Pope Pius IX: Encyclopedia II - Pope Pius IX - Pius IX's papacy

Pope Pius IX - Pius IX's papacy

Pope Pius IX - Liberalism and conservatism

As a liberal and, somewhat aware of the political pressures within the Papal States, his first act was to announce a general amnesty for political prisoners. His nature was kind-hearted and generous so he did not consider the potential implications of the amnesty — his concessions only provoked greater demands; radical Roman groups sought constitutional government and war with Austria. He was not such a radical, and in an encyclical of November 1846 he denounced secret societies (such as Circolo Romano), the Bible associations, false philosophy, communism, and the press.

His Syllabus of Errors issued in 1864 as an appendix to his encyclical Quanta Cura condemned as heresy 80 propositions, many on political topics, and firmly established his pontificate as the enemy of secularism, rationalism, and modernism in all its forms.

Pope Pius IX - Treatment of Jews

Pius IX weakened laws that required Jews to live in specified neighborhoods, and repealed laws that forbade them to practice certain professions, and that required them to listen to sermons four times per year aimed at their conversion. Judaism and Catholicism were the only religions allowed by law (Protestant worship was allowed to visiting foreigners, but strictly forbidden to Italians). But the testimony of a Jew against a Christian remained inadmissible in courts of law, a tax levied only on Jews supported schools for converts from Judaism to Catholicism, and Jews continued in various other respects to be discriminated against by law.

In 1858, in a highly publicized case, a six-year-old Jewish boy, Edgardo Mortara, was taken from his parents by the police of the Papal States. It had been reported that he had been baptized by a Christian servant girl of the family while he was ill because she feared he would die and go to hell, otherwise. At this time, the law did not permit Christians to be raised by Jews, even their own parents. Pius steadfastly refused calls from numerous heads of state including Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary and Emperor Napoleon III of France to return the child to his parents.

Pope Pius IX - The end of the Papal States

By early 1848, public disorder had forced Pius to concede a lay ministry and a constitution, although he held fast against war with Austria (April). Public disorder grew, with repeated riots; the Prime Minister was murdered (November 15) and the Pope was denounced and trapped by a mob in the Quirinal. Pius escaped in disguise to Gaeta on November 24, leaving Rome to the radicals and the mob. A Roman Republic was declared in February 1849. When General Oudinot's expeditionary force made its direct attack in April 1849, and the Constituent Assembly in Rome passed a resolution of protest (May 7, 1849), Louis Napoleon encouraged him and assured him of reinforcements from France. The Pope appealed for support, and Louis Napoleon— who had engaged in a liberal insurrection in the states of the church himself in 1831— now sent troops that crushed the republic (June 29), although Pius did not return to Rome until April 1850. The French troops remained in Rome to protect the status quo until the end of 1866 (see September Convention), while the Risorgimento united the remainder of Italy, leaving the block of the Papal States in the center.

Although Pius had lost his liberal tastes, temporal problems still beset his rule. The revolutionaries were still there, and the Papal States were coming under increased pressure from anti-papal nationalists – notably Victor Emmanuel of Piedmont. The Pope was obliged to rely on French and Austrian soldiers to maintain order and protect his territories. Napoleon III and Cavour (Premier to Victor Emmanuel) agreed to war on Austria. Following the Battle of Magenta (July 4, 1859) the Austrian forces withdrew from the Papal States, precipitating their loss. Revolutionaries in Romagna called upon Piedmont for annexation. In February 1860, Victor Emmanuel demanded Umbria and the Marches; when his demand was refused, he took them by force. After defeating the papal army on September 18 at Castelfidardo, and on September 30 at Ancona, Victor Emmanuel took all the Papal territories except Rome. In September 1870, he seized Rome as well, making it the capital of a new united Italy. He granted Pius the Law of Guarantees (May 13, 1871) which gave the pope the use of the Vatican but denied him sovereignty over this territory, nevertheless granting him the right to send and receive ambassadors and 3.25 m lira a year. Pius officially rejected this offer (encyclical Ubi nos, May 15, 1871), retaining his claim to all the conquered territory. Although he was not forbidden or prevented from travelling as he wished, he called himself a prisoner in the Vatican. See also September Convention.

With the end of the Papal States, Pope Pius IX was the last pope to hold temporal powers.

Pope Pius IX - Church and spirituality

Outside the loss of territory in Italy the rights of the Church were reduced across Europe, with Piedmont leading the way (Pius condemned them repeatedly, in allocutions in 1850, 1852, 1853 and 1855). The Church was reduced in the German states due to the power of Protestantism; in 1873 a Kulturkampf was started in Prussia and elsewhere against the Church. The situation was even worse for the Church in Switzerland, Poland and Russia, while in the New World the Pope denounced Colombia (1852) and Mexico (1861) for their anti-Church legislation. However the Pope did manage to secure satisfactory concordats with Spain, Austria, Portugal and a number of Caribbean and South American states. Further, he re-established the Church in England (1850) and the Netherlands (1853).

In spiritual matters Pius was much more vigorous. His December 1864 encyclical Quanta cura condemned seventy errors (Syllabus errorum) related to many of the important intellectual ideas of the century such as rationalism, socialism, communism, and freedom of religion. In 1854 he became one of the few popes to issue a statement considered infallible when he defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. He also organised the First Vatican Council (1869-1870) which defined the dogma of Papal infallibility.

Pius moreover, beatified 13 individuals, 1 in 1847 and 1861, and 11 in 1867: Blessed Margaret Colonna (1847), Saint John Leonardi (1861), Blessed John Baptist Machado (1867), Blessed John Baptist Zola (1867), Blessed John Kinsaco (1867), Blessed John Yano (1867), Blessed John Foyamon (1867), Blessed John Maki (1867), Blessed John Cochumbuco (1867), Blessed John Xoun (1867), Blessed John Ivanango (1867), Blessed John Montajana (1867), and Blessed Thomas Tsugi (1867). Pius also canonized four others: Saint John of Cologne (1867), Saint John of Osterwick (1867), Saint John Soan de Goto (1867), and Saint Nicholas Pieck (1867).

For all his achievements, he was considered a conservative by the standards of the time, and he was often lampooned by reference to the Italian version of his name (Pio Nono) — as Pio No No.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Pius IX's papacy", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki