Di Pietro, Camillo

DI PIETRO, CAMILLO. - Cardinal, born in Rome on 10 January 1806, died there on 6 March 1884. Nephew of Michele Di Pietro, who honored the sacred purple during the pontificate of Pius VII, he studied at the Roman Seminary and held a public disputation in theology in the presence of Leo XII. On 15 January 1829 he was appointed judge of the Consulta, then he held the governorship of Orvieto, and in 1835 he became auditor of the Rota.

On 8 July 1839 he was appointed titular archbishop of Berytus and nuncio to Naples, then he was transferred to Portugal, where he carried out notable activity, obtaining, for the Church, important concessions in the Portuguese domains of India. In the Consistory of 19 December 1853 he was created cardinal by Pius IX and reserved in petto: published on 16 June 1856 with the title of St. John at the Latin Gate; on 20 September 1867 he opted for the suburbicarian see of Albano, and then for that of Porto and St. Rufina (12 March 1877); he took a very notable part in the Conclave of 1878 that led to the election of Leo XIII. Particularly remembered is the prudent and energetic action he carried out so that the Conclave would be held in Rome, thanks to the assurances received from the Italian government for the freedom of the electors. And the new Pontiff, as a sign of gratitude, appointed him his successor in the office of camerlengo. On the death of Cardinal Amat (1878), D. P. became bishop of Ostia and dean of the Sacred College.

Mario De Camillo