After his death in 1878, his canonization process was opened on 11 February 1907 by Pope Pius X, and it drew considerable controversy over the years. It was closed on several occasions during the pontificates of Pope Benedict XV and Pope Pius XI. Pope Pius XII re-opened the cause on 7 December 1954, and Pope John Paul II proclaimed him Venerable on 6 July 1985. Together with Pope John XXIII, he was beatified on 3 September 2000 after the recognition of a miracle. Pius IX was assigned the liturgical feast day of February 7, the date of his death.Europe, including the Italian peninsula, was in the midst of considerable political ferment when the bishop of Spoleto, Cardinal Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was elected pope. He took the name Pius, after his generous patron and the long-sufferin