez de Mella Vermeule Veuillot
Politicians Abascal Ahimeir Barroso Clavarana Constantine I Estévanez Fernández García Gomar Gómez Lamamié (José) Lamamié (Juan) Larraín Louis IX Maurras Moreno Nocedal Olazábal du Pin Pujo Quiroga Rocamora Sánchez Santamaria dos Santos Senante de Villèle
Works Catholic Bible The City of God De regno, ad regem Cypri Treatise on Law El liberalismo es pecado Papal documents (Famuli vestrae pietatis Mirari Vos Quanta Cura Immortale Dei Rerum novarum Pascendi Dominici Gregis ) El Siglo Futuro Mes idées politiques O que é o Integralismo
Organizations Action Française Acción Española Brazilian Patrianovist Imperial Action Brazilian Integralist Action Brazilian Integralist Front Catalan Patriotic Movement Catholic and Royal Army Cristeros Integrist Party Milícia Catalana Palmarian Catholic Church Los TECOS El Yunque Popular Representation Party Sanfedisti Viva Maria
Related Ad maiorem Dei gloriam Traditionalism Legitimism Federales Carlism Christ the King Deus vult Miguelism Neocatólicos Sodalitium Pianum Clerico-nationalism Clerical fascism (Estado Novo Falangism Francoism Tacuara ) Nacionalismo Person Dignity Theory Orthodox Peronism Third Position Common good constitutionalism Gremialismo
Politics portal
v t e

The ecclesiastical policies of Pius IX were dominated by defence of the rights of the church and the free exercise of religion for Catholics in countries such as Russia and the Ottoman Empire. He also fought against what he perceived to be anti-Catholic philosophies in countries such as Italy, Germany, and France. The German Empire sought to restrict and weaken the Church for a decade after the Franco-Prussian War.^[24]

Pius IX celebrated several jubilees including the 300th anniversary of the

Pius IX created 122 new cardinals, of whom 64 were alive at his death; at the time membership in the

According to Bishop Cipriano Calderón, the pope intended to make the Bishop of Michoacán, Juan Cayetano Gómez de Portugal y Solís, a cardinal in 1850 and even had Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli send a letter to him to express his intentions. He would have been the first Latin American cardinal had he not died before the next consistory. According to the Benedictine monk Guy-Marie Oury, a letter addressed by Prosper Guéranger to his Benedictine colleague Léandre Fonteinne on 6 March 1856 indicated that Guéranger had learned that Pius IX wanted to name him a cardinal in November 1855, but he refused the honor because he did not want to live in Rome. As a result, Pius IX made the Bishop of La Rochelle Clément Villecourt a cardinal instead.^[29]

On 22 August 1861, the pope informed the Patriarch of Venice Angelo Ramazzotti that he would name him a cardinal, however, Ramazzoti died three days before the consistory. Also in 1861, the dean of the Sacred Rota Ignazio Alberghini declined the pope's offer of nomination into the Sacred College. In December 1863, Pius IX intended to elevate the Archbishop of Gniezno and Poznań Leon Michał Przyłuski to the cardinalate, but he died before the consistory took place. In 1866, Pius IX wanted to nominate a Barnabite to the College of Cardinals before he opened the First Vatican Council. While the pope originally decided on appointing Carlo Vercellone, a noted biblical scholar, Vercellone refused due to his precarious health, instead proposing that Pius IX instead nominate Luigi Bilio. In 1868, Pius IX nominated Andre Pila to the cardinalate, however, he died the day before he would have been elevated as the only person for elevation in that April consistory. Also in 1868, Pius IX offered the cardinalate to the Bishop of Concepción José Hipólito Salas whom he had met during the First Vatican Council, inviting him to join the Roman Curia. However, the bishop preferred to live in Chile and declined the offer, while Pius IX did not offer it again in the future.^[29]

In 1875, Pius IX intended to nominate the papal

Pope Pius IX canonized 52 saints during his pontificate. He canonized notable saints such as the Martyrs of Japan (8 June 1862), Josaphat Kuntsevych (29 June 1867), and Nicholas Pieck (29 June 1867). Pius IX further beatified 222 individuals throughout his papacy, including the likes of Benedict Joseph Labre, Peter Claver, and his two predecessors Pope Eugene III and Pope Urban V.

Pius IX named three new

Pius IX was not only pope but, until 1870, also the last sovereign ruler of the Papal States. As a secular ruler he was occasionally referred to as "king",^[30] though it is unclear whether the Holy See ever accepted this title. Ignaz von Döllinger, a fervent critic of Pius' infallibility dogma, considered the political regime of the pope in the Papal States "wise, well-intentioned, mild-natured, frugal and open for innovations".^[31] Yet there was controversy. In the period before the 1848 revolutions, Pius was a most ardent reformer advised by such innovative thinkers as Antonio Rosmini (1797–1855), who reconciled the new free-thinking concerning human rights with the classical natural law tradition of the church's political and economic teaching on social justice.^[32] After the revolution, however, his political reforms and constitutional improvements were minimal, remaining largely within the framework of the 1850 laws mentioned above.^[33]

