Podcast Summary: Todo Concostrina

Episode: "Acontece que no es poco | El encierro y la huelga del papa Pío Nono (el pastelito): fin de los Estados Pontificios"
Date: September 20, 2023
Host: Nieves Concostrina (SER Podcast)

Overview

In this lively and irreverent episode, Nieves Concostrina delves into the dramatic end of the Papal States and the peculiar “protest” of Pope Pius IX (“Pío Nono”). With her signature humor, Concostrina recounts how, after the unification of Italy and the loss of papal temporal power, the Pope responded not with hunger strikes—because, as Nieves wryly notes, no pope would go that far—but with a symbolic "strike" of refusing blessings (the Urbi et Orbi). The episode explores both the historical context of the Papal States, the Risorgimento, and the enduring influence of the Catholic Church in politics, as well as the personal failings and stubbornness of its leaders.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Context: Papal Scandals and Dogmas (00:40–03:01)

• Discussion kicks off referencing recent revelations about Pope Pius XII and his knowledge of concentration camps, segueing into the episode’s actual subject: Pope Pius IX.
• Nieves underlines Pío Nono’s penchant for controversy and power, including:
  • Institutionalizing the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (01:38)
  • Declaring papal infallibility (03:01)
  • Condemning "modern errors" like democracy, rationalism, freedom of worship, and separation of Church and State.

Notable Quote:

“Un cura dejar de comer. ¿Estás tú loco?”
— Nieves (01:24)
(On the impossibility of a pope doing a hunger strike)

Notable Quote:

“Si lo decimos al revés, Pionono exigía que la Iglesia dirigiera la política de las naciones, que las personas no pensaran libremente…”
— Nieves (02:32)

2. Collapse of the Papal States & Italian Unification (Risorgimento) (03:01–08:25)

• Pío Nono’s hardline stances isolated him and the papacy.
• As Italy unified under the Risorgimento, led militarily by Garibaldi and culturally by Verdi, the Papal States were reduced to just the city of Rome.
• The Italian army captured Rome on September 20, 1870, ending centuries of papal rule over central Italy.

Notable Quote:

“Los curas decían que Roma era suya entera, y que eso no se reunificaba con ni Dios, con nadie.”
— Nieves (07:14)

Notable Quote:

“El ejército italiano tomó Roma a cañonazos. Se completó la unificación y se declaró la ciudad capital de la Italia unificada.”
— Nieves (07:59)

3. The Pope’s “Strike”: Encierro y Huelga de Bendiciones (08:25–09:34)

• Instead of conceding, Pío Nono excommunicates the Italian government and isolates himself in St. Peter’s, refusing from then on to give blessings to the city and the world (Urbi et Orbi).
• This act initiates the decades-long period known as “la cuestión romana”—the Papal self-imposed confinement.

Notable Quote:

“Os doy las bendiciones. Me declaro un huel. Este no se hizo hara-kiri porque no era japonés, pero si no también.”
— Nieves (08:44)

• Successive popes maintained this isolation for around 60 years, well-stocked and comfortable but publicly “offended” and in protest.

4. The Roman Question & The Lateran Pacts (09:34–14:19)

• Nieves explains that little serious negotiation happened—the popes, feeling they were the voice of God, refused compromise. Even Pope Leo XIII, while trying to dilute some of the previous hardline rhetoric, couldn’t change the Vatican’s stance.
• The so-called Roman Question persisted until 1929.
• The solution came with Mussolini and the Lateran Pacts, which established Vatican City as a sovereign state, granting the papacy extensive privileges and symbolic independence.

Notable Quote:

“Os voy a dar la Basílica de San Pedro, los Museos Vaticanos y el Palacio de Castelgandolfo para las vacaciones. Hala, ya tenéis estado. Dejad de dar el coñazo al mundo.”
— Nieves (13:13)

• Through these years, the popes continued to urge Catholics to assert religious authority in politics, condemning “modern errors,” and perpetuating a combative stance toward secularism and change.
• Nieves is categorical:

Notable Quote:

“Así que borren del vocabulario ese estúpido oxímoron del papa progre o el cura progre. Si es papa o cura, no es progre. Y si es progre no puede ser ni cura ni papa.”
— Nieves (14:14)

Memorable Moments & Tone

• The playful verbal banter about “papas” (popes) vs “papas” (potatoes) (00:41, 14:19)
• Recurring sarcastic jabs at the self-importance and inflexibility of papal authority
• Exaggerated depictions of Papal “suffering” during the 60-year self-exile:

  “Allí dentro seguían bien bebidos, bien comidos, bien surtidos de niños, de novias, de novios. Tenían de todo.” (09:27)

Timestamps for Key Sections

• [00:40] – Introduction to the topic; context about Pío XII and transition to Pío Nono
• [01:38] – Pío Nono’s controversies: dogmas and anti-modern positions
• [03:01] – The Syllabus of Errors and papal infallibility
• [04:46] – What were the Papal States? Early context
• [06:14] – The Risorgimento; Garibaldi and Verdi’s roles
• [07:59] – Capture of Rome and end of papal rule
• [08:30] – Pío Nono’s protest and the long Vatican sulk
• [11:52] – The “Roman Question,” popes in self-lockdown
• [12:04] – Resolution in 1929 with the Lateran Pacts

Conclusion

Concostrina uses wit and sharp historical insight to illuminate how the Vatican clung to power and tradition in the face of an unstoppable modern world. The “huelga” of Pío Nono is painted not as a brave protest, but as a stubborn and farcical refusal to face reality, one echoed by his successors. The legacy of that era, Nieves suggests, still colors the Vatican's relationship with secular society today.