CARLO LUIGI MORICHINI. - Cardinal, born in Rome on 21 Nov. 1805, died there on 14 May 1879.
After obtaining a degree in law, he entered the ecclesiastical state, devoting himself to economic and social research, for which he was called to direct the Ospizio di S. Michele, the Savings Bank, and other charitable institutions. As titular Archbishop of Nisibi, he served as nuncio in Bavaria and in 1847 as 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 “to secure acceptance of the recognition of the Italian nation within its natural frontiers as the basis for a peace treaty (between Austria and the various Italian States allied with Charles Albert),” but the important mission was cut short by the rigid intransigence of the Habsburgs, by the Austrian victories of that summer, and by the Armistice of Salasco.
Upon the Pope’s return from Gaeta, he assumed direction of the Hospital of S. Spirito and the presidency of the united hospitals of Rome. Created 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, despite his dignity as cardinal; yet his firmness at the same time induced the authorities to release him both times without trial, especially since the second detention (1864) had provoked a strong protest from the French government in Turin. The very important role he played within the Vatican Council earned him a transfer to the archdiocese of Bologna, but a few months later he requested to resign from his episcopal ministry and was recalled to the Curia as Cardinal Bishop of Albano. The great interest he took in matters of charity, social assistance, and pauperism is testified to by his valuable and too-neglected work Degli Istituti di pubblica carità e d'istruzione primaria, Saggi storico e statistico (1st ed., Rome 1835, 1 vol., translated into French; 2nd ed., in 2 vols., ibid. 1842; 3rd ed., extensively updated, ibid. 1870).