Paul

The centre of Rome showing the Colosseum and Roman Forum

around 1870. Almost rural in character, it was known as the "Campo Vaccino" or "cattle field"

Pius IX's liberal policies initially made him very popular throughout Italy. He appointed an able and enlightened minister, Pellegrino Rossi, to administer the Papal States. He also showed himself hostile to Austrian influences, delighting Italian patriots, who hailed him as the coming redeemer of Italy. "They want to make a Napoleon of me who am only a poor country parson", he once declared.^[34]

In Pius' early years as pope, the government of the Papal States improved agricultural technology and productivity via farmer education in newly created scientific agricultural institutes. It abolished the requirements for Jews to attend Christian services and sermons and opened the papal charities to the needy amongst them. The new pope freed all political prisoners by giving amnesty to revolutionaries, which horrified the conservative monarchies in the Austrian Empire and elsewhere.^[11] "He was celebrated in New York City, London and Berlin as a model ruler."^[11]

In 1848, Pius IX released a new constitution titled the "Fundamental Statute for the Secular Government of the States of the Church". The governmental structure of the Papal States reflected the dual spiritual-secular character of the papacy. The secular or laypersons were strongly in the majority with 6,850 persons versus 300 members of the clergy. Nevertheless, the clergy made key decisions and every job applicant had to present a character evaluation from his parish priest to be considered.^{[35][full citation needed]}

Financial administration in the Papal States under Pius IX was increasingly put in the hands of laymen. The budget and financial administration in the Papal States had long been subject to criticism even before Pius IX. In 1850, he created a government finance body ("congregation") consisting of four laymen with finance backgrounds for the 20 provinces. After joining the Latin Monetary Union in 1866, the old Roman scudo was replaced by the new Papal lira.

Pius IX is credited with systematic efforts to improve manufacturing and trade by giving advantages and papal prizes to domestic producers of

The justice system of the Papal States was subject to much criticism, not unlike the justice systems in the rest of Italy. Legal books were scarce, standards inconsistent, and judges were often accused of favoritism. In the Papal States and throughout Italy, organized criminal gangs threatened commerce and travelers, engaging in robbery and murder at will.[37]

The Papal army in 1859 had 15,000 soldiers.^[38] A separate military body, the elite Swiss Guard, served as the Pope's personal bodyguard.

The two papal universities in Rome and Bologna suffered much from revolutionary activities in 1848 but their standards in the areas of science, mathematics, philosophy and theology were considered adequate.^[39] Pius recognized that much had to be done and instituted a reform commission in 1851.

During his tenure, Catholics and

A hagiographic presentation of Pius IX

Illustration of the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran

Like most of his predecessors, Pius IX was a patron of the arts. He supported architecture, painting, sculpture, music, goldsmiths, coppersmiths, and more, and handed out numerous rewards to artists.^[41] Much of his efforts went to renovate and improve churches in Rome and the Papal States.^[42]

He ordered the strengthening of the Colosseum, which was feared to be on the verge of collapse.^[43] Huge sums were spent in the excavation of the Christian Catacombs of Rome, for which Pius created a new archaeological commission in 1853.

The Papal States were a

Pius IX was the last pope who also functioned as a secular ruler and the monarch of the

Two paintings by Karl Bryullov showing the political situation of the time. (Left): Manifestation in Rome (Speech of Pope Pius IX from the balcony of the Papal Palace); (right): Demonstration in Rome in 1846

Though he was well aware upon his accession of the political pressures within the Papal States, Pius IX's first act was a general amnesty for political prisoners, despite the potential consequences. The freed revolutionaries resumed their previous political activities, and his concessions only provoked greater demands as patriotic Italian groups sought not only a constitutional government – to which he was sympathetic – but also the unification of Italy under his leadership and a war of liberation to free the northern Italian provinces from the rule of Catholic Austria.^[47] By early 1848, all of Western Europe began to be convulsed in various revolutionary movements.^[48] The Pope, claiming to be above national interests, refused to go to war with Austria, which reversed Pius' popularity in his native Italy.^[47] In a calculated, well-prepared move, Prime Minister Rossi was assassinated on 15 November 1848, and in the days following, the Swiss Guards were disarmed, making the Pope a prisoner in his palace.^[49] However, he succeeded in escaping Rome several days later.

