Recent History of the Papal Church

What had looked like a mortal wound to Papal power took place in 1798.42 A general of Napo- leon’s army entered the Vatican, removing Pope Pius VI from his throne. With that, the Papacy lost its basis as a civil power. From the year 1846 Pope Pius IX, not having territorial or civil power, sought to re-establish the papacy to its former power and glory.