Hero in the Storm is the compelling true story of the life of Giovanni Mastai-Ferretti, a humble boy with epilepsy who became pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

During the longest pontificate in Church history "all were struck by his charm, his affability, the noble simplicity of his welcome and that sense of humor which seldom deserted him even in his darkest hour."

There were many dark hours during those three decades when the Church's territories were taken away by force, its citizens were killed and imprisoned, and finally Rome itself was seized from the Church.

Blessed Pius IX was imprisoned, he was shot at, he was exiled from Rome, and he was vilified as a monster by the secular press. Through it all he "opposed brute force with a calm conscience, never bringing violence or lies to bear in any transaction."...

"Before the eyes of an indifferent or hostile world" Pius proclaimed "the principles of truth and good, the invariable laws of morality, the maxims of equity and justice."

You will love reading this fascinating true story of the life and times of the last pope king, Blessed Pius IX.