A

He visited the hospitals to comfort the wounded and sick, but he seemed to have lost both his liberal tastes and his confidence in the Romans, who had turned against him in 1848.^[citation needed] Pius decided to move his residence from the Quirinal Palace inside Rome to the Vatican, where popes have lived ever since.^[31]

After defeating the Papal army on 18 September 1860 at the

Pius IX refused to recognize the new Italian kingdom, which he denounced as an illegitimate creation of revolution. He excommunicated the nation's leaders, including King Victor Emmanuel II, whom he denounced as "forgetful of every religious principle, despising every right, trampling upon every law," whose reign over Italy was therefore "a sacrilegious usurpation."[53]

In response to the upheavals faced by the Papal States during the 1848 revolutions, the Mexican government offered Pope Pius IX asylum, which the pope responded to by considering the creation of a Mexican cardinal and granting an award to President José Joaquín de Herrera.^[54]

With French Emperor Napoleon III's military intervention in Mexico and establishment of the Second Mexican Empire under Maximilian I in 1864, the church sought relief from a friendly government after the anti-clerical actions of Benito Juárez, who had suspended payment on foreign debt and seized ecclesial property.^[55][56][57]

Pius blessed Maximilian and his wife Charlotte of Belgium before they set off for Mexico to begin their reign.^[58] But the friction between the Vatican and Mexico would continue with the new emperor when Maximilian insisted on freedom of religion, which Pius opposed. Relations with the Vatican would only be resumed when Maximilian sent the recently converted American Catholic priest Father Agustin Fischer to Rome as his envoy.^{[citation needed]}

Contrary to Fischer's reports back to Maximilian, the negotiations did not go well and the Vatican would not budge.^[59] Maximilian sent his wife Charlotte to Europe to plead with Napoleon III against the withdrawal of French troops from Mexico. After unsuccessful meetings with Napoleon III, Charlotte travelled to Rome to plead with Pius in 1866. As the days passed, Charlotte's mental state deteriorated.^[60] She sought refuge with the pope, and she would eat and drink only what was prepared for him, fearful that everything else might be poisoned. The pope, though alarmed, accommodated her, and even agreed to let her stay in the Vatican one night after she voiced anxiety about her safety. She and her assistant were the first women to stay the night inside the Vatican.^[61]

England for centuries was considered missionary territory for the Catholic Church.^[20] In the wake of Catholic emancipation in the United Kingdom (which included all of Ireland), Pius IX changed that with the bull Universalis Ecclesiae (29 September 1850). He re-established the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales, under the newly appointed Archbishop and Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman with 12 additional episcopal seats: Southwark, Hexham, Beverley, Liverpool, Salford, Shrewsbury, Newport, Clifton, Plymouth, Nottingham, Birmingham, and Northampton.^[62] Some violent street protests against the "papal aggression" resulted in the passage of the Ecclesiastical Titles Act 1851, which forbade any Catholic bishop to use an episcopal title "of any city, town or place, or of any territory or district (under any designation or description whatsoever), in the United Kingdom".^[63] The law was never enforced and was repealed twenty years later.^[64]

Pius donated money to Ireland during the Great Famine.^[65] In 1847 he addressed the suffering Irish people in the encyclical Praedecessores nostros.

The Dutch government instituted religious freedom for Catholics in 1848.

Pope Pius IX approved on 7 February 1847 the unanimous request of the American bishops that the

Beginning in October 1862, the Pope began sending public letters to Catholic leaders in the United States calling for an end to the "destructive Civil War."^[69] According to historian Don H. Doyle, however, "During the American Civil War, the pope ... urged American bishops to call for peace at a time when peace meant separation, and privately he expressed strong sympathies with the South. The Confederacy sent envoys to enlist Pio Nono in their cause and came away boasting the most powerful pontiff in Europe had recognized the Confederacy. The pope said nothing to refute such claims...."^[70]

The Vatican never recognized the Confederate States of America or sent any diplomats to it. However, in 1863 the pope did meet privately with a Confederate envoy and suggested gradual emancipation.^[71] A letter of Pius IX to Jefferson Davis in December 1863, addressing him as "Praesidi foederatorum Americae regionum" (President of the federated regions of America), was not seen as recognition of the Confederacy, even by its own officials: Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin interpreted it as "a mere inferential recognition, unconnected with political action or the regular establishment of diplomatic relations" without the weight of formal recognition.^[72]

Pius IX elevated Archbishop John McCloskey of New York as the first American to the College of Cardinals on 15 March 1875.^[73]

Pius IX increased the number of Canadian dioceses from four to 21, with 1,340 churches and 1,620 priests in 1874.^[74]

Pius IX signed concordats with Spain, Austria, Tuscany, Portugal, Haiti, Honduras, Ecuador, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Russia.^[28]

The

In Germany, the state of Prussia, under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck, saw Catholicism as a dangerous foreign influence, and in 1872–1878 fought hard to reduce the power of the pope and the bishops. After years of struggle in the Kulturkampf, the Catholics fought back by mobilising their voters in Prussia and in Germany as a whole. After Pius died, Bismarck came to terms with the new Pope Leo XIII. He dropped his alliance with the anti-Catholic Liberals and instead formed a political coalition with the Catholic Centre Party.^[77]

The

Pius IX in a papal train, 1862. He was the first pope to be photographed.^[81]

Pius IX in the inauguration of the "Ponte dell'Industria" railway bridge, September 1863

Blessing of the Pontifical Troops, 1870

Several times during his pontificate, Pius IX considered moving from Rome. On 24 November 1848, facing a rebellion by Italian nationalists, he fled to Gaeta in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, returning in 1850.

