Until 1860 Pope Pius IX ruled over his Papal States which stretched across the Italian peninsula, dividing it in two. The following year, when urged to accept a peaceful settlement to avoid an armed assault he indignantly refused. Even after the Pope's subjects voted overwhelmingly to join Italy, he remained adamant: “This corner of the earth is mine; I received it from Christ”. [1]
In 1871 Italy was finally unified by absorbing the Papal States. The Pope, now deposed as King of Rome, retreated behind the walls of the Vatican, where he continued to fight the Italian state with every means at his disposal. He excommunicated the King of Italy. He also lashed out at the secular values of his kingdom. In his 1864 Syllabus of Errors he condemned some ninety “errors and perverse doctrines” including separation of church and state, a free press and secular education. Most Italians understood such “errors” to be presented “as a none too oblique condemnation of the Italian Kingdom”. [2] Pope Pius IX also forbade Catholics to participate by way of voting or any political involvement in the workings of the “godless” Italian state
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