Pope Pius IX

Pope Blessed

Pius IX
Bishop of Rome
Papacy beganJune 16, 1846
Papacy ended7 February, 1878
PredecessorPope Gregory XVI
SuccessorPope Leo XIII
Personal details
Born
Giovanni Maria Mastai-Feretti

May 13, 1792
Senigallia, Marche, Papal States
DiedFebruary 7, 1878(1878-02-07) (aged 85)
Apostolic Palace, Vatican City
MottoCrux de Cruce
Other popes named Pius

Pope Pius IX (Latin: Pius PP. IX, Italian: Pio IX; May 13, 1792 – February 7, 1878), born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Feretti, was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church and the 256th Pope, from 1846 until his death. Only Saint Peter himself led the church longer than the 32-year reign of Pius IX.

In 2000, he was beatified, which is a step in the process of naming a saint of the Catholic Church.

Career

Mastai-Feretti was ordained as a priest in 1819.

Bishop

Father Mastai-Feretti was named Bishop of Spoleto in 1827. In 1877, the Golden Jubilee celebrations recalled the 50 years since he was named a bishop.

Cardinal

In 1840, Pope Gregory XVI made Bishop Mastai-Feretti a cardinal.

Pope

Cardinal Mastai-Feretti was elected Pope in 1846; and he took the name Pius IX.

In 1846, Pius IX declared an amnesty for political prisoners.

In 1848 he ordered that the gates to the Jewish ghetto in Rome be knocked down.

Pius formally defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

Papal States

In 1849, Pius was deposed as the temporal ruler of the Papal States. As a result of Italian nationalism and the Risorgimento, the Papal States and all of the pope's land outside the Apostolic Palace were seized in 1870 and pope spent his last years a virtual prisoner within the Vatican.

First Vatican Council

In 1869-1870, Pope Pius brought together the church's bishops and cardinals in a meeting called the Vatican Council (not to be confused with the Second Vatican Council which occured almost a century later). The council defined the dogma of papal infallibility.

Pius died at age 85.

After his death

The process of recognizing Pius IX as a saint began in 1907.

The body of Pope Pius IX was exhumed in 1956. This was part of a ceremony of "recognition".

Preparations for beatification were almost finished in 1962; and they were completed in 1984.

References

The Coat of Arms of Pius IX
  1. ↑ "List of Popes," Catholic Encyclopedia (2009); retrieved 2011-11-02.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Stanley, Alessandra. "Italian Jews Denounce Vatican's Decision to Beatify Pius IX," New York Times. 28 June 2000; retrieved 2013-3-18.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Pope Pius IX," Catholic Encyclopedia; retrieved 2011-10-28.
  4. ↑ "The Papal Golden Jubilee," New York Times. June 4, 1877; retrieved 2011-10-30.
  5. 1 2 "Pius IX 'Recognized'; Step Toward the Beatification of 19th Century Pope Taken," New York Times. November 20, 1956; retrieved 2011-10-30.
  6. ↑ "Vatican Council," Catholic Encyclopedia; retrieved 2011-10-28.
  7. ↑ "Papal Infallibility; What Pius IX. Himself is Credited With Saying," New York Times. August 9, 1871; retrieved 2011-10-30.
  8. ↑ "Pius IX," New York Times. February 8, 1878; retrieved 2011-10-30.
  9. ↑ "Body of Pope Pius IX Exhumed in Ceremony," New York Times." October 26, 1956; retrieved 2011-10-30.
  10. ↑ "Pope Plans October Decree Of Beatification of Pius IX," New York Times. August 22, 1962; retrieved 2011-1101.

More reading

Other websites

Media related to Pius IX at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by
Gregory XVI		 Pope
1846–1878		 Succeeded by
Leo XIII