On 26 July 1862, when Giuseppe Garibaldi and his volunteers marching in Rome were stopped at Aspromonte, Pius IX asked the British envoy Odo Russell if he would be granted political asylum in England after the Italian troops had marched in. Russell assured him of asylum if the need arose, but said that he was sure that the Pope's fears were unfounded.^[82] In 1870, after the Capture of Rome and the suspension of the First Vatican Council, Otto von Bismarck confided that Pius IX had asked whether Prussia could grant him asylum. Bismarck did not object, adding "it would be very useful to us to be recognised by Catholics as what we really are, that is to say, the sole power now existing that is capable of protecting the head of their Church. ... But the King (Wilhelm I) will not consent. He is terribly afraid. He thinks all Prussia would be perverted and he himself would be obliged to become a Catholic. I told him, however, that if the Pope begged for asylum he could not refuse it."^[83]

Pius was adamant about his role as the highest teaching authority in the church,^[84] as expressed in the dogma of Papal infallibility defined by the First Vatican Council in 1870.

Pius issued a record 38 encyclicals. They include:

• Qui pluribus 1846, his first encyclical, on faith and religion
• Praedecessores nostros 1847 on aid for Ireland
• The Immaculate Conception
• Nostis et nobiscum 1849 on the church in the Papal States
• Neminem vestrum 1854 on the bloody persecution of Armenians
• Cum nuper 1858 on care for clerics
• Amantissimus 1862 on care of the churches
• solemn vows
  are prescribed
• Quanta cura 1864, with its appendix the Syllabus of Errors
• Meridionali Americae 1865 on the Seminary for the Native Clergy
• Omnem sollicitudinem 1874 on the Greek-Ruthenian Rite
• Quod nunquam 1875 on the Church in Prussia

Unlike popes in the 20th century, Pius IX did not use encyclicals to explain the faith, but to condemn what he considered errors. He was the first pope to popularize encyclicals on a large scale to foster his views.

First Vatican Council

Main article: First Vatican Council

After prior consultation of the hierarchy in Ubi primum (see above), Pius decisively acted on the century-old disagreement between Dominicans and Franciscans regarding the Immaculate Conception of Mary, deciding in favour of the Franciscan view.^[87]

However, his defining this infallible dogma raised a question: Can a pope make such decisions without the authority of the bishops? This doctrine of papal infallibility, enhancing the role of the papacy and decreasing the role of the bishops, became a topic of the First Vatican Council convened in 1869.^[87]

Institutions

Pius IX approved 74 new religious congregations for women alone. In France, he created over 200 new dioceses and created new hierarchies in several countries.^[88] He supported Catholic associations such as the Ambrosian Circle in Italy, the Union of Catholic Workers in France, and the Pius Verein and the Deutsche Katholische Gesellschaft in Germany, whose purpose was to bring the fullness of Catholic faith to people outside the church.^[89]

Later years and death

Since 1868, the pope had been plagued first by facial

papal audiences.^[92] On 8 December, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

, his situation improved markedly to the point that he could walk again.

By February, he could say Mass again on his own in a standing position, enjoying the popular celebration of the 75th anniversary of his First Communion. Bronchitis, a fall to the floor, and rising temperature worsened his situation after 4 February 1878. He continued joking about himself: when the Cardinal Vicar of Rome ordered bell-ringing and non-stop prayers for his recuperation, the pope asked, "Why do you want to stop me from going to heaven?" He told his doctor that his time had come.^[93]

Pius IX lived just long enough to witness the death of his old adversary,

Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, in January 1878. As soon as he learned about the seriousness of the situation of the king, he absolved him of all excommunications and other ecclesiastical punishments. Pius IX died one month later on 7 February 1878 at 5:40 pm, aged 85, while saying the rosary with his staff. The cause of death was epilepsy, which led to a seizure and a sudden heart attack.^[94] His last words were, "Guard the Church I loved so well and sacredly", as recorded by the cardinals kneeling beside his bedside.^{[citation needed]} His death concluded the second-longest pontificate in papal history, after that of Saint Peter

, who tradition holds had reigned for 37 years.

His body was originally buried in the

John Paul II after his beatification

.

Beatification

Blessed Pius IX
Portrait by George Peter Alexander Healy, 1871 (oil on canvas, 73.6 × 43.1 cm; Museo Pio IX)
Papal attire Papal tiara
Patronage	Senigallia First Vatican Council Diocese of Senigallia

The process for his

Venerable on 6 July 1985 (upon confirming his life of heroic virtue

), and beatified him on 3 September 2000 (his annual liturgical commemoration is 7 February, the date of his death).

The beatification of Pius IX was controversial and was criticized by some Jews and Christians because of what was perceived as his authoritarian, reactionary politics; the accusation of abuse of episcopal powers; and

Edgardo Mortara, but also his reinstituting the Roman ghetto).^[97]

Legacy

Pius IX celebrated his

longest reign in the history of the post-apostolic papacy, 31 years, 7 months, and 23 days. As his temporal sovereignty was lost, the Church rallied around him, and the papacy became more centralized, encouraged by his personal habits of simplicity.^[98]

Pius IX's pontificate marks the beginning of the modern papacy: from his time on, it has become increasingly a spiritual rather than temporal authority.

