Pope Pius IX

Pope Pius IX was head of the <a href="/facts/Catholic_Church/rJ4F4gqH">Catholic Church</a> from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any <a href="/facts/Pope/9zVokNjn">pope</a> in history; if including unverified reigns, his reign was second to that of <a href="/facts/Peter_the_Apostle/50X8naSm">Peter the Apostle</a>. He was notable for convoking the <a href="/facts/First_Vatican_Council/0uzYN8rM">First Vatican Council</a> in 1868 and for permanently losing control of the <a href="/facts/Papal_States/536PqTjo">Papal States</a> in 1870 to the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Italy/X5hxYBvF">Kingdom of Italy</a>. Thereafter, he refused to leave <a href="/facts/Vatican_City/JTKnEt6J">Vatican City</a>, declaring himself a "<a href="/facts/Prisoner_in_the_Vatican/upyVGEVs">prisoner in the Vatican</a>".
At the time of his election, he was a liberal reformer, but his approach changed after the <a href="/facts/Revolutions_of_1848/swvWRgUF">Revolutions of 1848</a>. Upon the assassination of his prime minister, <a href="/facts/Pellegrino_Rossi/4DlI35hW">Pellegrino Rossi</a>, Pius fled <a href="/facts/Rome/bh1Ttx3T">Rome</a> and <a href="/facts/Excommunicated/qPFGddsc">excommunicated</a> all participants in the short-lived <a href="/facts/Roman_Republic_(1849%25E2%2580%25931850)/CDeL1gTd">Roman Republic</a>. 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 <a href="/facts/Mortara_case/sj3RKHbC">kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara</a>, a six-year-old taken by force from his Jewish family who went on to become a Catholic priest in his own right and unsuccessfully attempted to convert his Jewish parents.
In his 1849 <a href="/facts/Encyclical/LQArTSVj">encyclical</a> <a href="/facts/Ubi_primum_(Pius_IX%2c_1849)/p9uERJ1w">Ubi primum</a>, he emphasized <a href="/facts/Mary%2c_mother_of_Jesus/cq3fKofl">Mary's</a> role in salvation. In 1854, he promulgated the dogma of the <a href="/facts/Immaculate_Conception/mGE5HnCo">Immaculate Conception</a>, articulating a long-held Catholic belief that Mary, the Mother of God, was conceived without <a href="/facts/Original_sin/DAu65bQ4">original sin</a>. His 1864 <a href="/facts/Syllabus_of_Errors/Bzc8WJUA">Syllabus of Errors</a> was a strong condemnation of liberalism, <a href="/facts/Modernism_in_the_Catholic_Church/FFHQDnR9">modernism</a>, <a href="/facts/Moral_relativism/GyfBrAvo">moral relativism</a>, <a href="/facts/Secularization/yIwocDtU">secularization</a>, <a href="/facts/Separation_of_church_and_state/Yd05wU3P">separation of church and state</a>, and other <a href="/facts/Age_of_Enlightenment/Uj2Fa8Mk">Enlightenment</a> ideas.
His appeal for financial support revived global donations known as <a href="/facts/Peter%2527s_Pence/UTN71yI1">Peter's Pence</a>. He strengthened the central power of the <a href="/facts/Holy_See/7tK8AceC">Holy See</a> and <a href="/facts/Roman_Curia/LJ7r0uay">Roman Curia</a> over the worldwide Catholic Church, while also formalizing the pope's ultimate doctrinal authority (the dogma of <a href="/facts/Papal_infallibility/zvPVHNkh">papal infallibility</a> defined in 1870). <a href="/facts/Pope_John_Paul_II/Md3PoDuj">Pope John Paul II</a> beatified him in 2000.

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Pope Pius IX