Giacomo Antonelli

Giacomo Antonelli (2 April 1806 6 November 1876) was an Italian cardinal deacon. He was the Cardinal Secretary of State from 1848 until his death; he played a key role in Italian politics, resisting the unification of Italy and affecting Roman Catholic interests in European affairs. He was often called the "Italian Richelieu"[1] and the "Red Pope."[2]


Giacomo Antonelli
Cardinal Secretary of State
Giacomo Antonelli
Seenone
Appointed29 November 1848
Installed29 November 1848
Term ended6 November 1876
PredecessorGiovanni Soglia Ceroni
SuccessorGiovanni Simeoni
Other postsCardinal-Deacon of Sant'Agata dei Goti
Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Via Lata
Cardinal-Protodeacon
Orders
Ordination1840 (deacon)
Created cardinal11 June 1847
by Pope Pius IX
RankCardinal-Deacon
Personal details
Birth nameGiacomo Antonelli
Born2 April 1806
Died6 November 1876 (aged 70)
DenominationCatholic
Previous postCardinal Secretary of State (1st time)
(10 March – 3 May 1848)

Life and work

He was born at Sonnino near Terracina and was educated for the priesthood, but, after taking minor orders, gave up the idea of becoming a priest, and chose an administrative career. Created secular prelate, he was sent as apostolic delegate to Viterbo in 1836, where he early manifested his reactionary tendencies in an attempt to stamp out Liberalism. In 1839 he was transferred to Macerata. In 1840 he was ordained a deacon. Recalled to Rome in 1841 by Pope Gregory XVI, he entered the offices of the Secretariat of State, but four years later was appointed pontifical treasurer-general. Created cardinal on 11 June 1847, one of the last cardinal deacons in deacon's orders, he was chosen by Pius IX to preside over the council of state entrusted with the drafting of a constitution for the Papal States.

On 10 March 1848, Antonelli became premier of the first constitutional ministry of Pius IX. Upon the collapse of his cabinet when liberals resigned in protest again papal public refusal to participate in a war of national liberation, 29 April 1848, Antonelli created for himself the governorship of the sacred palaces in order to retain constant access to and influence over the pope. After the assassination of Pellegrino Rossi (15 November 1848) he arranged the flight of Pius IX to Gaeta on 23 November. [3] In that year, the Papal States were overthrown by Liberals and replaced by a Roman Republic, only to be restored to the pope in 1849 by force of French and Austrian arms, called in at Antonelli's request.

Notwithstanding promises to the powers, upon returning to Rome (12 April 1850) Antonelli restored absolute government and disregarded the conditions of the surrender by wholesale imprisonment of Liberals. In 1855 he narrowly escaped assassination. As an ally of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, from whom he had received an annual subsidy, he attempted, after 1860, to facilitate Ferdinand's restoration by fomenting brigandage on the Neapolitan frontier. To the overtures of Ricasoli in 1861, Pius IX, at Antonelli's suggestion, replied with the famous "Non possumus," but subsequently (1867) accepted, too late, Ricasoli's proposal concerning ecclesiastical property.

After the September Convention of 1864, Antonelli organized the Legion of Antibes to replace French troops in Rome, and in 1867 secured French aid against Garibaldi's invasion of papal territory. Upon the reoccupation of Rome by the French after the battle of Mentana on 3 November 1867, Antonelli again ruled supreme, but after the entry of the Italians in 1870 was obliged to restrict his activity to the management of foreign relations. With the Pope's approval, he wrote the letter requesting the Italians to occupy the Leonine City (in which the Italian government had intended to allow the pope to keep his temporal power), and obtained from the Italians payment of the Peter's pence (5,000,000 lire) remaining in the papal exchequer, as well as 50,000 scudi, the only installment of the Italian allowance (subsequently fixed by the Law of Guarantees, 21 March 1871) ever accepted by the Holy See.

