Pope Pius IX

Early life and ministry

Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti was born in Senigallia, Italy into the noble family of Girolamo dei conti Ferretti, and was educated at the Piarist College in Volterra and in Rome. He attempted to join the Noble Guard but was turned down due to his epilepsy. He instead studied theology at the Roman Seminary. He was ordained in April 1819. He worked initially as the rector of the Tata Giovanni Institute in Rome before being sent to Chile and Peru in 1823 – 1825, to assist the Apostolic Nuncio, Mons. Giovanni Muzi, in the first mission to post-revolutionary South America http://www.viajeros.net/escritos/escritos-6.html. He returned to become head of the hospital of San Michele in Rome (1825-1827) and canon of Santa Maria in Via Lata.

Related Topics:
Senigallia - Italy - Piarist - Volterra - Rome - Noble Guard - Epilepsy - Theology - Seminary - 1819 - Tata Giovanni Institute - Chile - Peru - 1823 - 1825 - Hospital - 1827 - Canon

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Father Mastai-Ferretti was made Archbishop of Spoleto in 1827, at the age of 35. In 1831 the abortive revolution that had begun in Parma and Modena spread to Spoleto; the Archbishop obtained a general pardon after it was suppressed, gaining him a reputation for being liberal. The following year he was moved to the more prestigious diocese of Imola, was made a cardinal in pectore in 1839, and in 1840 was publicly announced as Cardinal Priest of Santi Pietro e Marcellino. According to historians, Cardinal Mastai-Ferretti was considered a liberal during his episcopate in Spoleto and Imola because he supported administrative changes in the Papal States and sympathized with the nationalist movement in Italy.

Related Topics:
Archbishop - Spoleto - 1827 - Diocese - Imola - Cardinal - In pectore - 1839 - 1840 - Cardinal Priest - Papal States - Italy

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