BEDINI, GAETANO. — Cardinal, born in Senigallia on 15 May 1806, died in Viterbo on 6 September 1864. After completing his studies in the local seminary, he was ordained a priest and became a member of the chapter of that diocese. Coming to Rome, Gregory XVI appointed him auditor of the nunciature in Vienna, then headed by Ludovico Altieri. In 1845 he was chosen as apostolic internuncio and extraordinary envoy to Rio de Janeiro, where he received from G. Garibaldi, through a letter he forwarded to Rome, the offer to place the Italian legion at the disposal of Pius IX and the national cause. On 10 March 1848, upon his return from Brazil, he was appointed by the Pope substitute for Cardinal Antonelli at the Secretariat of State. After the end of the Roman Republic, B. became in 1849 extraordinary pontifical commissioner in the four legations. He restored tranquillity to these provinces, and as pro-legate of Bologna, he adopted various measures to provide work for the unemployed, to promote commerce through the construction of new roads, to foster agriculture, and to restore artistic monuments, in particular the villa of S. Michele in Bosco. Created titular archbishop of Thebes on 19 March 1852, he was appointed apostolic nuncio to the Emperor of Brazil. However, as the plague was raging in that empire at the time, Pius IX entrusted B. with a mission to the United States to settle certain disputes that had arisen among North American Catholics and to deliver a very friendly letter from the Pope to the president of that republic. B. disembarked in New York on 30 June 1853, immediately continuing his journey to the federal capital, where he was received in audience by President Pierce and Secretary of State Marcy. After stopping in Baltimore and Philadelphia, B. returned to New York. Meanwhile, an apostate priest, Gavazzi, had launched a fierce defamatory campaign against B., falsely accusing him of cruelty toward the population while he was commissioner in the legations and of responsibility for the death of Ugo Bassi, executed by the Austrians without the knowledge of the pontifical authorities or B. himself. A plot had even been formed to assassinate B., but he was warned by one of the conspirators about the plot against his life. After visiting various dioceses, B. arrived in New Orleans in January 1854, from where he embarked for Europe. In 1856 he was appointed secretary of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide. Bishop of Viterbo and Toscanella from 18 March 1861, Pius IX created and published B. in the consistory of 27 September 1861, cardinal with the title of S. Maria sopra Minerva.