Lorenzo Litta

Cardinal Lorenzo Litta (unknown artist after 1820)

Lorenzo Litta (born February 23, 1756 in Milan , † May 1, 1820 in Monteflavio ) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Church .

Life

The descendant of Cardinal Alfonso Michele Litta studied civil and canon law in Rome until 1780. Pope Pius VI awarded him the title of Apostolic Protonotary in 1782 . On June 6, 1789, Litta received the sacrament of ordination .

In 1793 Pius VI appointed him. the titular archbishop of Tebe . He was ordained bishop on October 6, 1793 by Cardinal Luigi Valenti Gonzaga . In the same year Litta became apostolic nuncio in Poland, which he remained until 1797. In 1798 he tried in vain to establish diplomatic relations with the Russian tsarist court. After the death of Pius VI. In 1799 he traveled to Venice to make preparations for the conclave to be held there. The new Pope Pius VII appointed him papal treasurer in November 1800.

Pius VII accepted Litta on February 23, 1801 as cardinal priest of the titular church of Santa Pudenziana in the college of cardinals . He gave up the office of treasurer and in 1803 became Prefect of the Index Congregation . Since he opposed Napoléon Bonaparte , in 1810 he forbade him to wear his red official clothes ("Black Cardinal") and in 1813 had him brought to Fontainebleau. Cardinal Litta was only able to return to Rome the following year and became prefect of the Congregation De Propaganda Fide . In 1814 he also became Cardinal Bishop of Sabina . After he had taken over other offices at the Curia , Pius VII appointed him on September 28, 1818 cardinal vicar .

Two years later, Cardinal Litta died of a stomach ailment. He was buried in the church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo .

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Litta, Lorenz . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 15th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1866, p. 283 ( digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Lorenzo Litta  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Litta, Lorenzo. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed November 21, 2016.
• Entry on Lorenzo Litta on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on November 21, 2016.
• Alessandro Giulini: Litta, Lorenzo. In: Enciclopedia Italiana 1934 ( online version at treccani.it)
• Literature by and about Lorenzo Litta in the SUDOC catalog (Association of French University Libraries)

predecessor	Office	successor
Ippolito Vincenti Mareri	Cardinal Bishop of Sabina 1814–1820	Tommaso Arezzo
Michele Di Pietro	Prefect of the Congregation De Propaganda Fide 1814–1818	Francesco Fontana
Giulio Maria della Somaglia	Cardinal Vicar 1818-1820	Annibale della Genga