Having started as a liberal, Pius IX turned conservative after being chased from Rome. Thereafter, he was considered politically conservative, but a restless and radical reformer and innovator of Church life and structures. Church life, religious vocations, new foundations and religious enthusiasm all flourished at the end of his pontificate.

infallible decision of the Immaculate Conception, which was the basis for the later dogma on the Assumption. His other lasting contribution is the invocation of the ecumenical council Vatican One, which promulgated the definition of Papal infallibility. With his advice he helped John Bosco found the Salesian Society, for which reason he is also called "don Bosco's Pope".^[100]

• In two nights after his 1846 pardon freeing all political prisoners, thousands of Romans with torches roamed to the Quirinal Palace, where Pius IX lived, celebrating the pope with Evvivas, speeches and music through both nights. The Pope went several times to the balcony to give his blessing. On the third day, when his horse-drawn carriage left the Palace to move to the Vatican, Romans unhitched the horses and pulled the papal carriage on their own.^[101]
• On 16 November 1848, a crowd of revolutionaries moved to the Quirinal and the Parliament to present to the Pope their demands, especially war against Austria. The Pope reportedly replied, his dignity as head of state and of the church does not permit him to fulfil conditions of rebels. Following this, the Quirinal was covered by cannon fire, which caused several deaths. After that, to save lives, the Pope agreed to a list of proposed ministers, although stating that he would abstain from any cooperation with them.^[102]
• After the French troops, who had previously protected the Papal States, left Rome, an Italian army with 60,000 men approached the city, which was defended by only 10,000 Papal soldiers. The Pope instructed his hopelessly outnumbered soldiers to give only token resistance and to enter an armistice after the first defeat because the Deputy of Christ does not shed blood. When the old Porta Pia was bombarded, opening a huge hole for the invaders, the Pope asked the white flag to be shown. It was his last act as ruler of the Papal States.^[103] The last Papal shot at the Porta Pia was fired by an Austrian alumnus of the Stella Matutina.^[104]
• Pius IX was lampooned in a pun on the Italian version of his name (Pio Nono – Nono meaning "Ninth"), as Pio No No.^{[citation needed]}
• His occasional mood changes and emotional outbursts have been interpreted as symptoms of his epilepsy.^{[105][106][failed verification]}
• One enduring popular touch lies in Pius IX's artistic legacy as author of the Italian-language lyrics of Italy's best-known indigenous Christmas carol, "Tu scendi dalle stelle" ("From starry skies descended"), originally a Neapolitan language song written by Alphonsus Liguori.
• During his stay in the
  Rome and Frascati Rail Road. By 1870, the length of railway lines built in the Papal States was 317 kilometres (197 mi). He also introduced gas lighting and the Electrical telegraph
  to the Papal States.
• To commemorate his term as pope, a
  Pie-IX serving the Olympic Stadium, which is located alongside Pie-IX Boulevard. In addition, streets in Santiago, Chile, and Macon, Georgia, are called Pío Nono, Italian for Pius IX, and a secondary school has the same name (Pio IX) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Various sweets in Spain, Latin America, and the Philippines are also named piononos.^[107]
• In the Luigi Magni film In the Name of the Sovereign People (1990), Pius IX is played by Gianni Bonagura.
• In the Marco Bellocchio film Kidnapped (2023), Pius IX is played by Paolo Pierobon.

Episcopal lineage

The pope's episcopal lineage, or apostolic succession was:^[108]

• Cardinal Scipione Rebiba
• Cardinal Giulio Antonio Santorio
• Cardinal Girolamo Bernerio
• Archbishop Galeazzo Sanvitale
• Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi
• Cardinal Luigi Caetani
• Cardinal Ulderico Carpegna
• Cardinal Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni
• Pope Benedict XIII
• Pope Benedict XIV
• Cardinal Enrico Enríquez
• Archbishop Manuel Quintano Bonifaz
• Cardinal Buenaventura Fernández de Córdoba Spínola
• Cardinal Giuseppe Doria Pamphili
• Pope Pius VIII
• Pope Pius IX

See also

• List of encyclicals of Pope Pius IX
• List of popes by length of reign

Notes

1. ^ Italian pronunciation: [dʒoˈvanni maˈriːa maˈstai ferˈretti].

