Prospero Caterini

Cardinal Prospero Caterini (after 1853)

Prospero Caterini (born October 15, 1795 in Onano near Viterbo , † October 28, 1881 in Rome ) was a Curia Cardinal of the Catholic Church.

Life

Prospero Caterini came from a noble family and was also with Pope Pius XII through his mother Maria Domenica Pacelli . related. He studied in Rome. Nothing is known about the date of the ordination and its early activities. In 1841 he became an Auditor of His Holiness , and in November 1845 he became a canon and collaborator in the Holy Office.

Pope Pius IX elevated him to cardinal dignity in the consistory of March 7, 1853 . Shortly afterwards he was appointed cardinal deacon of Santa Maria della Scala and soon became a member of various congregations, including the congregation De Propaganda Fide . Since 1852 he was also a member of a commission that condemned the “most important errors of our time”, such as Pius IX. called it, worked out. From 1860 to 1881, Caterini was Prefect of the Council Congregation . In 1867 he also became President of the Cardinals' Commission, which made the preparations for the First Vatican Council . In this capacity he took part in the council two years later. The end of the Papal States in 1870 hit him particularly hard, since he was an opponent of the unified Italy.

From 1876 Caterini was cardinal protodeacon and received the title diaconia of Santa Maria in Via Lata in December , shortly afterwards he was also responsible for questions of faith as secretary of the Holy Office . As one of the oldest cardinals, the 83-year-old Caterini took after the death of Pius IX. participated in the conclave of 1878 . In his capacity as cardinal protodeacon he announced the election of Leo XIII to the public . but he could not crown the new Pope because of an illness. He died three years later in Rome at the age of 86.

Positions

Prospero Caterini was a very conservative cardinal. He was among the strongest advocates of papal infallibility and was adamant about liberal tendencies. Caterini also blocked any attempt at reconciliation between Pius IX. and the state of Italy. This attitude forced him to go into exile in Gaeta with the Pope in 1848 . It was not until 1850 that Caterini was able to return to Rome.

literature

• Francesco Malgeri:  Caterini, Prospero. In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 22:  Castelvetro – Cavallotti. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1979, pp. 383-385.
• Caterini Carlo: Gens Catherina de terra Balii . Edizioni Scientifiche Calabresi, Rende 2009.

Web links

• Caterini, Prospero. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed July 18, 2016.
• Entry on Prospero Caterini on catholic-hierarchy.org ; Retrieved July 18, 2016.

predecessor	Office	successor
Costantino Patrizi Naro	Secretary of the Holy Office 1876–1881	Antonio Maria Panebianco
Antonio Maria Cagiano de Azevedo	Prefect of the Council Congregation 1860–1881	Lorenzo Nina
Giacomo Antonelli	Cardinal protodiacon 1876–1881	Theodulf Mertel