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Why did Pope Pius IX refuse to restore constitutional government after returning to Rome?

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Photograph of Pope Pius IX — Pius IX Pius IX is the longest-reigning pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. His pontificate lasted from 1846 to 1878.

After returning to Rome in 1850, Pope Pius IX refused to restore constitutional government because he had become convinced that liberalism and nationalism were inextricably linked to revolution, which threatened the interests of the church.12

Pius IX believed that his spiritual power could only be protected through the continued, unrestricted exercise of his temporal authority. He felt that political concessions had previously led to direct attacks on his authority, and he concluded that it was impossible to subject the papacy to a lay assembly or to distinguish his spiritual role from his temporal governance. Consequently, he maintained an absolute, authoritarian rule, viewing any move toward constitutionalism as a danger to the church's integrity and a barrier to his sovereignty. His secretary of state, Giacomo Antonelli, reinforced this policy, as he also believed that the pope could not be subjected to secular control.132