7 February: Blessed Pius IX
The Pope of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception
Elected at the age of 54, Pius IX holds the record for the longest pontificate in history: 32 years, even longer than the one tradition attributes to Saint Peter.
He served the Church with great zeal, imitating the Good Shepherd, promoted missions and fostered the formation of the clergy and religious life. He is responsible for furthering devotion to the worship of the Eucharist, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. With the help of numerous social institutions, he was charitable towards the poor. He accepted the misunderstandings, the loneliness and the adversities brought on by the enemies of Christ and the Church, with Christian patience.
Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti was born in Senigallia to Count Girolamo and Countess Caterina Solazzi, on 13 May 1792. He was baptized on the same day.
In October 1803, he began to attend a college run by the Scolopians of Volterra, where he successfully completed middle school and high school. In December 1809, he moved to Rome to live with his uncle, Paolino Mastai, a canon of Saint Peter’s Basilica, to pursue his studies in philosophy and theology at the Roman College.
He asked to join the Pontifical Noble Guard in 1815, and was accepted, but was later discharged due to his epileptic seizures. He was ordained a priest on 10 April 1819, and ordained a bishop on 3 June 1827, when he was only 35 years old. He entered the Archdiocese of Spoleto on 1 July 1827, and took possession of the Diocese of Imola on 13 February 1833. He was created a cardinal on 17 December 1840, and elected Pope on 16 June 1846.
His long Pontificate began during a troubled time, filled with contradictions and conflict. On 3 November 1847, he joined a Customs Union with Sardinia and Tuscany and inspired the Federation of Italian States. On 14 March 1848, he issued the Fundamental Statute, and on 3 May of the same year, he sent a letter to the Emperor of Austria, making the case for Italian independence. On 15 November, Count Pellegrino Rossi, who had been appointed head of government, was assassinated. Following the proclamation of the Roman Republic on 24 November, Pius IX moved to Gaeta, which was then part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. He returned to Rome on 12 April 1850. He re-established the Catholic hierarchy in England on 29 September of that year, and the one in Holland, in 1853.
On 11 May 1854, he visited the Catacombs and established the Commission on Christian Archaeology, appointing archaeologist, Giovanni Battista De Rossi, as its President. On 8 December 1854, he proclaimed the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The following day, he consecrated the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, which had been rebuilt after a fire on 15 July 1823. He inaugurated the first section of the railway line of the Papal States on 24 April 1859 -- the Rome Civitavecchia line.
Between 1855 and 1866, Pius IX established Vicariates and sent missionaries to the North Pole, India, Burma (Myanmar), China and Japan.
On 8 December 1864, he published the Encyclical Letter, Quanta Cura, and Syllabus. On 2 May 1868, he approved the creation of the Italian Catholic Youth Society, founded by Mario Fani and Giovanni Acquaderni. On 7 December 1869, he opened the First Vatican Ecumenical Council, which was interrupted on 18 July 1870, and proclaimed the Dogma of Papal Infallibility when the Pope teaches ex Cathedra.
Following the Capture of Rome on 20 September 1870, Pius IX confined himself to the Vatican in voluntary imprisonment. On 8 December of the same year, he proclaimed Saint Joseph Patron of the Universal Church. The Kingdom of Italy promulgated the Law of Guarantees on 13 May 1871, which prompted Pius IX to write a letter to King Victor Emmanuel II on 21 August, explaining his reasons for being unable to accept the law.
During a brief address to Italian Catholic Youth Society on 29 January 1877, Pius IX forbade Italian Catholics from participating in political life, with his Non expedit. Pope Pius IX died on 7 February 1878, after a short illness and was initially buried in Saint Peter’s Basilica. His mortal remains were later translated to the Basilica of Saint Lawrence.