Abstract

Pope Pius IX, beatified by John Paul II, governed the Church in the years 1846-1878. It was the longest pontificate in history so far. He took over the papal throne in the midst of the pan-European revolution, in which the Papal States were not spared. At the very beginning, the Pope was confronted with the Italian national independence and unification movement. Economic and political liberalism became more and more ideological and made itself felt on the cultural level. At the same time one could notice the first phenomena of the emerging Catholic liberalism. Pius IX, who was firmly rooted in Catholicism, resolutely opposed all these events. Through Roman centralism, and thanks to the support of the Ultramontanists, he was able to strengthen the internal forces of the Church and let it concentrate on its purely religious activity. As the first of the popes, he was able to prove that one can lead the church effectively without claiming secular power. It must be admitted, however, that Pius IX used the so-called had overlooked the social question, nor did he express a positive Catholic position on it. He believed that democracy and the modern cultural phenomena strongly associated with it were meaningless. Apart from that, it must be emphasized that this very popular, pious, kind and gentle Pope not only helped to strengthen the Apostolic See towards the national episcopates, but also strengthened the relationship with the people. The discussion about him and his position on the modern changes in the new world remains open. It is precisely the discrepancies mentioned above that make it possible to rediscover Pope Mastai more and more thoroughly and objectively.