LSO
169
LEO
1852). 149-202; XXXVIII, 50-83; Wiseman. RecoUediont of
M« JajM FourPopew (Loodon^858); 209-362.
Noa-GatboUc: Bknbath in Hebsoo and ELiuck, Real-tncyklo' p^ldie, XI, (Leipnc. 1902), 390-393. Nielbkn, History of the Papaeif tn tlU XlXtk Century, II (London, 1906), 1-30.
Lesue a. St. L. Toke.
Lm ZnZy Pope, b. 2 March, 1810, at Carpineto; elected pope 20 February, 1878; d. 20 Juty, 1903, at Rome. Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Lui^i was the sixth of the seven sons of Count Lodovico recci and his wife Anna lS*osperi-Busi. There was some doubt as to the nobility of the Pecci family, and when the younff Gioacchino sought admission to the Accademia dei Nobili in Rome he met with a certain opposition, whereupon he wrote the history of his family, showing that the Pecci of Carpineto were a branch of the Pecci of Siena, obliged to emigrate to the Papal States in the first half of the sixteenth century, under Clement VII, because they had sided with the Medici.
At the ase of ekht, together with his brother Giu- seppe, ased ten, he was sent to study at the new Jesuit school in Viterbo, the present seminary. He remained there six years (1818-24), and gained that clawicaljfacility in the use of Latin and Italian after- wards justly admired in his official writing and his poems. Much credit for this is due to his teacher, Padre Leonardo Garibaldi. TVlien, in 1824, the Col- legio Romano wasgiven back to the Jesuits, Gioacchino and his brother Giuseppe entered as students of hu- manities and rhetoric. At the end of his rhetoric course Gioacchino tiras chosen to deliver the address in Latin, and selected as his subject, The Contrast be- tween Fe^fBJi and Christian Rome ^. Not less success- ful was his three years' course of philosophy and nat- ural sciences.
He remained yet uncertain as to his calling, though it had been the wish of his mother that he should em- brace the ecclesiastical state. Like many other young Romans of the period who aimed at a public career, he took up meanwhile the studv of theology as well as canon and civil law. Among his professors were the famous theoloeian Perrone and the scripturist Pa- trisi. In 1832 he obtained the doctorate of theology, whereupon, after Hie difficulties referred to above, ne asked and obtained admission to the Academy of Noble Ecclesiastics, and entered upon the study of canon and civil law at the Sapienza University. Thanks to his talents, and to the protection of Car- dinals Sala and Pacca, he was apppointed domestic prelate by Gregory XVI in January, 1837, while still in minor orders, and in March of tnat year was made "referendario della Segnatura, which office he soon exchanged for one in the Congregazione del Buon Govemo, or Ministry of the Interior for the Pontifical States, of which his protector Cardinal Sala was at that time prefect. Dunn^; the cholera epidemic in Rome he ably assisted Cardinal Sala in his duties as overseer of all the city hospitals. His zeal and ability con- vinced Cardinal Sala that Pecci was fitted for larger lesponsibilitiee, and he again urged him to enter the priesthood, hinting in addition that before long he might be promoted to a post where the priesthood would be necessary. Yielding to these solicitations, he was ordained priest 31 Dec., 1837, by Canlinal Odeschalchi, Vicar of Rome, in the chapel of St. Stanislaus on the Quirinal. The post hint^ at by Cardinal Sida was wat of Delegate or civil Governor of Benevento, a city subject to the Holy Sec but sit- uated in the heart of the Kingdom of Naples. Its condition was very unsatisfactorv; the brigands of the Neapolitan territory infested the country in mat numoers, survivals of the Napoleonic Wars and the guerrilla of the Sanfedisti. Gregor>' XVI thought a
Cung and energetic delegate necessary. Cardinal mbruschini, secretary of state, and Cardinal Sala sug- gested the name of Mgr. Pecci, who set out for Bene- vento 2 Februaiy» 18^. On his recovery from an at-
tack of typhoid fever, he set to work to stamp out
brigandage, and soon his vigilance, indomitable pur-
pose, and fearless treatment of the nobles who pro-
tected the brigands and smugglers, pacified the wnole
DTOvince. Aided by the nuncio at Naples, Mgr. di
Pietro, the youthful delegate drew up an agreement
with the Naples police for united action against brig-
ands. He also turned his attention to the roads and
highways, and arranged for a more just distribution
of taxes and duties, until then the same as those im-
posed by the invading French, and, though exorbi-
tant, exacted with the greatest rigour. Meanwhile
the Holy See and Naples were discussing the exchange
of Benevento for a streteh of Neapolitan territorjr
bordering on the Papal States. When Mgr. Pecci
heard of this he memorialized the Holy See so strongly
against it that the negotiations were broken off.
The results obtained in three years by the delegate at Benevento led Gregory XVI to entrust another del^ation to him where a strong personality was re- ouired, thouffh for very different reasons. He was nrst destined for Spoleto, but on 17 July, 1841, he was sent to Perugia, a hotbed of the anti-papal revo- lutionary party. For three years he improved the material conditions of his territorv and introduced a more expeditious and economical administration of justice. He also b^an a savings hank to assist small tradesmen and farmers with loans at a low rate of interest, reformed educational methods, and was oth- erwise active for the common welfare.
In January, 1843, he was appointed nuncio to Brussels, as successor of Mgr. Fomari, appointed nimcio at Paris. On 19 Feb., he was consecrated ti- ular Archbishop of Daniiata by Cardinal Lambrus- chini, and set out for his post. On his arrival he found rather critical conditions. The school ques- tion was warmly debated between the Catholic ma- jority and the Liberal minority. He encouraged the bishops and the laity in their struggle for Catholic schools, yet he was able to win the eood will of the Court, not only of the pious Queen Louise, but also of King Leopold I, strongly Liberal in his views. The new nuncio succeeded in uniting the Catholics, and to him is owing the idea of a Belgian college in Rome (1844). He made a journey (1845) through Rhenish Prussia (Cologne, Mainz, Trier), and owing to his vigilance the schismatic agitation of the priest Ronge, on the occasion of the exposition of the Holy Coat of Trier in 1844, did not affect Belgium. Mean- while the See of Perugia l)ecame vacant, and Gregory XVI, moved by the wishes of the Perugians and the needs of that city and district, appointed Mgr. Pecci Bishop of Perugia, retaining however the title of arch- bishop.
With a very flattering autograph letter from King Leopold, Mgr. Pecci left Brussels to spend a month in London and another in Paris. This brought him in touch with both courts, and afforded him opportuni- ties for meeting many eminent men, among others Wiseman, afterwards cardinal. Rich in experience and in new ideas, and with greatly broadened views, he returned to Rome on 26 May, 1846, where he found the pope on his deathbed, so that he was unable to re- port to him. He made his solemn entiy into Perugia 26 July, 1846, where he remained for thirty-two years. Gregory XVI had intended to make him a cardinal, but his death and the events that troubled the opening vears of the pontificate of Pius IX postponed this honour until 10 December, 1853. Pius IX desired to have him near his person, and repeatedly offered him a suburbicarian see, but Mgr. Pecci preferred Perugia, and perhaps was not in accord with Cardinal Anto- nelli. It is certainly untrue that Pius IX designedly left him in Perugia, much more untnie that he did so because Pecci 's views were lilieralistic and concilia- tory. As Bishop of Perugia he sought chiefly to in- culcate piety and knowledge of the truths of Faiths
