MERTEL, TEODOLFO. - Cardinal, b. at Allumiere (Lazio) on 6 Feb. 1806, d. there on 9 July 1899. Having earned a degree in jurisprudence in Rome, he acquired such a name in the practice of law that Msgr. Antonelli, then substitute of the Secretariat of State, invited him to enter the magistracy, which at that time meant entry into one of the prelatial colleges of the Roman Curia. M. at first opposed a flat refusal, but had to yield to the express wish of Gregory XVI; he was then appointed auditor of the S. Rota and was entrusted with the presidency of the Civil Tribunal of Rome, without having to embrace the ecclesiastical state (1843).
As secretary of the cardinalitial Commission charged in 1848 with drafting the Statute of Pius IX, it was he, in a night of feverish work, who formulated its 69 articles: the text he proposed was accepted in its entirety by the Pope, who made no modification to it. It is in fact a true masterpiece of juridical wisdom, reconciling the constitutional regime with the inalienable prerogatives of the Roman Pontiff. Msgr. M. had a large part in the government of the Papal State after the return of Pius IX from Gaeta, and in 1853 he was minister of Grace and Justice, later assuming the dicastery of the Interior. As a reward for services rendered with profound learning and enlightened zeal, he was given the cardinal's purple in Feb. 1858. Deacon of S. Eustachio, he was the last, in chronological order, of the laymen raised to the cardinal's hat. In fact he outlived even Randi, enrolled in the Sacred College by Pius IX in 1875, and Cristofori, nominated in 1885 by Leo XIII, who were the last in order of creation (cf. S. Negro, Seconda Roma, Milan 1943, p. 152).
A listened-to counselor of the Pope, he compiled the protest of Pius IX to the Catholic episcopate after 20 Sept. 1870 and other important documents of that turbulent period. Pius IX named him vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church and wished him to be his executor: in that capacity, he organized and directed the transfer of the body of Pope Mastai to S. Lorenzo al Verano, in the dramatic night of 13 July 1881 (cf. P. Vigo, Storia degli ultimi trent'anni del sec. XIX, III, Milan 1909, pp. 270-75). Held in great consideration also by Leo XIII, he directed for many years the Apostolic Chancery and was the most authoritative canonist of the Curia, as the lucid Decisiones compiled by him bear witness, and which were widely used for the drafting of the Code of Canon Law, the glory of Card. P. Gasparri, who had been M.'s chaplain, secretary and confidant. A distinguished humanist, M. is owed, besides weighty juridical works, notable literary compositions, in prose and in verse, dictated in a fluent Latin, as well as a vast and documented historical narrative of the region of Tolfa, which remained unpublished.
Bibliography
Renzo U. Montini