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Clement XII
Clement XII (born April 7, 1652, Florence—died Feb. 6, 1740, Rome) was thepope from 1730 to 1740.
A member of the influential Florentine princely family of Corsini, he became papal ambassador to Vienna in 1691, cardinal deacon in 1706, and pope on July 12, 1730.
Despite ill health and total blindness (from 1732), he sought to halt the decline of papal influence but was far from successful. Although his protests against the spread of Gallicanism (an essentially French doctrine advocating restriction of papal power) to Spain were fruitless, his enforcement of PopeClement XI’s bullUnigenitus of 1713 sustained the suppression ofJansenism (a heretical doctrine deemphasizing freedom of the will and teaching that redemption throughChrist’s death is open to some but not all).
Clement aided large missionary enterprises, as exemplified in his sending Franciscans to Ethiopia, but he continued Clement XI’s ban on the Chinese and Malabar rites—i.e., those Far Eastern ceremonies honouring Confucius and one’s forefathers. InRome he erected the Trevi fountain.
- Original name:
- Lorenzo Corsini
- Born:
- April 7, 1652,Florence
- Died:
- Feb. 6, 1740,Rome (aged 87)
- Title / Office:
- pope (1730-1740)
- House / Dynasty:
- Corsini family
On April 28, 1738, hepromulgated his bullIn Eminenti, which condemnedFreemasonry, the beliefs and observances of which were considered pagan and unlawful by theRoman Catholic Church. The Masons were often hostile to the church, and Clement threatened to excommunicate any Catholic who joined.