Gaetano Bedini

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Gaetano Bedini lithograph by Josef Kriehuber , 1844
Cardinal Bedini
Cardinal Bedini coat of arms

Gaetano Bedini (born May 15, 1806 in Senigallia , † September 6, 1864 in Viterbo ) was an Italian cardinal and diplomat of the Holy See .

Life

Bedini was born as a scion of the famous Bedini family from Ostra . His parents were Alessandro Pellegrino Bedini and Marianna Spadoni.

Early years

As the youngest of seven sons, Bedini was chosen for a career in the church. His father registered the boy in the seminary of Senigallia , where Bedini was ordained a priest on December 20, 1828 . In the following years he was canon at the Cathedral of Senigallia . Thanks to influential friends, including Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti, who was also from Senigallia and later Pope Pius IX. , found, he was appointed to the diplomatic service of the Curia in 1838. Here he initially worked as the secretary of Lodovico Altieri , the nuncio in Austria . In 1845 Altieri, who had meanwhile gained some experience in diplomacy, was summoned to Rome . There he was on April 21, 1845 by Pope Gregory XVI. appointed cardinal and entrusted with the office of apostolic protonotary .

The Apostolic Nunciature in Brazil

Bedini's first independent mission was to Brazil from October 1845 to August 1847 , where he was sent as an intern . There he worked primarily to improve the living conditions of German immigrants. On this occasion he tried to win Protestants for the Catholic Church.

Contact with Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi was in South America at the same time as Bedini . This resulted in contacts that culminated in a letter from Garibaldi to Bedini, in which Garibaldi asked to inform the Pope that his sword and his Italian Legion would always be available for the beloved homeland and the Church, as would the immortal and eternally new common Demand religion. However, he is aware that the throne of Peter rests on foundations that cannot be shaken by human hands. Bedini accepted the letter with thanks, but Garibaldi's offer was not accepted in Rome.

The Roman Republic

When Bedini returned to Rome in 1848, he became an assistant to Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli , who at that time held the position of Foreign Minister of the Papal States. From March to November 1848 Bedini followed the Pope into exile in Gaeta in the wake of the revolution of 1848 . During this time Garibaldi was able to, the reluctance of the Romans against Napoléon III. , whose troops came to the aid of the Pope, and supported the triumvirate of Giuseppe Mazzini , Aurelio Saffi and Carlo Armellini , which presided over the short-lived Roman Republic.

Envoy in Bologna and the death of Ugo Bassi

Following the return of the Pope to Rome, Bedini was again active as a papal diplomat from 1849 to 1852. During this time he was sent to Bologna as legate and ambassador . Right at the beginning of his work in Bologna, the Italian patriot Ugo Bassi , who had been captured by the Austrians near Comacchio, was brought to the city and finally shot there on August 8, 1849. Many supporters of the Italian patriots accused Baldini of having done nothing to save Bassi. In doing so, they probably disregarded the fact that Bedini could have exerted very little influence on the decisions of the Austrians anyway.

Apostolic Nunciature in the USA

Archbishop Bedini in the USA, daguerreotype from 1853 (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution , USA)

On March 15, 1852 Bedini was appointed titular archbishop of Thebae . Three days later he received an order from Cardinal Luigi Lambruschini to go to Brazil as papal nuncio. The episcopal ordination received his Lodovico Altieri on July 4 of that year; Co- consecrators were the Archbishop of Cagliari , Emanuele Marongiu Nurra , and the Archbishop of Freising , Karl August von Reisach . Entry to Brazil was denied to Bedini because of a raging plague epidemic there, so he went to the United States instead and thus became the first papal nuncio in the United States. During his entire stay in the USA, Bedini was persecuted by Italian patriots under the leadership of former priest Alessandro Gavazzi for his alleged involvement in the execution of Bassi. Protests against Bedini were even organized in public places. After a violent protest in Cincinnati , the ringleaders were arrested and expelled from the United States. Bedini was able to spend the rest of the time in the USA in relative calm.

Cardinal and Bishop of Viterbo

In 1856, on his return to Italy, he was appointed general secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples , and in March 1861 he was made bishop of Viterbo and Toscanella . When he moved into Viterbo on May 8, 1861, he was warmly welcomed by the population and the clergy and led through the city's festively illuminated streets to the cathedral. Pope Pius IX Bedini also elevated him to cardinalate in the consistory of September 27, 1861, and three days later appointed him cardinal priest of the titular church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva .

The end

Bedini died suddenly and unexpectedly on the morning of September 6, 1864, at the age of 59, when he was believed to have had a stroke. There was great sadness in the city of Viterbo at the news of death. Although there were many guests in the city who wanted to attend a festival in honor of Saint Rosa, this festival was canceled. Bedini was buried in Viterbo Cathedral in a marble tomb near Saint Rosa and his predecessor.

Fonts

  • Agli alunni del Pontificio Collegio Urbano in propaganda: parole dette da Monsig. Gaetano Bedini nella solenne messa pontificale per l'Epifania del 1861. Rome 1861.
  • April 14, 1850. Stato della Chiesa, Governo Pontificio. Noi Gaetano Bedini, Patrizio Sinigalliese. .. Commissario Pontificio Straordinario di SS Papa Pio IX e Pro-Legato di Bologna. Popoli delle Legazioni .. .. Oggi ci è dato di potervi annunziare che l'immortale Pio IX già trovasi nella sua Roma e con Esso splende di nuovo nel Vaticano la duplice Maestà del Pontefice e del Sovrano… Tipografia Governativa alla Volpe, Bologna, Mm 781x530.

literature

  • James F. Connelly: The visit of archbishop Gaetano Bedini tho the United Stades of America (June, 1853 - february, 1854). Rome 1960.
  • Pietro Artemi: Elogio funebre del cardinale Gaetano Bedini Arciv. Vescovo di Viterbo e Toscanella letto de 'solenni funerali degli 8 settembri 1864 nella chiesa cattedrale viterbese. Viterbo 1864.
  • Matteo Sanfilippo: Monsignor Gaetano Bedini e l'emigrazione verso le Americhe. In: Studi Emigrazione 106 (1992) pp. 277-286, 53.
  • Alberto Polverari: Cronotassi dei vescovi di Senigallia. P. 142.
  • Angelo Mencucci: Senigallia e la sua Diocesi Ed. Fortuna, pp. 139-147.
  • Giovanni Monti Guarnieri: Annali di Senigallia. Tip. Sita, Ancona, pp. 315-316, 377.
  • Enciclopedia Cattolica. Sp. 1138-1139.
  • Silvio Furlani:  Bedini, Gaetano. In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 7:  Bartolucci – Bellotto. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1965, pp. 520-522.
  • Philippe Bountry: Prélats Référendaires et officers de curie en fonctions sous la restauration (1814–1846) . In: Souverain et pontife. Recherches prosopographiques sur la Curie Romaine à l'âge de la Restoration (1814–1846) . École française de Rome, Rome 2002, margin no. 71–73 (French, online edition [accessed March 18, 2018]).

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personal data
SURNAME Bedini, Gaetano
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian cardinal and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1806
PLACE OF BIRTH Senigallia
DATE OF DEATH September 6, 1864
Place of death Viterbo