DE ANGELIS, FILIPPO. - Cardinal, b. 16 April 1792 at Ascoli, d. 8 July 1877 at Fermo. Apostolic visitor of the diocese of Forlì, titular bishop of Leuca on 6 July 1826, then in 1830 titular archbishop of Carthage, he was sent by Pio VIII as nuncio to Switzerland. He remained in Lucerne until 1835, vigorously defending the rights of the Catholic Church against the encroachments of liberalism. From Lucerne he had to move to Schwyz and then leave his diplomatic post, and for some time he was bishop of Montefiascone and Corneto.
Created cardinal in pectore by Gregorio XVI in the Consistory of 13 Sept. 1838, he was made public in that of 8 July 1839, and was then appointed archbishop of Fermo in 1842. At the accession of Pio IX, he was not in favour of the granting of the amnesty, nor of the policy inaugurated by the new Pontiff. Upon Pio IX’s flight to Gaeta, Card. De A., by order of Mazzini, was arrested on the night of 11 March 1849 and imprisoned in the fortress of Ancona until 19 June, when the Austrians freed him. In 1860, upon the entry of Piedmontese troops into Fermo, the cardinal was deported to Turin because of his uncompromising position with regard to liberalism. He returned to his diocese in 1866, tempering his intransigence with greater indulgence. In recognition of his merits he was appointed Camerlengo of Holy Church.