GREGORY XVI

It seems that the Cavaliere was acting to secure a public or charitable service previously undertaken by these monasteries. The Monastero di Classe in Ravenna city was attached to the famous 6th century Basilica of Sant' Apollinare di Classe at the former port, from where Saint Romualdo, about 1000 A.D., set out to form an ascetic community of hermits at Camaldoli, high in the Appenines. Nearby he founded a second community with greater emphasis on the common life.The young Capellari, whose father and grandfather were notaries in north Italy, joined the Order in 1783 at San Michele, the island off Murano close to Venice, where the life was communal. After a few years he was teaching philosophy and science there to the juniors, and by 1790 was censor librorum to his order and to the Holy Office at Venice.In 1800 he was made Abbot Vicar of San Gregorio on the Coelian Hill in Rome, Abbot in 1805, and Procurator General for his Congregation in 1807, responsible for legal matters such as the present letter, but was driven out in 1808 and went back to San Michele. There he clothed the monks in secular garb and taught philosophy till in 1813, owing to opposition from the authorities, the College was transferred to the Order's convent of Ognisssanti (All Saints) at Padua.. After Napoleon's fall he held further posts in Rome and returned to San Gregorio.Leo XII made him Cardinal Priest in 1825 (published 1826), observing that Cappellari was so very remarkable for innocence and dignity of manners, and most learned, especially in ecclesiastical matters, and for protracted labours endured by the Apostolic See... for we have made it a law to raise to dignities in the Church only men distinguished by a well-deserved renown for piety and learning. The new Cardinal had his first responsibility for foreign affairs as Prefect of the Congregation of Propaganda, arranging concordats to support Roman Catholics in the Netherlands and Armenians in Turkey. It was therefore something of a surprise when he was elected Pope in 1831, the last a monk and the last not previously a bishop.As Pope he coped with difficulty with revolutions in the Papal States that started the day after he was elected, and with demands from the Powers (including, to his chagrin, Protestant England and Prussia) for political reform. He also had to face the suppression of the religious orders in Spain and Portugal. In other spheres he is best remembered for his condemnation of slavery and for the support he gave to scholars such as Angelo Mai, keeper of the Ambrosian and Vatican Libraries. It was to see Gregory XVI that John Henry Newman went to Rome in late 1846.Provenance: Ralph G. Newman, Abraham Lincoln Bookshop, Chicago.George, Cardinal Mundelein (1872-1939), Archbishop of Chicago. (The bulk of the Cardinal's collection of popes and saints documents is at St Mary of the Lake Seminary, Mundelein, Illinois).By exchange between Cardinal Mundelein and collector Warren Reader, Indiana.TranscriptionSignor Cavaliere 28 Ottobre 1821. Dall'egregio Signor Avvocato Drencio mi furono comunicati i di Lei sentimenti intorno l'affare dei noti censi coi Monasteri di Classe e di S. Ippolito di Faenza in risposta alla mia inoltrata da vari mesi. A maggiore schiarimento però e a scanso di equivoci Le replico con presta seconda, pregandoLa, Signor Cavaliere, a riflettere che l'essenziale mutazione di circostanze, dall'epoca del 1808 alla presente venderebbe dannosissimo e fattilissimo ai suddetti Monasteri quel progetto, che in allora poteva espere di qualche vantaggio alla mia Congregne. Trattavasi allora contro il Monte Napoleone, per non perdere tutto: ora poi tutte: rebbesi contro i Monasteri medesimi, per spogliarmeli eziandio di quel poco che possa loro rimasto, lo che non è in mia facultà il poter fare, conoscendo io pertanto la nobiltà del di Lei anima, sono sicuro che sarà ella per valutare nella di Lei aquità queste rilevantissime riflessioni, e che in consequenza vorrà cessare da ulteriori cure ed impegni per la liquidazione dei detti censi. Se avrò il bene, venendo ella in Roma, di potermela ossequiare personalmente, si potrà concervare il modo di procedere con reciproca convenienza ed amichevolmente nella rescissione dell'apparente contraddizione. Intanto in attenzione di un qualche suo cenno in proposito, ho l'onore di essere e pretestarmi con perfetta stima.TranslationDear Knight. October, 28 th of 1821. The distinguished Advocate Drencio communicated to me your sentiments regarding the matter of the well-known endowments of the Monasteries of Classe and Sant'Ippolito at Faenza in reply to mine sent several months ago. For greater clarity, however, and to avoid any misunderstanding, I reply promptly, urging you, Sir, to consider that the fundamental change in circumstances, from 1808 to the present, would render this project, which at that time could have offered some benefit to my Congregation, most damaging and fatal for the aforementioned Monasteries. At that time, we were negotiating against Monte Napoleone, so as not to lose everything : now, all of them : we would be negotiating against the Monasteries themselves, to strip them of even the little that remains to them. This is beyond my power to do, knowing your nobleness of spirit, I am sure that you will consider these very relevant comments in all fairness, and that, consequently, you will come to cease further worry or from any undertaking for the liquidation of the said endowments. If, when you come to Rome, I am able to pay my respects in person, we can discuss how to proceed with mutual convenience and amicability in resolving the apparent contradiction. Meanwhile, being fully aware of the good sense evident in your plan, I have the honor to be and claim to be of the utmost esteem.