FRANCESCO PENTINI. — Cardinal, born in Rome on 11 December 1797, died there on 17 December 1869. Son of Ulisse, who had been the representative of Catherine II of Russia to Pius VI, as a young boy he attended, during Holy Week of 1811, in the chapel of his residence, the blessing of the holy oils and the sacred Ordinations, which were not carried out in the Lateran Basilica because of the sad circumstances of those days.
When General Miollis learned of this, he wished PENTINI to enter the Military College in Paris. He managed to escape first to Switzerland, then to Sweden, where he was welcomed by King Charles XIII into his bodyguard, with the rank of lieutenant. Upon the return of Pius VII to Rome, he became part of the honour guard and entered the ecclesiastical career. Appointed secret chamberlain participant, he later became domestic prelate, referendary in the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature of Grace and Justice, rapporteur on the Good Government and the Consulta, lieutenant in the Apostolic Chamber, clerical prelate of the Chamber, president of the Archives. In 1847, as president of the Waters and Roads, he earned no small merit with the city of Rome through his enterprise. On 14 January 1848 he became vice-president of the Council of State and on 22 February following, in the cabinet presided over by Cardinal Bofondi, he was minister of the Interior and encouraged Pius IX to continue along the path of his reforms. In the Soglia ministry he was substitute for Pellegrino Rossi at the Interior ministry, and on 16 November 1848 he went in vain to the Count’s residence to dissuade him from attending the tragic inaugural ceremony of the Chamber of Deputies at the Chancellery. He then remained at the side of Pius IX in the following fateful days and carried out his work of moderation with calm firmness. Upon the Pope’s return from Gaeta he was appointed president of the new Revision Commission, but later resigned to retire to private life, until Pius IX, in the Consistory of 26 March 1863, rewarded his merits by creating and publishing him Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Portico.