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 Church this solution of the controversy was of great significance, and created a desire for further dogmatic decisions on the Virgin Mary - her resurrection and ascension. But the procedure of Pius IX. proved of far-reaching importance from another point of view. True, he had taken the opinion of the bishops on the subject, and had received the assent of a large majority; none the less, the verdict was pronounced by himself alone, not by an ecumenical council. Thus, by arrogating the function formerly exercised by the ecumenical council, he virtually laid claim to the infallibility which had always been regarded as inherent only in the doctrinal pronouncements of such a council: in other words, he availed himself of a privilege not accorded to him till the 18th of July 1870.

Though the Marian dogma of 1854 received, with very few exceptions, an enthusiastic welcome in Roman Catholic circles, another measure of the pope, ten years later, excited a painful sensation even among the orthodox members of the Church. As reigning sovereign of the papal states Pius IX. had passed through a "liberal period": as head of the Church, he had never been liable to attacks of liberalism. Nevertheless, his return from exile left its mark on his spiritual administration. For from this period onwards he deliberately and stubbornly set his face against the influence of modernism on ecclesiastical life; showed his displeasure at and distrust of the scientific theology and philosophy which marked a moderate advance (Gunther, Frohschammer and Döllinger); and, entrenched in the stronghold of medieval ideals, combated the transformations of the new order of society, and the changes in the relationship between Church and state, which obtained in most countries of Europe since the French Revolution. After long and careful consultation, the adverse criticisms which he had expressed on various occasions were published on the 8th of December 1864, together with the encyclical Quanta cura, under the title Syllabus complectens praecipuos nostrae aetatis errores (see Syllabus). In this Pius claimed for the Church the control of all culture and all science, and of the whole educational system. He rejected the liberty of faith, conscience and worship enjoyed by other creeds; and bade an easy farewell to the idea of tolerance. He claimed the complete independence of the Church from state control; upheld the necessity of a continuance of the temporal power of the Roman See; and finally, in the last clause, declared that "the pontiff neither can be nor ought to be reconciled with progress, liberalism and modern civilization." The publication of this syllabus created a profound impression: for it declared war on modern society, and committed the papacy to the principles of Ultramontanism. But, as any attempt to translate its precepts into practice would entail a disastrous conflict with the existing regime as established by law, Roman Catholic circles have frequently shown a tendency to belittle the significance of the manifesto and to deny that its rules are absolutely binding. But these well-meant explanations, however comprehensible, are refuted by the unequivocal pronouncements of Pius IX., Leo XIII., and many recognized ecclesiastical authorities—e.g. Cardinal Manning, archbishop of Westminster, who described the syllabus as an emanation from the highest doctrinal authority in the Church.

The zenith of Pius's pontificate was attained on the 18th of July 1870 when the Vatican council proclaimed the infallibility of the pope and the universality of his episcopate, thus elevating him to a pinnacle which none of his predecessors had reached and at the same time fulfilling his dearest wish. That, personally, he laid great stress on the acceptance of the dogma, was a fact which he did not attempt to conceal during the long preliminary deliberations of the council; and his attitude was a not inconsiderable factor in determining its final resolutions. But the loss of the papal states, immediately afterwards, was a blow from which he never recovered. Whenever he brought himself to speak of the subject—and it was not rarely—he repeated his protest in the bitterest terms, and, to the end of his days, refused to be reconciled with the "sacrilegious" king of Italy. When, in Germany, the situation created by the Vatican council led to the outbreak of the Kulturkampf, Pius IX. failed to display the tact peculiar to his successor. For, in the encyclical Quod numquam (Feb. 5, 1875), he took the rash step of declaring invalid the Prussian laws regulating the relationship between Church and state—the only result being that the feud was still further embittered.

In these later years the dark days of his “captivity” were amply compensated by the proofs of reverence displayed by Roman Catholic Christianity, which accorded him magnificent ovations as his period of jubilee began to fall due. The twenty-fifth anniversary of his pontificate was celebrated with great splendour on the 16th of June 1871; for he was the first pope who had thus reached the traditional “years of Peter.” In 1872 his Both birthday gave occasion for new demonstrations; and 1875 was a so-called “year of jubilee.” Finally, in 1877, the fifty years of his priesthood were completed: an event which brought him innumerable expressions of loyalty and led to a great manifestation of devotion to the Holy See from all the Roman Catholic world. On the 7th of February 1878 Pius IX. died. His successor was Leo XIII.

, elected pope in 1903, was born on the 2nd of June 1835, of humble parents, at the little town of Riete in the province of Treviso, Italy. He studied theology at the episcopal seminaries of Treviso and Padua, and was ordained priest in 1858. For seventeen years he acted as parish priest at various small places in Venetia, until in 1875 he was appointed canon of the cathedral and superior of the seminary at Treviso. In 1880 he refused the bishopric of Treviso, but in 1884, on the express command of Leo XIII., he accepted that of Mantua. On the 12th of June 1893 he was created a cardinal, and three days later was nominated patriarch of Venice. In Venice he made himself very popular owing to his piety, his simplicity and geniality, and by his readiness to act in harmony with the Italian government. He succeeded Leo XIII. in his election to the papal chair on the 4th of August 1903.

PIVOT (Fr. pivot; probably connected with Ital. pivolo, peg, pin, diminutive of piva, pipa, pipe), that on which something turns, specifically a metal pointed pin or short shaft in machinery, sucb as the end of an axle or spindle. The term occurs frequently in. combination with other words, chiefly in technical usage, e.g. “pivot-gearing,” for a system of gearing in machinery which admits of the shifting of the axis of a driving wheel, so that the power may be communicated in various directions.

PIZARRO, FRANCISCO (c. 1471 or 1475–1541), discoverer and conqueror of Peru, was born at Trujillo in Estremadura, Spain, about 1471 (on 1475). He was an illegitimate son of Gonzalo Pizarro, who as colonel of infantry afterwards served in Italy under Gonsalvo de Cordova, and in Navarre, with some distinction. Of Pizarro's early years hardly anything is known; but he appears to have been poorly cared for, and his education was neglected. Shortly after the news of the discovery of the New World had reached Spain he was in Seville, and thence found his way across the Atlantic. There he is heard of in 1510 as having taken part in an expedition from Hispaniola to Urabá.