Pope Pius IX - Santa Maria Maggiore - Roma, Italy
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N 41° 53.841 E 012° 29.931
33T E 292520 N 4641404
The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Basilica of Saint Mary Major) is a 5th century papal basilica located at 27 Via Liberiana in Rome, Italy. The main entrance is on the Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore.
Waymark Code: WM110Z5
Location: Lazio, Italy
Date Posted: 07/26/2019
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The confessio is the open devotional crypt in front of the high altar, on an arch plan with a pair of longitudinal staircases flanking it in two flights. It had been fitted out by Cardinal d'Estouteville in the 14th century, but Pope Pius IX commissioned Virginio Vespignani to re-fit it in 1864. The result was sumptuous, with the floor and walls revetted in polychrome marble panelling (allegedly seventy different types of marble were used), but mediaeval reliefs and memorials were removed. Contemporary critical response was not universally favourable -for example, the French critic Francis Way (who had a nice turn of insult) described the result as similar to how the Americans fitted out the interiors of their steamboats on the Mississippi.
A large statue of Pope Pius IX by Ignazio Jacometti was added to the confessio in 1883. The marble statue depicts the Pope kneeling and praying in front of the relic of the Holy Crib in which Christ was placed in Bethlehem.
Pope Pius IX (13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878), born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti, was head of the Catholic Church from 16 June 1846 to his death on 7 February 1878. He was the longest-reigning elected pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving for over 31 years. During his pontificate, Pius IX convened the First Vatican Council (1869–70), which decreed papal infallibility, but the council was cut short owing to the loss of the Papal States.
The process for his beatification, which in the early stages was strongly opposed by the Italian government, was begun on 11 February 1907, and recommenced three times. The Italian government had since 1878 strongly opposed beatification of Pius IX. Without Italian opposition, Pope John Paul II declared Pius IX to be Venerable on 6 July 1985 (upon confirming his life of heroic virtue), and beatified him on 3 September 2000 (his annual liturgical commemoration is 7 February).
The beatification of Pius IX was controversial and was criticized by some Jews and Christians because of what was perceived as his authoritarian, reactionary politics; the accusation of abuse of episcopal powers; and anti-Semitism (most specifically the case of Edgardo Mortara, but also his reinstituting the Roman ghetto).
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