Without him, there is no 'us'

Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti never visited the U.S., much less the Albany Diocese. But he is forever linked to the Diocese, which is marking its Sesquicentennial this year. In fact, without him, there would be no 150th anniversary.

An epileptic from a moderately well-to-do family in Italy, he thought of joining the Jesuits but ended up being ordained a diocesan priest in 1819. He then worked in an orphanage, visited South America with a delegation from the Vatican, and directed a hospice.

From that beginning, he would continue to rise in the Church hierarchy: becoming archbishop of Spoleto in 1827, cardinal of Imola in 1840 and finally, on June 16, 1846, Pope Pius IX.

Connected to Albany

Among his first actions as pope -- taken less than a year after his election as supreme head of the Church -- was to establish a new diocese in the New World: the Diocese of Albany, New York, founded on April 23, 1847. It would be one of the 206 new dioceses he established during his 32-year pontificate, the longest in Church history.

It took two days and at least as many ballots to elect Pius IX. He named himself after Pius VII, who had aided him in his youth.

Pius IX succeeded Gregory XVI as pope, a man the new pontiff considered reactionary. A year before his election, as a cardinal, he had outlined reforms for administration of the Papal States that would make them less repressive. He also believed that a pope, as the spiritual leader of the Church, should not be a head of government.

Mixed philosophies

With such views, Pius was regarded by some as "an enlightened conservative" and by others as "a liberal." His first actions justified those titles: He signed an amnesty decree, chose liberal advisors and reached an agreement with the Ottoman Empire to re-establish a Latin patriarchate in Jerusalem. He also worked out concordats with Russia, Spain, Austria, several Latin American nations and Germany.

But Pius had another side: He refused to let the Papal States out of his control and declined to support movements for Italian independence from Austria. The result would be the eventual overthrow of his temporal power by Italian troops.

Perhaps in reaction to that loss, Pius insisted on the centralization of Church authority, an insistence that dismayed many Catholics around the world. The result would be, at his death in 1878, a Church that was isolated from the world.

Dogma

Two significant and long-lasting actions stand out among Pius' achievements:

* The solemn declaration, on Dec. 8, 1854, that the Immaculate Conception was Church dogma (both the U.S. and the Albany Diocese -- witness the name of the Cathedral -- were dedicated to Mary under that title);

* The summoning of the First Vatican Council in 1869, which defined papal primacy and infallibility.

Pious Pius

Noted for his personal piety, Pius was an example to clergy and lay Catholics eager to deepen their spirituality and devotionalism.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia credits Pius IX for "his touching simplicity, his great goodness, his serene courage in adversity, his lively practical intelligence and his fervor that aroused the admiration of all who saw him at prayer."

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