References

Footnotes

1. ^ "Il Seminario Pio di Roma e la Diocesi di Senigallia (in Italian)". Papa Pio IX. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
2. ^ ^{a b} "Cause of Beatification (in Italian)". Papa Pio IX. 2000. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
3. ^ "Giovanni Maria Battista Mastai Ferretti, aka Pope Pius IX". www.familysearch.org. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
4. ^ See the account of Edward Craven Hawtrey, recorded by Augustus Hare in The Story of My Life, Volume I (Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, 1896), pp. 593–599.
5. ^ Van Biema, David (27 August 2000). "Not So Saintly?". Time. New York. Archived from the original on 24 January 2001. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 8.
7. ^ "El Papado y la Iglesia naciente en América Latina (1808–1825)" (in Spanish). Viajeros.net. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
8. ^ Yves Chiron, Pie IX. Face à la modernité, Éditions Clovis, 2016 (2nd ed.), pp. 63–71.
9. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 10.
10. ^ O'Carroll 2010, p. 126.
11. ^ ^{a b c d} Duffy 1997, p. 222.
12. ^ Valérie Pirie. "The Triple Crown: An Account of the Papal Conclaves – Pius IX (Mastai-Ferretti)".
13. ^ Burkle-Young 2000, p. 34.
14. ^ In den nächsten zwanzig Monaten war Pius IX. der populärste Mann der Halbinsel; des Rufes "Evviva Pio nono!" war kein Ende mehr. (Seppelt –Löffler: Papstgeschichte, München 1933, p. 408). See archive.org (download)
15. ^ Pougeois 1877a, p. 215.
16. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 23.
17. ^ Franzen & Bäumer 1988, p. 357.
18. ^ David I. Kertzer, The Pope Who Would Be King: The Exile of Pius IX and the Emergence of Modern Europe (2018) p. xx.
19. ^ "Frances II of Naples, having fled from the fortress of Gaeta, is..." Getty Images. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
20. ^ ^{a b} Franzen & Bäumer 1988, p. 363.
21. ^ Zoghby (1998), p. 83
22. ^ Parry (1999), p. 313. See also the account given by Zoghby (1998), p. 83
23. ^ La Civita, Michael J.L. (March 2006). "Profiles of the Eastern Churches: The Melkite Greek Catholic Church". ONE Magazine. 32 (2). CNEWA (Catholic Near East Welfare Association). Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
24. ^ Carroll 2001, pp. 479–494.
25. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 294.
26. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 297.
27. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 299.
28. ^ ^{a b} Franzen & Bäumer 1988, p. 364.
29. ^ ^{a b c} Salvador Miranda. "Pius IX (1846-1878)". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
30. ^ About 1859, ch. 1.
31. ^ ^{a b} Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 45.
32. ^ Malone, Richard (25 July 2001). "Historical Overview of the Rosmini Case". L'Osservatore Romano. Baltimore, Maryland. p. 9. Retrieved 3 March 2018 – via EWTN.
33. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 47.
34. ^ Schapiro, J. Salwyn, Ph.D., Modern and Contemporary European History (1815-1921) (Houghton Mifflin Company, The Riverside Press Cambridge, 1921, Revised Edition), pp. 204-205
35. ^ Stehle 47
36. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 52.
37. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 49.
38. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 50.
39. ^ ^{a b} Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 53.
40. ^ Gagliarducci, Andrea (7 September 2013). "Pope Francis Carries Forward Papal Commitment to Peace". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
41. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 55.
42. ^ Capitelli 2011, pp. 17–147.
43. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 61.
44. ^ Pougeois 1877c, p. 258.
45. ^ Kertzer 1998.
46. ^ "God Passes By | Bahá'í Reference Library". www.bahai.org. Retrieved 11 February 2025.
47. ^ ^{a b} Duffy 1997, p. 223.
48. ^ Rapport 2009.
49. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 35.
50. ^ De Mattei 2004, p. 33.
51. ^ "Il 'triumvirato rosso'". Biblioteca Salaborsa (in Italian). Retrieved 29 May 2021.
52. ISBN 0618619194
    .
53. ^ Schapiro, J. Salwyn, Ph.D., Modern and Contemporary European History (1815-1921) (Houghton Mifflin Company, The Riverside Press Cambridge, 1921, Revised Edition), p. 218
54. ^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe (1879). History of Mexico volume V: 1824-1861. p. 591.
55. ^ "Milestones: 1861–1865 - Office of the Historian".
56. ^ Scholastic, Grolier Online (December 2018). "Mexico: History". Archived from the original on 2 December 2018.
57. ^ "After 125 Years, Vatican, Mexico Restore Ties". Los Angeles Times. 22 September 1992.
58. ^ "casa imperial de Mexico". Casaimperial.org. Archived from the original on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
59. ^ O'Connor 1971.
60. ^ Carlota, consort of Maximilian. "Guide to the Charlotte and Maximilian Collection, 1846-1927 MS 356". legacy.lib.utexas.edu. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
61. ^ Michael 2002.
62. ^ Shea 1877, p. 195.
63. ^ Reports from Committees. 1867. p. 89.
64. ^ Text of the Ecclesiastical Titles Act 1871 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
65. ^ "Irish Famine sparked international fundraising". IrishCentral. 10 May 2010.
66. ^ Roney, John (2009). Culture and Customs of the Netherlands. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood Press. p. 64.
67. ^ Shea 1877, pp. 205–206.
68. ^ ^{a b} Shea 1877, p. 204.
69. ^ Doyle, Don H. The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War (2015), p. 261.
70. ^ Doyle, Don H., The Age of Reconstruction: How Lincoln's New Birth of Freedom Remade the World. Princeton, NJ, and Oxford, UK: Princeton University Press (2024), p. 264.
71. ^ Doyle, Don H. The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War (2015), p. 264.
72. ^ Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, p. 1015.
73. ^ "John Cardinal McCloskey". New York: Fordham Preparatory School. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
74. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 212.
75. ^ Franzen & Bäumer 1988, p. 362.
76. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, pp. 141–143.
77. ^ Ronald J. Ross, "Enforcing the Kulturkampf in the Bismarckian state and the limits of coercion in imperial Germany." Journal of Modern History (1984): 456-482. online
78. ^ Schmidlin 1934, pp. 213–224.
79. ^ Shea 1877, pp. 274ff.
80. ^ Shea 1877, p. 277.
81. ^ "The first pope to be photographed was not afraid of new technology". Aleteia. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
82. ^ Ridley 1976, p. 535.
83. ^ Busch 1898a, p. 220.
84. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 313.
85. ^ Bäumer 245
86. ^ "Ineffabilis Deus". 8 December 1854.
87. ^ ^{a b} Franzen & Bäumer 1988, p. 340.
88. ^ Duffy 1997, p. 324.
89. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, pp. 313–315.
90. ^ see Martina III, and "Papst Pius IX". damian-hungs.de (in German). Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2007.
91. ^ Perrotti, Pope, Ferretti, Giovanni Maria Mastai, Simone. "Pope Pius IX By Simone Perrotti. - ppt download". slideplayer.com. Retrieved 28 July 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
92. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 101.
93. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 102.
94. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, pp. 100–102.
95. ^ Kelly 1987, p. 310; Schmidlin 1922–1939, pp. 103–104.
96. ^ Woodward 1996, pp. 310–11.
97. ^ Milavec 2007, pp. 159–160.
98. ^ Franzen 1991, pp. 336ff.
99. ^ Duffy 1997, p. 324; Schmidlin 1922–1939, pp. 292ff.
100. ^ IX. Piusz, don Bosco pápája, in: Don Bosco Kalendárium 2011, Szalézi Szent Ferenc Társasága Budapest 2010, site 8.
101. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 26.
102. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, pp. 29ff.
103. ^ Schmidlin 1922–1939, p. 89.
104. ^ Knünz 1956.
105. ^ Sirven, Drazkowski & Noe 2007.
106. ^ Schneble, H. "Pope Pious IX, epilepsy. Famous people who suffered from epilepsy. Pious IX". Epilepsiemuseum.de. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
107. ^ Ocampo, Ambeth R. (9 January 2015). "From Pius IX to 'Pio Nono'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
108. ^ David M. Cheney, "Bishop Oscar Cantoni", Catholic Hierarchy, retrieved 9 August 2019

