Vatican Response (Vatican).

Following the mandatory lengthy investigation, the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints has no reservations on the goodness of Pius IX's actions.

On February 7, the commemoration of the 122nd anniversary of the Pontiff's death, Archbishop Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, stated: "As priest, bishop, and Pontiff, the servant of God, seemed to be, and really was, a 'man of God' - a man of assiduous prayer who had no other desires than the glorification of God, the good of the Church, and the salvation of souls; he sought only to fulfill the will of God, no matter how great the sufferings he had to endure.

"Pope Pius IX's sanctity is connected to the most known events of his pontificate," Archbishop Saraiva Martins said during the homily. He went on to explain that Pius IX will be beatified exclusively on the religious merits that characterized his "Petrine ministry." "Indeed, he was decisively concerned with the preparation and formation of the clergy, paid great attention to the religious life, founded Catholic Action, convoked Vatican Council I, and proclaimed the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and papal infallibility."

As regards the accusations of antiSemitism, in two interviews with the Italian newspapers Corriere della Sera and Avvenire, Bishop Carlo Liberati of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints explained that Pius IX "was the promoter of the liberation of the Jews from the ghetto. On the night of April 17-18, 1848, he ordered that the doors of the ghetto be knocked down. He abrogated the undignified and humiliating tasks the Jews were forced to carry out. He declared that 'they were not foreigners,' and had their streets patrolled to protect them from a popular uprising that broke out gainst the ghetto's emancipation."

In the Edgardo Mortara case, Bishop Liberati stressed that "what no one ever wants to recall is that, once he was an adolescent, Edgardo Mortara was given the freedom to return to his home. He remained with his parents for one month, but then decided to stay in Rome and become a priest. Once he was a priest, he was reconciled with his parents. In fact, Edgardo Mortara was one of the first witnesses to declare himself in favor of Pius IX's beatification, giving evidence in the canonical process."

Those who criticize Pius IX say he was authoritarian and opposed to progress. Bishop Liberati answered that "Pius IX was not against progress. progress; on the contrary, he showed openness and courage in governing the Pontifical States. For example, the construction of some important railroad lines in central Italy is owed to him."

As regards the question of the Popes' loss of temporal power, Pius IX was not concerned about losing power, but by the fact that the Church would be at the mercy of the State. "He was opposed to the policy that it belong to Italy; Mexico and Portugal, for example, persecuted the Church and locked it in silence." (Editor: this problem was resolved with the signing of the Lateran Treaty in 1929 which created the Modern Vatican state of 108 acres.) Some have also complained of a "discrepancy" in beatifying the "authoritarian" Pius IX alongside the "Good Pope," John XXIII. To dispel this criticism, Bishop Liberati simply pointed out the great devotion that the Pope of Vatican II had for his counterpart from Vatican I. In fact, his dream had been to be able to personally beatify Pius IX. (Zenit, July 20)