Pope Pius IX


Pius IX
Bishop of Rome
Pius IX in 1875
ChurchCatholic Church
Papacy began16 June 1846
Papacy ended7 February 1878
PredecessorGregory XVI
SuccessorLeo XIII
Orders
Ordination10 April 1819
by Fabrizio Sceberras Testaferrata
Consecration3 June 1827
by Francesco Saverio Castiglioni
Created cardinal
  • 23 December 1839 (in pectore)
  • 14 December 1840 (revealed)

by Gregory XVI
Personal details
Born
Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti

(1792-05-13)13 May 1792
Died7 February 1878(1878-02-07) (aged 85)
Apostolic Palace, Vatican City, Kingdom of Italy
Previous post(s)
MottoCrux de Cruce[1]
SignaturePius IX's signature
Coat of armsPius IX's coat of arms
Sainthood
Feast day7 February
Venerated inCatholic Church
Title as SaintBlessed
Beatified3 September 2000
Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City
by Pope John Paul II
Attributes
Patronage
Other popes named Pius

Pope Pius IX (Italian: Pio IX, Pio Nono; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti;[a] 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of 32 years is the second longest of any pope in history, behind that of Saint Peter. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican Council in 1868 and for permanently losing control of the Papal States in 1870 to the Kingdom of Italy. Thereafter, he refused to leave Vatican City, declaring himself a "prisoner in the Vatican".

At the time of his election, some considered him liberal, but no longer after the Revolutions of 1848. Upon the assassination of his prime minister, Pellegrino Rossi, Pius fled Rome and excommunicated all participants in the short-lived Roman Republic. After its suppression by the French army and his return in 1850, his policies and doctrinal pronouncements became increasingly conservative. He was responsible for the kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, a six-year-old taken by force from his Jewish family.

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. Pius reaffirmed Catholic teaching in favor of making the Catholic faith the state religion where possible.

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.

  1. ^ EWTN Global Catholic Television Network (ed.). "Pius IX Revisited: 1878–1978 | EWTN". Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Il Seminario Pio di Roma e la Diocesi di Senigallia (in Italian)". Papa Pio IX. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Cause of Beatification (in Italian)". Papa Pio IX. 2000. Retrieved 18 March 2015.


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