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Blessed Pius IX
Supreme Pontiff ( 1846- 1878)The Blessed Pius IX, né Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti ( May 13, 1792 - February 7, 1878) was pope for a record term of over 31 years, from June 16, 1846 until his death.
1 Early life and election
Mastai-Ferretti was born in Senigallia , Italy into the noble family of Girolamo Ferretti, and was educated at the Piarist College in Volterra and in Rome. He attempted to join the Noble Guard but was turned down due to his epilepsy. He instead studied theology at the Roman Seminary, he was ordained in April 1819. He worked initially in Rome before being sent to Chile. He returned in 1825 to become head of a hospital and canon of Santa Maria in Via Lata. He was made Archbishop of SpoletoSpoleto (Latin: Spoletium), 42°44N 12°44E, an ancient town in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria, at 385 meters (1391 ft) above sea-level on a foothill of the Apennines. It is 20 km (12 mi) S. of Trevi and 29 km (18 mi) N. Its populati in 1827Events February 20 Battle of Huzaingo February 28 The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is incorporated, becoming the first railroad offering commercial transportation of both people and freight. March 7 Ellen Turner is abducted The Shrigley Abduction case begins. In 1832Events February 12 Ecuador annexes the Galapagos Islands February 12 serious cholera epidemic begins in London from the East London. It is declared officially over in early May but deaths continue. At least 3000 victims March 24 In Hiram, Ohio a group of he was moved to the more prestigious dioceseIn the Roman Empire, a diocese was a city district or part of a province. In the Roman Catholic and some Protestant churches, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit governed by a bishop, sometimes also referred to as a bishopric or episcopal see of ImolaImola ( 1991 pop. 62,567) is a town in the Emilia-Romagna region of north-central Italy, most noted as the home of the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari and the Formula One San Marino Grand Prix. The race, named for the nearby principality of San Marino which and in 18401840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). Events January 3 One of the predecessor papers to the Herald Sun of Melbourne, Australia, The Port Phillip Herald is founded by George Cavanaugh. January 10 Uniform penny postage he was made a cardinalA cardinal is an official of the second-highest rank of the Roman Catholic Church, inferior in rank only to the Pope. The cardinals serve a number of functions: they advise the Pope, they run the Vatican administration and the Roman Curia (the government, Santi Pietro e Marcellino.
His election to the papacy following the death of Pope Gregory XVI was the result of a factional division in the conclave between conservatives and modernisers. Mastai-Ferretti was the liberal candidate, and on June 16, at the fourth scrutiny, he was elected - a key conservative had arrived too late to vote for an alternative candidate and thus deny Mastai-Ferretti a majority in the ballot. Mastai-Ferretti took the name Pius IX in memory of Pope Pius VII, an early benefactor to him. He was crowned on June 21.
2 His liberalism and his 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 were seeking 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.