Bibliography

• About, E. (1859). The Roman Question. Translated by Coape, H. C. New York: D. Appleton and Company. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
• Burkle-Young, Francis A. (2000). Papal Elections in the Age of Transition, 1878–1922. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books.
  ISBN 978-0-7391-0114-8
  .
• Busch, Moritz (1898a). Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of His History. Vol. 1. London: Macmillan.
•  ———  (1898b). Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of His History. Vol. 2. London: Macmillan.
• Capitelli, Giovanna (2011). Mecenatismo pontificio e borbonico alla vigilia dell'unità (in Italian). Rome: Viviani Editore.
  ISBN 978-88-7993-148-9
  .
• ISBN 978-0-395-77927-9
  .
• ISBN 978-0-8071-2079-8
  .
• ISBN 978-0-85244-605-8
  .
• ISBN 978-0300073324
  .
• Franzen, August (1991). Kleine Kirchengeschichte [Little church history] (in German) (2 ed.). Freiburg, Germany: Herder.
  ISBN 3451085771
  .
• Franzen, August; Bäumer, Remigius (1988). Papstgeschichte (in German). Freiburg, Germany: Herder.
  ISBN 9783451085789
  .
• Kelly, J. N. D. (1987). The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Kertzer, David I. The Pope Who Would Be King: The Exile of Pius IX and the Emergence of Modern Europe (2018). to 1860
• ISBN 978-0-679-76817-3
  .
• Knünz, Josef (1956). 100 Jahre Stella Matutina, 1856–1956 (in German). Bregenz, Austria: J. N. Teutsch.
• ISBN 978-0-87113-836-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
  )
• Milavec, Aaron (2007). Salvation is from the Jews (John 4:22): Saving Grace in Judaism and Messianic Hope in Christianity. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press.
  ISBN 978-0-8146-5989-2
  .
• ISBN 978-0-521-50987-9
  .
• O'Connor, Richard (1971). The Cactus Throne: The Tragedy of Maximilian and Carlotta. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
• Pougeois, Alexandre (1877a). History of Pius IX: His Pontificate and His Century. Vol. 1. Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
•  ———  (1877b). History of Pius IX: His Pontificate and His Century. Vol. 2. Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
•  ———  (1877c). History of Pius IX: His Pontificate and His Century. Vol. 3. Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Rapport, Mike (2009) [2008]. 1848: Year of Revolution. New York: Basic Books.
  ISBN 978-0-7867-4368-1
  .
• ISBN 9780670335480
  .
• Schmidlin, Josef (1922–1939). Papstgeschichte (in German). Munich: Köstel-Pusztet.^[volume needed]
•  ———  (1934). Papstgeschichte (in German). Vol. 2. Munich: Köstel-Pusztet.
• Shea, John Gilmary (1877). The Life of Pope Pius IX. New York: n.p.
• Sirven, Joseph I.; Drazkowski, Joseph F.; Noe, Katherine H. (2007). "Seizures among Public Figures: Lessons Learned from the Epilepsy of Pope Pius IX". Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 82 (12): 1535–1540.
  PMID 18053463
  .
• Woodward, Kenneth L. (1996). Making Saints: How the Catholic Church Determines Who Becomes a Saint, Who Doesn't, and Why. New York: Simon and Schuster.
  ISBN 978-0-684-81530-5
  .

