DI PIETRO, MICHELE. - Cardinal, b. at Albano on 18 Jan. 1747 and d. at Rome on 2 July 1821. Having taken his degree at Rome, he taught theology, law, and ecclesiastical history at the Roman College. He benefited the Tata Giovanni hospice, for which he found a more suitable residence. Pio VI appointed him secretary of various ecclesiastical commissions and titular archbishop of Isauria in partibus.
A close friend of Card. Gerdil, he played a notable part in the Commission for the examination of the Synod of Pistoia. Appointed apostolic delegate for the government of Rome (20 Feb. 1798) during the imprisonment of Pio VI, he conducted himself with such skill that Pio VII created him patriarch of Jerusalem (20 Dec. 1800) and shortly afterward cardinal with the title of S. Maria in Via (9 Aug. 1801).
When Pio VII departed for exile, he likewise wished him to be apostolic delegate of Rome, but he was soon deported to France. He then became apostolic delegate for spiritual affairs in France; but Napoleone had him confined at Vincennes (22 Feb. 1811). Released owing to the negotiations of Fontainebleau, he was one of those who advised the Pope to denounce that pseudo-agreement. He returned to Rome upon the fall of Napoleone and received the diocese of Albano (8 March 1816), whence he was later transferred to S. Rufina (29 May 1820). He was a member of no fewer than nine Congregations and prefect of that of the Index.