Hero in the Storm: Pius IX Against the Revolution

Hero in the Storm is the compelling true story of the life of Giovanni Mastai-Ferretti, a humble boy with epilepsy who became pope. During the longest pontificate in Church history “all were struck by his charm, his affability, the noble simplicity of his welcome and that sense of humor which seldom deserted him even in his darkest hour.” There were many dark hours during those three decades when the Church’s territories were taken away by force, its citizens were killed and imprisoned, and finally Rome itself was seized from the Church. Blessed Pius IX was imprisoned, he was shot at, he was exiled from Rome, and he was vilified as a monster by the secular press. Through it all he “opposed brute force with a calm conscience, never bringing violence or lies to bear in any transaction.”… “Before the eyes of an indifferent or hostile world” Pius proclaimed “the principles of truth and good, the invariable laws of morality, the maxims of equity and justice.” You will love reading this fascinating true story of the life and times of the last pope king, Blessed Pius IX.

I welcome this return of Mark Fellows to the publishing world. More than a mere chronicler of ecclesial history, Fellows is a true story-teller, a master of literary style who writes with the passion of a Catholic soul.  A glance at any page of this new work will show that it is an important contribution to understanding at the deepest level the situation in which we now find ourselves since the conquering march of the zeitgeist made its way into the Church at Vatican II. —Christopher Ferrara, author of Liberty, the God That Failed

There is no doubt in my mind that the path forward for Catholics in the post-conciliar era demands a thorough understanding of the pontificate and legacy of Pope Pius IX. One simply cannot grasp the significance of calling the documents of Vatican-II a “counter-Syllabus” without first understanding the impetus behind the Syllabus of Errors itself, nor can one make sense of the Revolution of today without first placing it within the broader context of the Revolution of the tumultuous 19th century. It is certain that the trajectory of the post-conciliar period of the Catholic Church will hinge on the legacy we make of Pope Pius IX and the documents, ideas, and actions of his pontificate. Mark Fellows in Hero in the Storm makes an excellent contribution to this effort, with vivid accounts of the Fall of Rome, the charged atmosphere behind the First Vatican Council and a comprehensive vision of the 19th-century Papal States, Fellows provides the reader with a sense of clarity, depth, and familiarity with the life and times of Pope Pius IX.  —Murray W. Rundus, Managing Editor, Catholic Family News