Head of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846
Pope Gregory XVI
(
Latin
:
Gregorius XVI
;
Italian
:
Gregorio XVI
; born
Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari
; 18 September 1765 ? 1 June 1846) was head of the
Catholic Church
and ruler of the
Papal States
from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846.
He had adopted the name
Mauro
upon entering the
religious order
of the
Camaldolese
.
Strongly conservative and traditionalist, he opposed democratic and modernising reforms in the Papal States and throughout
Europe
, seeing them as fronts for revolutionary
leftism
.
[
citation needed
]
Against these trends, Gregory XVI sought to strengthen the religious and political authority of the papacy, a position known as
ultramontanism
. In the encyclical
Mirari vos
, he pronounced it "false and absurd, or rather mad, that we must secure and guarantee to each one liberty of conscience." He encouraged missionary activity abroad and
condemned the slave trade
, which at the time of his pontificate was increasingly suppressed.
He is the most recent pope to take the pontifical name "
Gregory
", the last to govern the Papal States for the whole duration of his pontificate, and the most recent not to have been a bishop when elected.
Biography
[
edit
]
Early life
[
edit
]
Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari was born at
Belluno
in the
Republic of Venice
, on 18 September 1765, to an
Italian lower noble family
. His parents were from a small village named Pesariis, in
Friuli
. His father was a lawyer. At the age of eighteen Bartolomeo Cappellari joined the order of the
Camaldolese
(part of the
Benedictine
monastic family) and entered the
Monastery of San Michele
in
Murano
, near
Venice
. He was ordained a priest in 1787.
[3]
As a Camaldolese
monk
, Cappellari rapidly gained distinction for his
theological
and linguistic skills, and was assigned to teach philosophy and theology at San Michele in 1787, at the age of 22.
In 1790, at the age of 25, he was appointed
censor librorum
for his Order, as well as for the
Holy Office
at Venice.
[3]
He went to Rome in 1795 and in 1799 published a polemic against the Italian
Jansenists
titled
II Trionfo della Santa Sede
("The Triumph of the Holy See"),
[5]
which passed through various editions in Italy and was translated into several European languages. In 1800 he became a member of the Academy of the Catholic Religion, founded by
Pope Pius VII
(1800?1823), to which he contributed memoirs on theological and philosophical questions. In 1805, at the age of 40, he was appointed abbot of the
Monastery of San Gregorio
on Rome's
Caelian Hill
.
When the army of the French Emperor
Napoleon
took Rome and arrested and deported Pius VII to France in 1809, Cappellari fled to
Murano
, where he taught in the
Monastery of St. Michele
of his Order, where he had first become a monk. From there he and a group of monks moved their little college to
Padua
in 1814. After Napoleon's final defeat, the
Congress of Vienna
re-established the sovereignty of the
Papal States
over central Italy and Cappellari was called back to Rome to assume the post of
vicar general
of the Camaldolese Order. He was then appointed as Counsellor to the
Inquisition
, and later promoted to be Consultor (29 February 1820) and then, on 1 October 1826,
Prefect
of the Congregation of
Propaganda Fide
("Propagation of the Faith"),
which dealt with all missionary work outside of the
Spanish Empire
, including missions to the non-Catholic states in Europe.
[7]
Twice he was offered a bishopric and twice he refused.
[3]
Cardinal
[
edit
]
On 21 March 1825, Cappellari was created
cardinal
in pectore
(published 13 March 1826) by Pope
Leo XII
,
and shortly afterwards he was asked to negotiate a
concordat
to safeguard the rights of Catholics in the
United Kingdom of the Netherlands
, a diplomatic task which he completed successfully. He also negotiated a peace on behalf of
Armenian Catholics
with the
Ottoman Empire
. He publicly condemned the
Polish revolutionaries
, who he thought were seeking to undermine Russian Tsar
Nicholas I
's efforts to support the
Catholic royalist cause
in France by forcing him to divert his troops to suppress the uprising in Poland.
[9]
Cappellari had never travelled outside Italy and was most familiar with Venice and Rome. He spoke Italian and Latin fluently, but no other European languages, and did not understand European politics.
[10]
However, he was proficient in
Armenian
, and
Haruti'iwn Awgerian
(
Pascal Aucher
)'s 1827 Venice edition of works attributed to
Severian of Gabala
and translated into Armenian was dedicated to him.
Pontificate
[
edit
]
Papal election
[
edit
]
Papal styles of
Pope Gregory XVI
|
---|
|
Reference style
| His Holiness
|
---|
Spoken style
| Your Holiness
|
---|
Religious style
| Holy Father
|
---|
Posthumous style
| None
|
---|
On 2 February 1831, after a fifty-day conclave, Cappellari was unexpectedly chosen to succeed
Pope Pius VIII
(1829?30). His election was influenced by the fact that the cardinal considered the most
papabile
,
Giacomo Giustiniani
, was
vetoed
by King
Ferdinand VII of Spain
.
