does anyone have a source for Pius IX saying "I am the way, the truth and the life"? I looked for it but it seems uncertain.
Ignaz von Döllinger, a RC priest and historian probably best known for his opposition to the doctrine of papal infallibility, gave the circumstances and quotation
here. One of the sources he cited is
here, and there is another source
here. Both publications are Old Catholic, so sympathetic with Döllinger's views, and the quote was apparently transcribed live at the time it was spoken. Döllinger's citation runs:
Alone, despite my unworthiness, I am the successor of the apostles, the vicar of Jesus Christ; alone, I have the mission to drive and direct the boat of Peter, I am the way, the truth, and the life. It is necessary that we know this, in order not to be deceived and ventured by the words of people who call themselves Catholics, but who want and teach something completely different from what the Church wants and teaches.
The journalistic sources also include this insertion, following "...and the life":
Those who are with me are with the Church, those who are not with me are outside the Church; they are outside the way of truth and life.
Not that it makes a significant difference regarding the overall claim, but it is perhaps notable that the two publications italicize "I am the way, the truth, and the life," suggesting Pius may have been quoting Jesus, yet nonetheless doing so in order to add that superlative to the virtues of the church, of which he purported to be the infallible head.
One other notable difference between Döllinger's citation and the others is that in the final sentence the latter include the term "le chef," which then makes it read, "...who want and teach something completely different from what
the head of the Church wants and teaches."
