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Giuseppe Pecci | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal-Deacon of Sant'Agata dei Goti | |
.jpg) Photo of Cardinal Pecci in 1887 | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| Appointed | 15 May 1879 |
| Term ended | 8 February 1890 |
| Predecessor | Frédéric de Fallorx du Cordray |
| Successor | Andreas Steinhuber |
| Other post(s) | Cardinal Protodeacon (1887–90) |
| Previous post(s) | Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Studies (1884–87) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 6 February 1837 |
| Created cardinal | 12 May 1879 byPope Leo XIII |
| Rank | Cardinal-Deacon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Giuseppe Pecci (1807-12-13)13 December 1807 |
| Died | 8 February 1890(1890-02-08) (aged 82) Rome,Kingdom of Italy |
| Buried | Campo Verano, Rome,Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Denomination | Catholic (Roman Rite) |
| Parents | Dominico Ludovico Pecci Anna Francesca Prosperi-Buzzi |
| Alma mater | Collegium Romanum |
| Coat of arms | .svg) |
Giuseppe PecciS.J. (13 December 1807 – 8 February 1890) was a JesuitThomist theologian, whose younger brother, Vincenzo, becamePope Leo XIII and appointed him acardinal. TheNeo-Thomist revival, which Pecci andLeo XIII originated in 1879, remained the leading papal philosophy untilVatican II. He was the last papal relative elevated to cardinal.
Born inCarpineto Romano, near Rome, Giuseppe was one of the seven children ofCount Dominico Ludovico Pecci (2 June 1767 – 8 March 1833),Patrician ofSiena,Colonel of theFrench Army underNapoleon, and his wife Anna Francesca Prosperi-Buzzi (1773 – 9 August 1824).[1] His uncle Giuseppe Pecci was anprotonotary apostolic andreferendary of the Signature of Justice and died in 1806. His brothers includedVincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi and Giovanni Battista or Giambattista Pecci (26 October 1802 - 28 March 1882), 1st Count Pecci, who married on 8 August 1851 Angela Salina (7 February 1830 - 9 October 1899) and had issue, and sister Anna Maria Pecci, wife of Michelangelo Pecci. From 1807 to 1818 he lived at home with his family. Together with his younger brother Vincenzo, he studied in theJesuit College inViterbo from 1818 until 1824.[2][3]
His siblings were:[4]
In 1824, Count Pecci called him and Vincenzo home to Rome, where their mother was dying; the father wanted his children to be with him after the loss of his wife, and so they remained in Rome, attending theCollegium Romanum, a college belonging to theSociety of Jesus.In 1828, the question of occupational choice arose for the two brothers; Giuseppe Pecci professed the Jesuit order, while Vincenzo decided in favour of a diocesan priest.[5]
Pecci taughtThomism, the theology and philosophy of St.Thomas Aquinas, at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1847. At the request of his brother, who became Archbishop of Perugia, he was made a professor at the theological seminary inPerugia, where he remained from 1852 through 1859. After the city was taken over byPiedmont forces in 1860,Pope Pius IX called him to Rome and offered him a professorship in theology atLa Sapienza University. Pope Pius also called him into the papal commission to prepare theFirst Vatican Council. GoodThomist theology was hard to come by at that time, with the result that young scholars from other countries were sent to Rome to learn from Pecci andTommaso Maria Zigliara.[6] In 1870 he resigned his professorship because he refused to take the anti-papal oath which was demanded by the new Italian government. He continued his prominent theological research independently.
In 1879, theCollege of Cardinals, led byCamillo, Cardinal di Pietro, insistently askedPope Leo XIII to elevate his brother to their ranks,[8][9][10] and at the age of 71 Giuseppe Pecci was createdCardinal-Deacon ofSant'Agata dei Goti on 12 May 1879 in his brother's firstconsistory.[11] He was the last member of a pope's family made a cardinal.
The ceremony was described byLudwig von Pastor in his diary: "On 15 May at 11 am, Pope Leo XIII entered the hall in pontifical vestments, before him theCollege of Cardinals. TheSwiss Guards stood to attention. After the Papal speech, each of the new cardinals, Pecci,John Henry Newman,Joseph Hergenröther andTommaso Maria Zigliara, received the red hat, all of whom being well-known Church scholars."[12]
The elevation of Pecci, a well-known Thomist, took place in the context of the determined efforts ofLeo XIII to foster science and Thomist theology throughout the Catholic Church[2]Archived 9 February 2010 at theWayback Machine. Thomism had lost its role as a leading theology and Leo attempted to re-establish it "for the protection of faith, welfare of society and the advancement of science".[13] What he envisaged were not sterile interpretations of it, but a return to the original sources. This new orientation at the beginning of his pontificate was welcomed by Dominicans, Thomist Jesuits like Pecci and numerous bishops throughout the world. Strong opposition also developed as well on several fronts within the Church: Some considered Thomism simply outdated, while others used it for petty condemnations of dissident views that they did not like.[14] As traditional antagonists, Jesuits and Dominicans both claimed leadership in the renewal of Catholic theology.[14]
Pope Leo responded with the encyclicalÆterni Patris, much of which was co-written by Cardinal Pecci[3]Archived 9 February 2010 at theWayback Machine on the restoration of Christian philosophy in the schools, which was published on 4 August 1879, and mandated all Catholic universities to teach Thomism; it also created a papal academy for the training of Thomist professors and publishing scholarly editions of the works ofSt Thomas Aquinas. The leadership of this academy he entrusted to his brother, who aided the creation of similar Thomas Aquinas academies in other places (Bologna, Freiburg (Switzerland), Paris and Lowden). In 1879, Cardinal Pecci was appointed as firstPrefect of thePontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, which Leo founded on 15 October 1879, and was also appointed Prefect of theCongregation for Studies in February 1884[4]. (On 28 January 1999, the academy was reoriented to more social issues byPope John Paul II.)[15] Pope Leo XIII appointed thirty members, ten each from Rome, from Italy, and from the rest of the world, and provided generous financial support to attract scholars from everywhere. The Pope also personally supported individual Thomist scholars and applauded numerous critical editions of theAngelic Doctor's texts.[14] To balance his Thomist Jesuit appointments, Leo entrusted the overall responsibility of the works of St Thomas Aquinas to theDominican Order, of which the saint had been a member.
Pope Leo XIII considered the mostly locked-up and neglectedVatican Library "an infinite treasure for the Church and a monument to its role in culture and science".[16] He greatly increased staff and organization and appointed Jesuit fatherFranz Ehrle and Giuseppe Pecci to head the new undertaking asprefect and librarian, respectively. They in turn opened the Vatican Library to the general public after establishing a consultation library of 300,000 volumes.[17]
Cardinal Pecci continued his work as congregation and academy prefect and librarian until he died on 8 February 1890, aged 82, of complications from pneumonia. His bodylay in repose in the Basilica of the Twelve Apostles (Basilica dei Santi Apostoli) in Rome, where his funeral took place on 12 February. He is buried in the chapel of the Society of Jesus inCampo Verano Cemetery, in Rome.[18]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Cardinal Protodeacon 1887–1890 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Studies 16 February 1884 – 29 October 1887 | Succeeded by |