[3]
There then arose a deadlock between the other two major candidates,
Emmanuele de Gregorio
and
Bartolomeo Pacca
. What finally drove the cardinals to make a decision was a message from the government of
Parma
notifying them that revolt was about to break out in the northern Papal States.
[10]
To resolve the impasse, the cardinals turned to Cappellari, but it took eighty-three ballots for the canonically required two-thirds majority to be reached.
[11]
At the time of election, Cardinal Cappellari was not yet a bishop: he is the most recent man to be elected pope prior to his episcopal consecration. He was consecrated as bishop by Bartolomeo Pacca, Cardinal
Bishop of Ostia and Velletri
and
dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals
,
with
Pietro Francesco Galleffi
, Cardinal
Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina
and
sub-dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals
, and Tommasso Arezzo, Cardinal
Bishop of Sabina
, acting as co-consecrators.
The choice of Gregory XVI as his
regnal name
was influenced by the fact that he had been
abbot
of the Monastery of San Gregorio on the Coelian Hill for more than twenty years, and in honour of
Gregory XV
, the founder of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.
[3]
The Monastery of S. Gregorio was the same abbey from which
Pope Gregory I
had dispatched missionaries to England in 596.
Actions
[
edit
]
The
revolution of 1830
, which overthrew the
House of Bourbon
, had just inflicted a severe blow on the Catholic royalist party in France. Almost the first act of the new French government was to seize
Ancona
, thus throwing
Italy
, and particularly the
Papal States
, into a state of confusion and political upheaval. In the course of the struggle that ensued, it was more than once necessary to call in
Austrian
troops to fight the red-shirted republicans engaged in a guerrilla campaign.
The conservative administration of the Papal States postponed their promised reforms after a series of bombings and assassination attempts. The replacement of
Tommaso Bernetti
by
Luigi Lambruschini
as
Cardinal Secretary of State
in 1836 did nothing to appease the situation.
In the northern territories the leaders of the revolt were middle-class gentry opposed to the general inefficiency of the government.
[10]
Governance of the papal states
[
edit
]
Gregory XVI and Cardinal Lambruschini opposed basic technological innovations such as gas lighting and railways,
believing that they would promote commerce and increase the power of the
bourgeoisie
, leading to demands for liberal reforms which would undermine the
monarchical
power of the Pope over central Italy. Gregory XVI in fact banned railways in the Papal States, calling them
chemins d'enfer
("road to
hell
", a play on the French for railroad,
chemin de fer
, literally "iron road").
The
insurrections
at Viterbo in 1836, in various parts of the Legations in 1840, at
Ravenna
in 1843 and at
Rimini
in 1845, were followed by wholesale executions and draconian sentences of hard labour and
exile
, but they did not bring the unrest within the Papal States under the control of the authorities. Gregory XVI made great expenditures for defensive, architectural and engineering works, having a monument to Pope Leo XII built by Giuseppe Fabris in 1837.
He also lavished patronage on such scholars as
Angelo Mai
,
Giuseppe Mezzofanti
, and
Gaetano Moroni
. This largesse, however, significantly weakened the finances of the Papal States.
Other activities
[
edit
]
Encyclicals
[
edit
]
Other important encyclicals issued by Pope Gregory XVI were
Sollicitudo ecclesiarum
, which stated that in the event of a change of government, the church would negotiate with the new government for placement of bishops and vacant dioceses (issued 1831);
Mirari Vos
, on liberalism and religious indifferentism (issued on 15 August 1832);
Quo graviora
, on the Pragmatic Constitution in the
Rhineland
(issued on 4 October 1833);
Singulari Nos
, on the ideas of
Hugues Felicite Robert de Lamennais
(issued on 25 June 1834), and
Commissum divinitus
(17 May 1835) on church and state.
[15]
Apostolic letters
[
edit
]
In supremo apostolatus
, an apostolic letter or
papal bull
, was issued by Pope Gregory XVI regarding the institution of
slavery
. Issued on December 3, 1839, as a result of a broad consultation among the
College of Cardinals
, the bull resoundingly denounced both the slave trade and the continuance of the institution of slavery.
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
Canonizations and beatifications
[
edit
]
Gregory XVI canonized
Veronica Giuliani
, an Italian mystic, during his papacy. During his reign, five saints were
canonized
(notably
Alphonsus Liguori
) and thirty-three Servants of God were
declared Blessed
(including the Augustinian
Simon of Cascia
). In addition, many new
religious orders
were founded or supported and the devotion of the faithful to the
Blessed Virgin Mary
increased, both in private and public life.