Further reading

• Barwig, Regis N. (1978). More Than a Prophet: Day By Day With Pius IX. Altadena: Benziger Sisters.
• Chadwick, Owen. A History of the Popes 1830–1914 (2003). online Archived 24 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine
• Chadwick, Owen. The Popes and European Revolution (1981) 655pp excerpt; also online Archived 26 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• Chiron, Yves, Pope Pius IX: The Man and The Myth, Angelus Press, Kansas City, 2005
  ISBN 1-892331-31-4
• Corcoran, James A. "Pius IX and His Pontificate," The American Catholic Quarterly Review, Vol. III, 1878.
• De Cesare, Raffaele (1909). The Last Days of Papal Rome. London: Archibald Constable & Co. p. 449.
• Hales, E. E. Y. Pio Nono: A study in European politics and religion in the nineteenth century (2013) 352pp excerpt; also online Archived 26 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• Hasler, August Bernhard (1981). How the Pope Became Infallible: Pius IX and the Politics of Persuasion. Doubleday.
  ISBN 9780385158510
  .
• Kertzer, David I. (2004). Prisoner of the Vatican: The Popes' Secret Plot to Capture Rome from the New Italian State. Houghton Mifflin.
  ISBN 978-0-618-22442-5
  .
• Mooney, John A. (1892). "Pius IX and the Revolution, 1846–1848". The American Catholic Quarterly Review. 17: 137–161. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
• Quinlan, John. "Prisoner in the Vatican: Rome In 1870" History Today (Sept 1970), Vol. 20 Issue 9, pp 620–627 online.

Other languages

• Acta et decreta Leonis XIII, P.M. Vol I–XXII, Rome, 1881, ff
• Acta et decreta Pii IX, Pontificis Maximi, Vol. I–VII, Romae 1854 ff
• Actae Sanctae Sedis, (ASS), Romae, Vaticano 1865
• Boudou, L. (1890). Le S. Siege et la Russie, Paris
• Capitelli, Giovanna, Mecenatismo pontificio e borbonico alla vigilia dell'unità, Viviani Editore, Rome, 2011
  ISBN 8879931482
• Hasler, August Bernhard (1977). Pius IX. (1846–1878) päpstliche Unfehlbarkeit und 1. Vatikanisches Konzil. (= Päpste und Papsttum Bd. 12). 2 volumes, 1st ed. Hiersemann, Stuttgart,
  ISBN 3-7772-7711-8
• Martina, S.J. Pio IX (1846–1850). Roma: Editrice Pontificia Universita Gregoriana. Vol I–III, 1974–1991.
• Martina, Giacomo: Pio IX, beato. In: Massimo Bray (ed.): Enciclopedia dei Papi. Volume 3: Innocenzo VIII, Giovanni Paolo II. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2000 (treccani.it)
• Seifert, Veronika Maria (2013). Pius IX. – der Immaculata-Papst. Von der Marienverehrung Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretis zur Definierung des Immaculata-Dogmas. V&R unipress. Göttingen.
  ISBN 978-3-8471-0185-7
  .
• Sylvain (1878). Histoire de Pie IX le Grand et de son pontificat. Vol I, II. Paris

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pius IX.

Wikisource has original works by or about:
Pius IX

Wikiquote has quotations related to Pope Pius IX.

• Pope Pius IX (His Encyclical Writings)
• Works by Pope Pius IX at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Biography with pictures (in German)
• Pope Pius IX: text with concordances and frequency list
• Catholic-Hierarchy entry
• Derek Michaud. "Pius IX (1792–1878)". Boston Collaborative Encyclopedia of Western Theology.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Mario Ancaiani	Archbishop of Spoleto 21 May 1827 – 17 December 1832	Succeeded by Ignazio Giovanni Cadolino
Preceded by Giacomo Giustiniani	Bishop of Imola 17 December 1832 – 16 June 1846	Succeeded by Gaetano Baluffi
Preceded by Gregory XVI	Pope 16 June 1846 – 7 February 1878	Succeeded by Leo XIII