PECCI, GIUSEPPE. - Cardinal, b. at Carpineto Romano (diocese of Anagni) on 15 Dec. 1807, d. in Rome on 8 Feb. 1890. Brother of Gioacchino, who later became LEO XIII, he pursued his early studies with him at the Collegio dei Nobili in Viterbo, run by the Jesuits.
In 1824 he entered the Society of Jesus and remained in it until 1848, when he was forced to disperse due to the revolutionary disturbances. He managed to remain hidden in Rome, and when calm returned he did not feel able to rejoin his brethren and left the Order, retiring to Carpineto. Later he was summoned by his brother, then Archbishop of Perugia, to teach philosophy at the local seminary. In 1861 he became professor of higher philosophy at the University of Rome, but in 1870 he lost his chair for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the Italian government.
Leo XIII appointed him Vice Librarian of the Holy Roman Church, later raising him to the cardinalate as cardinal deacon of S. Agata alla Suburra in the consistory of 12 May 1879. He also served as Prefect of the Vatican Archives and President of the Roman Academy of St Thomas Aquinas.
In 1889 he asked to be readmitted to the Society of Jesus, a move encouraged by the Pope, his brother, who made the request to Fr General A. M. Anderledy; in July he renewed his solemn vows in his private chapel, which were accepted by Card. C. Mazzella on behalf of the General (cf. P. Galletti, Mem. storiche intorno al p. Ugo Molza, Rome 1912, pp. 435-41).
Endowed with a strong intellect, he distinguished himself as a scholar of philosophical studies and was one of the warmest supporters of Thomist philosophy, contributing significantly to the preparation of the encyclical Aeterni Patris of 4 Aug. 1879 and to the subsequent application of its norms, so that the teaching of Aquinas’ doctrine might be established in all Catholic schools.
Among his principal writings are: Parafrasi e dichiarazioni dell'opuscolo di S. Tommaso «De Ente et Essentia» (Rome 1882); S. Tommaso circa l'influsso divino e la scientia media (ibid. 1882); Osservazioni sopra alcuni errori di Kant (ibid. n.d.); Studi sulla psicologia (ibid. n.d.).
Mario de Camillis-Celestino Testore