Today February 7, is the memorial of Blessed Pope Pius IX.
Born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti in 1792 to a noble family, Pope Pius IX began his papacy in 1846. He was the longest-reigning elected pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving for over 31 years.
One of his first acts as Pope Pius IX was an amnesty for all political prisoners. He defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1854. He celebrated the First Vatican Council from 1869 to 1870, which was interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War. This council defined the dogma of papal infallibility.
He supported several reforms in the Papal States, which included central Italy, and several outlying areas, such as Assisi, but lost the territory due to the unification of the Kingdom of Italy in 1870 and 1871. He was known for being a reformer and a patriot.
Pope Pius IX died of epilepsy at age 85 in 1878. Cardinals who knelt at his bedside recorded his last words, “Guard the Church I loved so well and sacredly.” Pope St. John Paul II beatified Pius IX in 2000.