Vatican Two (1962-1965)

This website celebrates the Second Vatican Council and its promise for the future of the Catholic Church.

It is dedicated to the spirit of Pope John XXIII who dared open the doors and windows of the church he loved to the contemporary world. By this courageous act he allowed sunlight and rain to feed the foliage and roots of the increasingly petrified tree of the Fortress Church.

Letter to the Editor
by Aaron Milavec

Dear Editor:

Pius IX does not deserve beatification. He deserves to be investigated for his crimes against humanity. John L. Allen (NCR 09/03/00) amply enumerates his crimes against the Jewish people but only partially portrays the measure of suffering inflicted upon the inhabitants of the Papal States. After a brief flirtation with democratic reforms (1848), Pius IX disbanded the parliament, nullified the constitution, and ruled the Papal States (1/3 of Italy) with an iron hand. He made it a crime to advocate democratic reform or Italian unification. His secret police (Sanfedisti) instituted a climate of terror. Enemies of the Papal State were convicted in hasty trials. Harsh sentences were imposed. Ring- leaders were left hanging on the gallows as a warning to other would-be advocates of reform. In 1862, 12,000 priests petitioned the pope to support Italian aspirations and say a few words in support of democracy. Pius IX disciplined every one of them.

While Pius IX had a momentary victory when he was granted nearly "absolute powers" in the church, this did nothing to shore up his "absolute powers" in civil matters. Vatican I was cut short in late 1870 when the French troops withdrew. The advancing troops of the unificationists were joyfully embraced as "liberators" from their oppressive, papal dictator. In the plebiscite that followed, the Romans voted overwhelmingly in favor of Italian unification. Pius IX sent out letters to the Catholic heads of state in Europe pleading for a military intervention to restore his "absolute civil powers." No one came. Humiliated, he refused to meet with elected officials of the new Italian government. Then he abused his episcopal powers by excommunicating them. Pius IX thus had "more than a little to do" (Gaudium et Spes sec.19) with the fact that Italy today has a greater percentage of Communists than any other country.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Ask the Catholics of Ireland and Belgium how they suffered due to the policies of Pius IX. Inquire into how the ability of working-class Catholics to organize for a fair wage was hampered by the authoritarian restrictions Pius IX imposed on worker organizations. Ask why Pius IX carefully maintained the Inquisition and the Jewish ghetto in Rome at a time when these afflictions had disappeared everywhere else. Sure, the Vatican position is that Pius IX "sincerely believed" (p. 12) in what he did. But so did Hitler! As Catholics, we expect the Vatican to investigate Pius IX, to acknowledge the crimes he committed, and to atone for his sins (as the relatives of Edgaro Montaro have the right to expect). Anything less would be an affront to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dr. Aaron Milavec,
Professor of Church History
629 West Greene St.
Piqua, OH 45356
(937) 778-1447

Posted 4 September 2000
last revised 4 September, 2000
e-mail address: ihs@ionet.net

Text and images © Ingrid H. Shafer 2000