The Church and Political Government: Pope Pius IX - Research Paper Example

The Church and Political Government: Pope Pius IX My dear Rex, Hope this letter will find you in the best of health and joyous spirits. I know you are in the thick of your studies for the impending examinations that will commence from the 15th of next month. Good luck. This is the time for hard and controlled study. I am writing this letter in the hope that it will provide some fructifying deviation from your study schedule. You are part of the combustible younger generation of the era of the materialistic civilization and yet I strongly feel that the children need to know what true religion is about. I am inclined to share with you the thoughts of a very important religious figure in Roman Catholic history. This great one is Pope Pius IX. He was one of the most influential Popes in the history of the Catholic Church. He was the Italian head of the Roman Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. He has been credited with accomplishing many notable reformations in the Catholic Religion. Politics and Church need to function within the well-demarcated areas, without interfering in the domain of each other. The events that happened during the reign of Pope Pius IX will tell you why! His thirty two years as Pope is still the longest reigning record with the Catholic Church. One point incidentally. Do share the contents of this letter with your friends, as there is nothing private and the religious ideas need to percolate through the impressionable minds of the young students like you. A good idea has the potency to transform the life of an individual by providing the correct direction and destination. Pope Pius IX was born with the name of GIOVANNI MARIA MASTAI-FERRETTI on May 13, 1792 in Senigallia, Italy. He was the fourth son of Count Jerome and Countess Catherine Vollazi. He spent some time at the College of Piarists in Volaterra. His ambition was to join the pontifical guard as an officer, but his problem was he suffered from epilepsy. He overcame the malady, recouped his original health and was ordained priest in 1819. “On the death of Pope Gregory XVI (June 1, 1846) the College of Cardinals met in conclave on the 14th of June. But their deliberations were destined to last but a short while; for, on the 16th of June, Cardinal Mastai Ferretti had already obtained the requisite two-thirds majority, and ascended the papal chair under the title of Pius IX.” (Pope Pius IX….) Having worked in various capacities, he was eminently suited to tackle the many socio-religious issues that confronted the Church during his fairly long tenure. His piety and winning personality saw the Church sail through many crises. The ground realities and the living conditions of the common people were harsh in the European Papal States. The local governments were finding it difficult to control the discontent of the people and the intervention of foreign powers seemed imminent. I am giving all these details to you-- notwithstanding the pressures of materialistic civilization deeply impacted by industrialization and internet revolutions, we are fortunate enough to live in a relatively peaceful period of human history. For Pope Pius IX, to discharge his papal functions was an extremely complicated task. His position was edgy between his religious tasks and the political compulsions of the era. M.J Rhodes writes, “It is necessary for security of all countries that no state interests should be mixed up with the administration of his supreme pastoral duties. If he were in the position of a subject, there would be a danger lest the temporal ruler of his country should seek his own personal aggrandizement through the influence exercised by the Pope, who humanly speaking, would be under his control.”(110) His first great political act was the granting of a general amnesty to political exiles and prisoners on 16 July, 1846. In challenging the peculiar problems and with his aim to strike a balance between the powers of the Monarch, Church and the voice of the people demanding a share in governance, Pope Pius was hailed as a religious authority seeking reformation for the welfare of the common man. “The problem of giving the people a due share in the government was one of peculiar difficulty in the Papal States. It was not simply a question of adjusting the claims of monarch and subject: it was necessary, at the same time, to oust the clergy -- who, until then, had held all the more important offices in their own hands -- from their dominant position, or at least to limit their privileges.” (Pope Pius IX…) Some significant events in the history of humankind took place during the reign of Pope Pius IX. Revolution in Paris, drastic changes in the diplomatic and religious relations of the Holy See with foreign powers, war against Austria etc The discontent amongst the people and against the dominance of Church took a serious turn, Pope was compelled to give his consent to the formation of a democratic ministry under Galetti. Pope’s Swiss Guard was disbanded and he was under the protection of the civil militia. Pius IX was a prisoner of the people. A serious and unprecedented situation had developed for the survival of the Papal institutions. I am giving you the salient features related to the chaotic situation that had engulfed the administration of the Supreme Authority of the Catholic Church. We need to learn political lessons from this unfortunate historic event that hurt the religious sentiments of a large Catholic population in many countries all over the world. That interference of the religious authorities in the political set up of a country needs to be avoided. Any religious authority must confine to performing the religious functions and other philanthropic activities aimed at the welfare of the society. But in the era to which Pius IX belonged, the thinking of the Church was entirely different. According to William Franklin Sands, “…the Church is an administrative body as well as the custodian, promulgator and interpreter of that Divine Message. That is to say, that as custodian and for safeguarding of the integrity of the Message, administration of the adherents to Christ’s rule of life is an essential part of the mission of the Church.”