[3]
Consistories
[
edit
]
The pope created 75 cardinals in 24 consistories, in which the pope elevated 35 cardinals "
in pectore
", including his future successor Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, who would become
Pope Pius IX
. The pope also created six additional cardinals
in pectore
, though the pope died before these names could be revealed, therefore cancelling their appointments to the cardinalate.
In 1836, the pope wanted to nominate Charles Joseph Benoit Mercy d'Argenteau to the College of Cardinals, but the archbishop refused the nomination because he did not wish to leave his family and home for a possible position in the Roman Curia. Gregory XVI nominated four
in pectore
cardinals on 21 April 1845 and one on 24 November 1845; Gregory XVI also named another
in pectore
cardinal in the 12 July 1841 consistory, never revealing his name. According to Philippe Boutry, Alerame Maria Pallavicini (the
Master of the Sacred Palace
) was the
in pectore
cardinal announced on 24 November 1845, however, Pope Pius IX refused to publish his name upon his ascension to the papacy less than a year later.
[20]
Death and burial
[
edit
]
On 20 May 1846, he felt himself failing in health. A few days later, he was taken ill with facial
erysipelas
. At first, the attack was not thought to be very serious, but on 31 May, his strength suddenly failed, and it was seen that the end was near.
[3]
Gregory XVI died on 1 June 1846 at 9:15 am at age 80. That morning, he received the
Extreme Unction
from the sub-
sacristan
Agostino Proja. After his funeral, he was buried in
Saint Peter's Basilica
.
[21]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Toke, Leslie. "
Pope Gregory XVI
".
The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 20 November 2015
- ^
Gregory XVI (Mauro Cappellari) (1832).
Il trionfo della Santa Sede e della Chiesa: contro gli assalti dei novatori combattuti e respinti colle stesse loro armi
(in Italian). Venice: G. Battaggia.
- ^
Salvador Miranda, "
Biographical notes on Mauro Cappellari
". Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^
"Pope Gregory XVI to Bring about a Decision"
(PDF)
. C Korten. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 21 January 2019
. Retrieved
13 July
2017
.
- ^
a
b
c
Chadwick, Owen (2003).
A History of the Popes, 1830?1914
. Oxford University Press. p. 31.
ISBN
978-0199262861
.
- ^
J. P. Adams,
Sede Vacante 1830?1831
.
. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^
Pope Gregory XVI.
Commissum divinitus
, May 17, 1835, Papal Encyclicals Online
- ^
"Pope Gregory XVI 3 December 1839 Condemning Slave Trade"
. Retrieved
16 February
2010
.
- ^
Gillis, Chester (1999).
Roman Catholicism in America
. Columbia University Press. p. 58.
ISBN
978-0-231-10871-3
.
- ^
Diene, Doudou (August 2001).
From chains to bonds
. Berghahn Books. p. 271.
ISBN
978-1-57181-266-7
.
- ^
"In supremo apostolatus"
. Papalencyclicals.net. 3 December 1839
. Retrieved
23 June
2013
.
- ^
Salvador Miranda.
"Gregory XVI (1831?1846)"
. The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
. Retrieved
20 February
2022
.
- ^
Catholic Encyclopedia
Sources
[
edit
]
- Petruccelli della Gattina, Ferdinando (1861).
Storia arcana del pontificato di Leone XII, Gregorio XVIe Pio IX ossia preliminari della questione romana di E. About con documenti diplomatici per F. Petruccelli de la Gattina
(in Italian). Milan: Francesco Colombo.
(critical)
- Sylvain, Charles (1889).
Gregoire XVI. et son pontificat
. Paris: Desclee et de Brouwer.
- Nielsen, Fredrik Kristian (1906).
"Chapter XVI: Gregory XVI"
.
The History of the Papacy in the Nineteenth Century: Leo XII to Pius IX
. Vol. II. London: J. Murray. pp. 51?101.
- Fitz-Hardinge Berkeley, George (1932).
"Chapters VII, VIII, IX"
.
Italy in the Making: 1815 to 1846
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 90?138.
ISBN
978-0-521-07427-8
.
- Ernesto Vercesi (1936).
Tre pontificati: Leone XII, Pio VIII, Gregorio XVI
(in Italian). Torino: Soc. editrice internazionale.
- Schmidlin, Joseph (1940).
Leon XII, Pie VIII et Gregoire XVI, 1823?1846
(in French). Vitte.
- Koenig, Duane. “BACKDROP TO REVOLUTION?THE REIGN OF POPE GREGORY XVI.” Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences 9, no. 2 (1946): 131?43.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/24313351
.
