Gregory XVI (pope)
1765 – 1846 Italian Pope (1831-1846)
Staunchly conservative pope who condemned liberalism and new technology.
- Religion
- Catholic; Bishop of Rome
- Affiliations
- The papacy; Camaldolese order
Gregory XVI set the Church firmly against the liberal and national movements sweeping Europe. His 1832 encyclical Mirari Vos condemned freedom of conscience and freedom of the press as harmful errors. He distrusted progress so much that he refused to allow railways in the Papal States, calling them, by legend, roads to hell. He did condemn the slave trade in 1839.