Vatican I Opens, 1869

On this day in 1869, the First Vatican Council began. Two dogmatic constitutions were voted on during the council, Dei filius on the relationship between faith and reason; and Pastor Aeternus on the centrality of the Pope’s authority and his personal infallibility in matters of doctrine. The Ultramontanes pushed the infallibility issue, and Pius let it be known that he wanted this. Most of the Council Fathers at Vatican I were moderates, but Pius himself was intransigent; for him infallibity was the issue. On July 13, 451 voted for it, 88 against it, and 62 in favor of some amendment. Most of the 88 then left Rome before the final definition was carried through on July 18, 533-2. As the council proceeded, France and Prussia went to war. French troops stationed in Rome had been the only thing keeping Italian troops from taking over Rome. On September 20, 1870, Italian troops occupied Rome, and in October a plebiscite was held in which an overwhelming majority of the votes cast were for the incorporation of Rome in the kingdom of Italy. The council was suspended and never resumed.