Editing Pope Pius IX (section)

==Theology==
{{Main|Theology of Pope Pius IX}}
[[File:Portrait pius ix.jpg|thumb|180px|Pope Pius IX (here pictured {{Circa|1864}}) proclaimed two [[dogma]]s]]

Pius was adamant about his role as the highest teaching authority in the church,{{sfn|Schmidlin|1922–1939|p=313}} as expressed in the dogma of [[Papal infallibility]] defined by the [[First Vatican Council]] in 1870.

===Mariology===
[[Catholic Mariology|Marian doctrines]] featured prominently in 19th-century theology, especially the issue of the [[Immaculate Conception]] of Mary. During his pontificate, petitions increased requesting the [[Dogma in the Catholic Church|dogmatization]] of the Immaculate Conception.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} In 1848, Pius appointed a theological commission to analyse the possibility for a Marian dogma.<ref name="Bäumer 245">Bäumer 245</ref>{{full citation needed|date=March 2018}} On 8 December 1854, he promulgated the [[apostolic constitution]] ''Ineffabilis Deus'', defining the [[dogma]] of the [[Immaculate Conception]] of the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius09/p9ineff.htm|title=Ineffabilis Deus|date=8 December 1854}}</ref>

===Encyclicals===
{{Main|List of encyclicals of Pope Pius IX}}
Pius issued a record 38 [[encyclical]]s. They include:
* ''[[Qui pluribus]]'' 1846, his first encyclical, on faith and religion
* ''[[Praedecessores nostros]]'' 1847 on aid for Ireland
* ''[[Ubi primum (Pius IX, 1849)|Ubi primum]]'' 1848 on [[The Immaculate Conception]]
* ''[[Nostis et nobiscum]]'' 1849 on the church in the [[Papal States]]
* ''[[Neminem vestrum]]'' 1854 on the bloody persecution of Armenians
* ''[[Cum nuper]]'' 1858 on care for clerics
* ''[[Amantissimus]]'' 1862 on care of the churches
* ''[[Ad universalis Ecclesiae]] 1862'' on conditions for admission to male religious orders in which [[simple vow|solemn vows]] are prescribed
* ''[[Quanta cura]]'' 1864, with its appendix the ''[[Syllabus of Errors]]''
* ''[[Meridionali Americae]]'' 1865 on the Seminary for the Native Clergy
* ''[[Omnem sollicitudinem]]'' 1874 on the Greek-Ruthenian Rite
* ''[[Quod nunquam]]'' 1875 on the Church in [[Prussia]]

Unlike popes in the 20th century, Pius IX did not use encyclicals to explain the faith, but to condemn what he considered errors. He was the first pope to popularize encyclicals on a large scale to foster his views.

===First Vatican Council===
{{Main|First Vatican Council}}
[[File:The oecumenical council of the Vatican, convened December 8th 1869 LCCN2006677480.jpg|thumb|right|The [[First Vatican Council]] presided over by Pius IX, 1869]]
After prior consultation of the hierarchy in ''[[Ubi primum (Pius IX, 1849)|Ubi primum]]'' (see above), Pius decisively acted on the century-old disagreement between [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] and [[Franciscans]] regarding the [[Immaculate Conception]] of Mary, deciding in favour of the Franciscan view.{{sfn|Franzen|Bäumer|1988|p=340}} However, his defining this infallible [[dogma]] raised a question: Can a pope make such decisions without the authority of the bishops? This doctrine of [[papal infallibility]], enhancing the role of the papacy and decreasing the role of the bishops, became a topic of the First Vatican Council convened in 1869.{{sfn|Franzen|Bäumer|1988|p=340}}

===Institutions===
Pius IX approved 74 new religious congregations for women alone. In France, he created over 200 new dioceses and created new hierarchies in several countries.{{sfn|Duffy|1997|p=324}} He supported Catholic associations such as the Ambrosian Circle in Italy, the Union of Catholic Workers in France, and the Pius Verein and the Deutsche Katholische Gesellschaft in Germany, whose purpose was to bring the fullness of Catholic faith to people outside the church.{{sfn|Schmidlin|1922–1939|pp=313–315}}