Editing Pope Pius IX (section)

===Reforms in the Papal States===
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|image1 = St peter square and basilica art.jpg
|caption1= [[St. Peter's Square]] and its [[St. Peter's Basilica|Basilica]] before Pope Pius IX added statues of Saints [[St. Peter|Peter]] and [[St. Paul|Paul]]
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|caption2 = The centre of Rome showing the [[Colosseum]] and [[Roman Forum]] around 1870. Almost rural in character, it was known as the "Campo Vaccino" or "cattle field"
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Pius IX's liberal policies initially made him very popular throughout Italy. He appointed an able and enlightened minister, [[Pellegrino Rossi]], to administer the Papal States. He also showed himself hostile to [[Austrian Empire|Austrian]] influences, delighting Italian patriots, who hailed him as the coming redeemer of Italy. He once declared, "They want to make a Napoleon of me who am only a poor country parson."<ref>Schapiro, J. Salwyn, Ph.D., ''Modern and Contemporary European History (1815-1921)'' (Houghton Mifflin Company, The Riverside Press Cambridge, 1921, Revised Edition), pp. 204-205</ref>

In Pius' early years as pope, the government of the Papal States improved agricultural technology and productivity via farmer education in newly created scientific agricultural institutes. It abolished the requirements for [[Jews]] to attend Christian services and sermons and opened the papal charities to the needy amongst them. The new pope freed all political prisoners by giving amnesty to revolutionaries, which horrified the conservative monarchies in the Austrian Empire and elsewhere.{{sfn|Duffy|1997|p=222}} "He was celebrated in [[New York City]], [[London]] and [[Berlin]] as a model ruler."{{sfn|Duffy|1997|p=222}}