VATICAN (CWNews.com) - Pope Pius IX could be beatified in the year 2000, according to an article appearing on September 23 in the Italian daily Il Messaggero.
The Messagero story reported that the Italian bishops' conference has recommended in favor of the beatification. The cause for the beatification of Pius IX, whose pontificate lasted from 1846 to 1878, had been completed in 1986, with the formal recognition of a miracle attributed to the late pope's intercession. However, Pope John Paul II has delayed scheduling the beatification, because Pope Pius IX is a pivotal figure in the development of the Italian nation, and the Holy Father wanted to consult Italian historians and politicians about the possible impact of the beatification.
Pope Pius IX reigned during the period when Rome was taken over by troops under King Victor Emmanuel, and proclaimed the capital of the new Italian republic. The Pope, at that time, was confined to the Vatican, and considered himself a prisoner of the new regime.
However, the Italian bishops-- together with leading politicians and historians-- have advised the Vatican that the political controversy surrounding the pontificate of Pius IX has now abated, and his beatification would not have real negative consequences on the Italian political scene.
Because the Congregation for the Causes of Saints might also clear the way for the beatification of Pope John XXIII, it is possible that the two former pontiffs would both be beatified during the year 2000. Popes Pius IX and John XXIII have something else in common: each convened a Vatican Council. Pope Pius IX called together Vatican I; John XXIII convened Vatican II.
Catholic World News Service