Pope Pius VIII (Italian:Pio VIII; bornFrancesco Saverio Maria Felice Castiglioni; 20 November 1761 – 30 November 1830) was head of theCatholic Church and ruler of thePapal States from 31 March 1829 to his death in November 1830.
Pius VIII's pontificate was the shortest of the 19th century, and is likely the least remembered. His brief papacy witnessed theCatholic Emancipation in theUnited Kingdom in 1829, which he welcomed, and theJuly Revolution inFrance in 1830, which he accepted with reluctance.[1] Pius VIII is often remembered for his writings on marriages between Catholics and Protestants: in the 1830briefLitteris altero abhinc, he declared that a marriage could only be properly blessed if proper provisions had been made to ensure the bringing up of children in the Catholic faith.[2] His death less than two years after his election to the papacy led to speculation of possible murder.
Francesco Saverio Castiglioni was born inCingoli,Marche, the third of eight children of Count Ottavio Castiglioni (1714 - 1804) and his wife Sanzia/Sancia Teresa Ghislieri. His brother Filippo Giulio Castiglioni (1774 - 1846) married and had Radegonda Nazzarena Castiglioni, born in 1810, who was married to a maternal nephew ofPope Pius IX. His baptismal name was recorded as Francesco Saverio Maria Felice. An ancestor of his wasPope Celestine IV. He studied at the Collegio Campana run by theSociety of Jesus and, after that, at theUniversity of Bologna, where he earned adoctorate incanon and civil law (utroque iure) in 1785. He was ordained to the priesthood in Rome on 17 December 1785.[3]
Castiglioni was considered a front-runner in theconclave of 1823. He was known to be close to Pius VII, who often referred to Castiglioni as "Pius VIII".[4] However, he failed to gain the necessary votes, in part due to controversy surrounding an alliance between him and anotherfavorite, Secretary of StateErcole Consalvi. Annibale Cardinal della Genga was elected instead, and he took the name ofPope Leo XII. Leo XII stated that Castiglioni would one day be called "Pius VIII".[5]
After the death of Pope Leo XII in 1829, Castiglioni, who had all the qualities and skills required to be pope, was again considered to be a major candidate, though was questioned due to his frail health and age. Despite these concerns, he was elected as pope in the papal conclave of 1829. Given that both Popes Pius VII and Leo XII had referred to him as Pius VIII, it seemed only suitable that it was the pontifical name that he chose. He wascrowned on 5 April 1829 by CardinalGiuseppe Albani.[3]
Throughout the conclave, Cardinal Albani settled on proposing Castiglioni as a candidate for the papacy on the basis that his infirmities and age would see a short papacy in which he could persuade the ailing pontiff to hand over aspects of governance to himself. This was on the basis that Albani did not desire to be pope, but rather to be appointed asCardinal Secretary of State in which he would hold power in terms of ecclesial governance. Albani approached Castiglioni with his offer, drawing up an agreement which Castiglioni signed without demur. With Castiglioni elected, Albani ended up being appointed to his desired posting.[6]
When the conclave opened, the French cardinals were told that the French court would support seven cardinals for the papacy, which included Castiglioni. KingCharles X had a very positive opinion of Castiglioni, and favored either Castiglioni,Placido Zurla,Emmanuele de Gregorio, or Cesare Brancadoro to become pope. Castiglioni led in the first ballot with eleven votes, and on 4 March in his capacity as theMajor Penitentiary distributed ashes to the cardinals since it wasAsh Wednesday. While there were whispers of a faction supporting de Gregorio, a faction consisting of Cardinals Antonio Maria Frosini, Carlo Maria Pedicini, Antonio Palotta, Tommaso Maria Raimondo Leopoldo Arezzo, andAgostino Rivarola was said to have started shoring up support for Castiglioni. On 6 March, de Gregorio was still in the lead, with Castiglioni receiving fifteen votes in the afternoon scrutiny. Due to a series of controversies surrounding de Gregorio throughout the day, de Gregorio's votes had fallen on 7 March, while Castiglioni received fourteen in the morning and fifteen in the afternoon. On 14 March, Castiglioni received 20 votes in the morning and 23 in the afternoon, while fluctuating on 15 and 16 March. Castiglioni received 22 votes in the 20 March morning vote whileBartolomeo Pacca's votes increased that afternoon from 11 to 19 in a bid to end the deadlock and elect a compromise candidate. Castiglioni's voting total remained the same on the following day.[7]
In the morning vote on 23 March, he had received 24 votes and received 26 in the afternoon. Meanwhile,Cappellari received 19 votes that had originally been cast for Pacca due to his supporters deciding upon him as an amenable compromise and because Pacca was officiallyvetoed. On 24 March, CardinalsCarlo Oppizzoni andFabrizio Sceberras Testaferrata, from different factions, were both privately in agreement to canvass additional support for Castiglioni. While Cappellari received 22 votes in an indication that his candidacy was improving, Castiglioni received 23 votes while de Gregorio had sunk to two votes. On 26 March, in the afternoon scrutiny, de Gregorio had suddenly risen to 24 votes while Castiglioni had sunk to 14 or 15. He sunk to 13 on 28 March, though the results changed on 30 March in which de Gregorio had secured 23 votes and Castiglioni had secured just over 25 in the morning, only for both candidates to sink in the afternoon scrutiny. On 31 March, he had secured 28 votes with a clear lead, and barely had two-thirds majority in the morning ballot. In the next ballot, Castiglioni was elected as pope with 47 votes.[7]
