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<center>Stamps Depicting Pope Pius XI from the Centenary of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception Issue Shown: Scott 175, 178 and 180 (1954)</center>

Giovanni Maria Masti-Ferretti was born at Senigalla (Ancona) on 13 May, 1792. He served as pope from 16 June 1846 to 7 February, 1878. He was ordained a priest in 1819 and is described as an ‘indefatigable pastor.’ Ferretti was named cardinal in 1840 and was elected pope after a two-day conclave in 1846, described by J. N. D. Kelly as a ‘moderate progressive,’ in contrast to his predecessor, Gregory XVI. Pius IX instituted many reforms in the Papal States and made some gestures in support of Italian nationalism. During the European-wide Revolutions of 1848 his chief minister Count Rossi was murdered. Pius IX was forced to flee in disguise from Rome and resided in Gaeta (north of Naples), returning in August 1850 after French troops restored papal rule in Rome. 
 
His experience during the 1848 uprising turned Pius IX into a ‘conservative,’ and an opponent of further reform. He opposed Italian Unification due to the confiscation of the Papal States and the anti-clerical attitude of some of those supporting unification. After the fall of Rome in September 1870, he declared he was a ‘prisoner of the Vatican,’ a position his successors continued until Pius XI signed the Lateran Pacts in 1929.
 
He proclaimed the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, which is commemorated on the stamps shown at the top of this article. Pius IX served as pope for almost 32 years, the longest papacy since that of St. Peter. He was succeeded by Pope Leo XIII. Pius IX was declared blessed in 1985 with recognition of his ‘heroic virtue.’
 
References: 
<li>J.N.D. Kelly, Oxford Dictionary of Popes 
<li>Thomas Adkins, Vatican Notes, Volume 55, Number 5, page 23, 2007, <a href='http://vaticanstamps.org/vaticannotes/idisplay2.php?p=331-23&r=0'>Pius IX, A Philatelic Retrospective</a>

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Stamp link: Scott 176 and 180 (1954) Dogma of Immaculate Conception

Vatican Notes article link:  Vol. 55, No. 5, 2007, p. 23, Thomas Adkins, Pius IX, A Philatelic Retrospective
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