MERTEL, TEODOLFO. — Cardinal, born at Allumiere (Lazio) on 6 February 1806, died there on 9 July 1899. Having graduated in law at Rome, he acquired such renown 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 entailed admission to one of the prelatic colleges of the Roman Curia. At first M. categorically refused, but he had to yield to the expressed desire of Gregory XVI; he was then appointed auditor of the S. Rota and entrusted with the presidency of the Civil Tribunal of Rome, without having to enter the ecclesiastical state (1843).
Secretary of the Cardinalitial Commission charged in 1848 with drafting the Statute of Pius IX, it was he who, during a night of feverish work, formulated its 69 articles: the text he proposed was accepted in its entirety by the Pope, who made no modifications to II. It was indeed a true masterpiece of juridical wisdom, harmonizing the constitutional regime with the inalienable prerogatives of the Roman Pontiff. Msgr. M. played a major role in the government of the Papal States after Pius IX’s return from Gaeta, and in 1853 he was Minister of Grace and Justice, later assuming the portfolio of the Interior. As a reward for services rendered with profound learning and enlightened zeal, he was raised to the cardinalate in February 1858. A deacon of S. Eustachio, he was the last, chronologically, of the laymen elevated to the cardinal’s hat. Indeed, he outlived both Randi, enrolled in the S. Collegio by Pius IX in 1875, and Cristofori, appointed by Leo XIII in 1885, who were the last in order of creation (cf. S. Negro, Seconda Roma, Milano 1943, p. 152).
A much-consulted adviser to the Pope, he drafted Pius IX’s protest to the Catholic episcopate after 20 September 1870 and other important documents from that turbulent period. Pius IX appointed him Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church and chose him as his testamentary executor: in that capacity, he organized and directed the transfer of the remains of Pope Mastai to S. Lorenzo al Verano, during the dramatic night of 13 July 1881 (cf. P. Vigo, Storia degli ultimi trent’anni del sec. XIX, III, Milano 1909, pp. 270-75). Held in high esteem by Leo XIII as well, he directed the Apostolic Chancery for many years and was the Curia’s most authoritative canonist, as attested by the lucid Decisiones he compiled, which were extensively used in drafting the Code of Canon Law, the glory of Cardinal P. Gasparri, who had been M.’s chaplain, secretary, and confidant. An eminent humanist, M. was responsible, in addition to weighty juridical works, for notable literary compositions, in prose and verse, written in fluent Latin, as well as for a wide-ranging and well-documented historical account of the region of Tolfa, which remained unpublished.
Renzo U. Montini