As Pope Pius VIII, he initiated some reforms in thePapal States. On 24 May 1829 he issued anencyclical,Traditi humilitati. Regarding religious pluralism, he condemned the "foul contrivance of the sophists of this age" that would place Catholicism on a par with any other religion. Regarding Bible translations, he wrote in that encyclical:
We must also be wary of those who publish the Bible with new interpretations contrary to the Church's laws. They skillfully distort the meaning by their own interpretation. They print the Bibles in the vernacular and, absorbing an incredible expense, offer them free even to the uneducated. Furthermore, the Bibles are rarely without perverse little inserts to ensure that the reader imbibes their lethal poison instead of the saving water of salvation.[8]
On 25 March 1830, in thebriefLitteris altero, he condemned the masonic secret societies[2] and modernist biblical translations.[9]
A further letter of pastoral concern sent to the Upper Rhineland bishops, which Pius wrote at the end of June 1830, is referred to by his successorGregory XVI in the latter'spapal briefQuo Graviora of 1833. Gregory refers to a request for information on the bishops' actions in response, which he says "though three years have elapsed", had not yet been received.[10]
Pius accepted the situation onmixed marriages between Protestants and Catholics in Germany, but he opposed changes in Ireland and Poland, which were still strongly Catholic. In his briefLitteris altero abhinc, he declared that a mixed marriage could only be blessed by a priest if proper promises had been made to educate the children of the marriage as Catholics.[1] However, the brief also which allowed priests to offer "passive assistance" at a mixed marriage ceremony when the non-Catholic party declined to make the oath providing for the children of the marriage to be brought up as Catholics. The provision for "passive assistance" meant that a priest could conduct a wedding, acting as a witness, but the marriage would not be blessed or seen as asacrament.[11]
In the last of these letters, he wrote that his concern for "the state of theDioceses distributed over the entire earth" occupied a place second to none among his cares.[15]
Pius VIII also held threeconsistories in which he elevated a total of six men into the cardinalate. He held these ceremonies on 27 July 1829, 15 March 1830 and 5 July 1830.[16] Pius VIII also nominated eight cardinals "in pectore" in the March 1830 consistory, however, he never publicly revealed the names before his death hence rendering the appointments moot.
Pius' brief pontificate saw theCatholic Emancipation in the United Kingdom and theJuly Revolution in France, which occurred in 1829 and 1830, respectively. Pius VIII recognisedLouis Philippe I (1830–48) as French king and allowed him to use the French king's customary title "Roi Très Chrétien", which means "His Most Christian Majesty".[17]
Also of remarkable importance to the future is a letter of his to a French bishop, in which he allowed the taking of moderateinterest (under the principle of foregoing a profit by investing the lent capital; seeVix pervenit for the discussion of the topic).
Being, at that time, head of the Papal States, he remained popular for decades for removing the so-calledcancelletti (grids) from the taverns, which Leo XII had ordered to be put there to hinder the consumption of wine unless accompanied by a meal. A poem was written about him that ran thus:
"Allor che il sommo Pio / comparve innanzi a Dio / gli domandò: Che hai fatto? / Rispose: Nient'ho fatto. / Corresser gli angeletti: / Levò i cancelletti."
which in English roughly reads: At the time when the highest Pius / approached God in the highest / He asked him: What have you got done? / He answered: "There's nothing I've got done." / But the angels present knew better: / "He cancelled the cancelletter".[18]
Pius VIII was in very poor health during most of his papacy. He became very ill in early November 1830, developingfistulas on his neck and knee while his entire body became covered withpustules, which the doctors were able to manage by 15 November. Pius VIII became seriously ill again on 23 November, had difficulties in breathing for the following three nights, and was given theViaticum on 28 November and theExtreme Unction later that day at 9:30pm.[17][19] He died on 30 November 1830 at the age of 69 in theQuirinal Palace in Rome.[20]
Certain theories have emerged suggesting that Pius VIII was poisoned, but no proof has been found to verify this claim.[17]
CardinalCamillo di Pietro gave the funeral oration for the late pope, before the cardinals entered the conclave to choose a successor. Pius VIII was succeeded byPope Gregory XVI.
Giuseppe Monsagrati: Pio VIII. In: Massimo Bray (ed.):Enciclopedia dei Papi. Volume 3: Innocenzo VIII, Giovanni Paolo II. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2000 (treccani.it)