By the nature of the post he occupied, from 1850 until his death Antonelli had little to do with questions of dogma and Church discipline, although his was the signature on circulars addressed to the Powers transmitting the Syllabus of Errors (1864) and the acts of the First Vatican Council (1870).[4]

His activity was devoted almost exclusively to the struggle between the papacy and the Italian Risorgimento. He died on 6 November 1876.[4]

Antonelli bequeathed his personal fortune of about 623,341 gold francs (derived chiefly from his family patrimony) to his four living brothers and two nephews, but pointedly excluded a nephew who had become an anticlerical Italian nationalist; he bequeathed his collection of precious gems to the Vatican museum, and the crucifix he kept on his desk to Pope Pius IX as a personal memento.[5]

Although it did not prevent Pius IX's beatification, some observers believe that Antonelli's notoriety might be enough to prevent his canonization. Antonelli was one of the last deacons to be created a cardinal before Pope Benedict XV decreed in 1917 that all cardinals must be ordained priests.[6]

Honours

Also

  • No cardinal eligible to participate in a papal conclave has gone as long as Antonelli–29 years–without doing so. Roger Etchegaray overtook Antonelli on 26 November 2008 and ended up serving as a cardinal for a longer period--40 years--without participating in a conclave, but he was only eligible to do so for about 23 years, due to the age limit of 80 years old imposed by Pope Paul VI in 1971. In both Antonelli's and Etchegaray's cases, their non-participation in conclaves was not by choice as there was no conclave for them to attend. No conclave was held while Antonelli was a cardinal while Etchegaray was excluded due to age from participating in the conclaves of 2005 and 2013.
  • He appears as a character in the movie Li chiamarono... briganti! (1999), interpreted by Giorgio Albertazzi.

Notes

  1. Carlo Falconi, Il Cardinale Antonelli: Vita e carriera del Richelieu italiano nella chiesa di Pio IX (Milan: Mondadori) 1983.
  2. Coppa, Frank (1990). Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli and Papal Politics in European Affairs. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. p. 184.
  3. Rudge 1913.
  4. Chisholm 1911.
  5. Coppa, Frank (1990). Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli and Papal Politics in European Affairs. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. p. 181. ISBN 0-7914-0184-7.
  6. 1917 Code of Canon Law – Canon 232 §1
  7. Handelsblad (Het) 14-05-1850

References

  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Antonelli, Giacomo". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  • Rudge, F. M. (1913). "Giacomo Antonelli" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  • Michael Burleigh, 2006. Earthly Powers: The Clash of Religion and Politics in Europe, from the French Revolution to the Great War
  • David I Kertzer, 2004. Prisoner of the Vatican: The Popes' Secret Plot to Capture Rome from the New Italian State (Houghton Mifflin) ISBN 978-0-618-22442-5
  • Frank J. Coppa, 1990. Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli and Papal Politics in European Affairs ISBN 0-7914-0184-7 The first full-length biography, based on the documents of the Secret Vatican Archives, and not previously used family papers in the Archivio di Stato, Rome.
  • (Roger Aubert), "Antonelli, Giacomo," Dizionario biografico degli italiani, vol. 3 (1961)
Catholic Church titles
Previous:
Juan Francisco Marco y Catalán
Cardinal-Deacon of Sant'Agata dei Goti
14 June 1847 6 November 1876
title held in commendam from 13 March 1868 6 November 1876
Succeeded by
Frédéric de Falloux du Coudray
Preceded by
Giuseppe Ugolini
Cardinal Protodeacon
19 December 1867 6 November 1876
Succeeded by
Prospero Caterini
Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Via Lata
13 March 1868 6 November 1876
Political offices
Preceded by
Giuseppe Bofondi
Cardinal Secretary of State
10 March – 3 May 1848
Succeeded by
Anton Orioli
Preceded by
Giovanni Soglia Ceroni
Cardinal Secretary of State
29 November 1848 6 November 1876
Succeeded by
Giovanni Simeoni
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