coat_of_arms image article_title birth_name type
pio nono.svg ix . piusz pápa.jpg pope pius ix
 giovanni maria pope
pope pius ix

pope pius ix -lrb- ; 13 may 1792 -- 7 february 1878 -rrb- , born giovanni maria mastai-ferretti , reigned from 16 june 1846 to his death in 1878 .
he was the longest-reigning elected pope in the history of the catholic church -- over 31 years .
during his pontificate , he convened the first vatican council -lrb- 1869 -- 70 -rrb- , which decreed papal infallibility , but the council was cut short due to the loss of the papal states .
pius ix defined the dogma of the immaculate conception of the blessed virgin mary , meaning that mary was conceived without original sin .
pius ix also conferred the title our mother of perpetual help on a famous byzantine icon from crete entrusted to the redemptorists .
he was also the last pope to rule as the sovereign of the papal states , which fell completely to the italian army in 1870 and were incorporated into the kingdom of italy .
after this , he was referred to -- chiefly by himself -- as the `` prisoner of the vatican '' .
after his death in 1878 , his canonization process was opened on 11 february 1907 by pope pius x and it drew considerable controversy over the years .
it was closed on several occasions during the pontificates of pope benedict xv and pope pius xi .
on 7 december 1954 , pope pius xii re-opened the cause and pope john paul ii proclaimed him venerable on 6 july 1985 .
together with pope john xxiii he was beatified on 3 september 2000 after the recognition of a miracle and was assigned the liturgical feast day of february 7 which is the date of his death .
