MORICHINI, CARLO LUIGI. - Cardinal, b. in Rome on 21 Nov. 1805, d. there on 14 May 1879.

Having obtained a degree in law, he embraced the ecclesiastical state, cultivating economic and social research, for which he was called to direct the Ospizio di S. Michele, the savings bank and other charitable institutions. Titular archbishop of Nisibis, he was nuncio in Bavaria and in 1847 minister of Finance. Vice president of the Council of State in 1848, in May of that year he was sent by Pius IX to Vienna "so that the recognition of the Italian nation within its natural borders might be accepted as the basis of a peace treaty (between Austria and the various Italian states allied with Charles Albert)," but the important mission was cut short by Habsburg rigid intransigence, by the Austrian victories of the summer and by the armistice of Salasco.

On the Pope's return from Gaeta he assumed the direction of the Hospital of S. Spirito and the presidency of the united hospitals of Rome. Made cardinal in 1852, he was sent to govern the diocese of Jesi, which he administered with great ability and zeal. After the occupation of central Italy he suffered various persecutions and was twice placed under arrest, notwithstanding his cardinalatial dignity, but his firm demeanor advised the authorities to release him both times without trial, all the more so since the second detention (1864) had provoked an energetic protest from the French government in Turin. The very important part he played within the Vatican Council earned him transfer to the archdiocese of Bologna, but a few months later he asked to renounce the episcopal ministry and was recalled to the Curia as cardinal bishop of Albano. Of the great interest that M. took in questions of charity, social assistance and pauperism, a valid testimony remains in his precious and too much neglected work Degli Istituti di pubblica carità e d'istruzione primaria, Saggio storico e statistico (1st ed., Rome 1835, in 1 vol., trans. into French; 2nd ed., in 2 vols., ibid. 1842; 3rd ed., extensively updated, ibid. 1870).

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: E. Marcucci, Un cardinale umanista vescovo di Jesi, Castelcapuano 1925, and the articles of F. Gentili: Il Consiglio di Stato romano del 1848 e il suo vice presidente C. L. M., in Rass. st. del Risorg., 6 (1919), p. 476 ff.; I preliminari della lega doganale e il protesoriere M., ibid., 11 (1924), p. 563 ff.; Il card. M. dalla proclamazione della Repubblica romana al suo arresto in Jesi, ibid., 12 (1925), p. 24 ff.

Renzo U. Montini

@incollection{ec8_morichini_carlo_luigi, author = {Montini, Renzo Uberto}, title = {Morichini, carlo luigi}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {1413--1414}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/morichini-carlo-luigi} }

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Morichini, Carlo Luigi

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