(1) So, the conflict between the revolutionaries and the administrators of Church took a serious turn. A series of unfortunate events took place and finally on the 12th of April 1850, Pius, who had earlier escaped from Rome in disguise returned to his city supported by foreign powers. As an individual he was an embittered man, and he developed an attitude of hostility to any form of political liberalism or national sentiment. He lost touch with the administration and the state issues were handled by the Jesuits. Old pre-revolutionary conditions were restored. A reign of torture and cruelties followed. Pius was clear about the role the Church, of which he was the supreme authority. Sands further writes, “From the point of view of the administrative function of the Church it may be asserted that it is of interest to the Church to see created such political forms as will make the world safe for Christianity.”(1) The question of proper structure of the Catholic Movement constantly engages the think-tanks of the Church. As observed by Dr. John C. Rao, “One pathway it followed was that of the creation of a network of pressure groups which could be mobilized for political combat whenever clear issues of spiritual importance emerged. Action by mobilized lay pressure groups had the benefit of keeping the Church’s hands clean of everything but the dogmatic and spiritual guidance which her chrism justly involved, and evoking that guidance only when the religious and political spheres truly touched one another. Thus, should pressure groups prove to be engaged in battle for their own particular causes in self-interested or less spiritually charged matters, the prestige and mission of the Church and clergy would not thereby be compromised.”(Rao, 2006) In USA and most of the European/Asian countries where the Church has great following are nevertheless multi-cultural societies. The solution given by Dr. Rao appears to be the correct one, so that the interference of religion in political affairs is minimal. The reign of Pius IX was a great success from his personal point of view. “The zenith of Pius's pontificate was attained on the 18th of July 1870 when the Vatican council proclaimed the infallibility of the Pope and the universality of his episcopate, thus elevating him to a pinnacle which none of his predecessors had reached and at the same time fulfilling his dearest wish. That, personally, he laid great stress on the acceptance of the dogma…” (Pope Pius IX….) Dear Rex, once you are free from the current examination tensions, my suggestion to you is to make a detailed study of the life and events that took place during the tenure of papacy of Pius IX. This part of world history is important, viewed from any angle. You will find answers to many of the problems the humanity is currently facing like atrocities in the name of religion, call it terrorism, the problems of military takeovers, the leaderships styles of the autocratic rulers and the suffering of the people under such regimes, the grand scales of political corruption, what happens when a ruler does not maintain close contact with his subjects and takes positive and timely steps to mitigate their hardships etc. The pages of human history are daubed in bloodshed, violence in the name of race, religion, aggrandizement of wealth, World Wars etc. But some pages of history are worth a detailed study from the point of view of how the mob-fury impacts the important personalities of the era. Charles Francis Home writes, “That a Pope who signalized the beginning of his official career by a series of liberal reforms should soon have been driven from his See by revolutionists is one of the historical paradoxes for which even the “philosophy of history” finds it difficult to account.”(140) On the personal level, the pontificate of Pius IX was studded with triumphant notes. The silver-jubilee of his pontificate was celebrated with great pomp on the 16th of June 1871. He was the first Pope to achieve that honor. In 1872 his 80th birthday celebrations was another great event. His crowning glory was in the year 1877, when he completed fifty years of his priesthood. He died on February 7, 1878 and the cause of his death is unspecified. His remains are buried at Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, Rome, Italy. His successor was Pope Leo XI. This in short, is the poignant story of Pope Pius IX. I do hope the contents of this letter will infuse some new ideas in you about the functioning of the church and the State. But further discussion can take place after your examinations. That is your first priority as of now. Your dad always loves you. Affectionately yours, Dad. References: Home, Charles Francis. The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 17; Google Books, 2008. Pope Pius IX Retrieved on April 23, 2010 Rao, Dr. John C. Catholic Social Thought-Social Science and Social Policy; Scarecrow Press, 2006. Rhodes, M. J. His Holiness Pope Pius IX and the temporal rights of the Holy See. Google Books, 1860 The Church and Political Government, by William Franklin Sands © 1928 Catholic University of America Press. Read More