- Korten, Christopher. “DEFINING MOMENTS: THE REASONS MAURO CAPPELLARI BECAME POPE GREGORY XVI.” Archivum Historiae Pontificiae 47 (2009): 17?39.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23565183
.
- Korten, Christopher. “Against the Grain: Pope Gregory XVI’s Optimism Toward Russia in His Censure of Polish Clerics in 1831.” The Catholic Historical Review 101, no. 2 (2015): 292?316.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/43900025
.
- Korten, Christopher. “‘Il Trionfo?’ The Untold Story of Its Development and Pope Gregory XVI’s Struggle to Attain Orthodoxy.” The Harvard Theological Review 109, no. 2 (2016): 278?301.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/43948562
.
- Korten, Christopher. “Pope Gregory XVI’s Chocolate Enterprise: How Some Italian Clerics Survived Financially During the Napoleonic Era.” Church History 86, no. 1 (2017): 63?85.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/26292211
.
- Quinn, John F. “‘Three Cheers for the Abolitionist Pope!’: American Reaction to Gregory XVI’s Condemnation of the Slave Trade, 1840-1860.” The Catholic Historical Review 90, no. 1 (2004): 67?93.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/25026521
.
- Reinerman, Alan J. “Metternich, Pope Gregory XVI, and Revolutionary Poland, 1831-1842.” The Catholic Historical Review 86, no. 4 (2000): 603?19.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/25025819
.
- Lefebvre, C., ed. (1948).
Gregorio XVI
. Vol. Parte seconda. Rome: Pontificia Universita Gregorian.
ISBN
978-88-7652-439-4
.
(laudatory)
- Stogre, Michael (1992).
"Chapter Two"
.
That the World May Believe: The Development of Papal Social Thought on Aboriginal Rights
. Sherbrooke, Ontario CA: Mediaspaul. pp. 47?124.
ISBN
978-2-89039-549-7
.
- McBrien, Richard P. (2000).
Lives of the Popes
. HarperCollins.
- Viaene, Vincent (2001).
Belgium and the Holy See from Gregory XVI to Pius IX (1831?1859): Catholic Revival, Society and Politics in 19th-century Europe
. Louvain: Leuven University Press.
ISBN
978-90-5867-138-7
.
- Pham, John-Peter (2004).
Heirs of the Fisherman
. Oxford University Press.
ISBN
978-0-19-517834-0
.
- Regoli, Roberto, "Gregorio XVI: una ricerca historiografica,"
Archivum Historiae Pontificiae
44 (2006), pp. 141?171. (laudatory)
- Curran, Charles E., ed. (2003).
"5. Reflections on Slavery; 6. The Correction of Common Catholic Teaching"
.
Change in Official Catholic Moral Teachings
. Readings in Moral Theology, no. 13. New York/Mahwah NJ: Paulist Press. pp. 65?79.
ISBN
978-0-8091-4134-0
.
- Chadwick, Owen (2003).
"Chapter 1"
.
A History of the Popes, 1830-1914
. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 1?61.
ISBN
978-0-19-926286-1
.
- Francesca Longo; Claudia Zaccagnini; Fabrizio Fabbrini (2008).
Gregorio XVI promotore delle arti e della cultura
(in Italian). Ospedaletto (Pisa): Pacini.
ISBN
978-88-7781-950-5
.
(laudatory)
- von Wurzbach, Constantin
(1857).
"Cappellari, Bartholomaus Albert"
.
Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich
(in German). Vol. 2. Vienna: Verlag der typografisch-literarisch-artistischen Anstalt (L. C. Zamarski, C. Dittmarsch & Comp.). p. 275.
- Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz (1990). "Gregor XVI". In Bautz, Friedrich Wilhelm (ed.).
Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL)
(in German). Vol. 2. Hamm: Bautz. cols. 327?330.
ISBN
3-88309-032-8
.
- Giacomo Martina:
Gregorio XVI.
In: Massimo Bray (ed.):
Enciclopedia dei Papi.
Volume 3:
Innocenzo VIII, Giovanni Paolo II.
Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2000 (
treccani.it
)
- Martina, Giacomo (2002).
"Gregorio XVI, papa"
. In Caravale, Mario (ed.).
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani
(DBI)
(in Italian). Vol. 59. Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana.
- Literature by and about Pope Gregory XVI
in the
German National Library
catalogue
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
|
1st?4th centuries
| |
---|
5th?8th centuries
| |
---|
9th?12th centuries
| |
---|
13th?16th centuries
| |
---|
17th?21st centuries
| |
---|
History of the papacy
| |
---|
|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|