PENTINI, FRANCESCO. — Cardinal, born in Rome on 11 December 1797, died there on 17 December 1869. Son of Ulisse, formerly representative of Catherine II of Russia to Pius VI, as a young man he attended, during Holy Week of 1811, in the chapel of his residence, the blessings of the holy oils and the sacred Ordinations, which could not be performed in the Lateran Basilica because of the tragic circumstances of those days.
When General Miollis learned of this, he wished P. to enter the Military College of Paris. Having succeeded in escaping first to Switzerland and then to Sweden, he was received by King Charles XIII into his guards, with the rank of lieutenant. On Pius VII’s return to Rome, he formed part of the guard of honour and entered the ecclesiastical career. Appointed a participating secret chamberlain, he subsequently became domestic prelate, referendary in the Supreme Tribunal of the Segnatura of grace and justice, ponens for the Good Government and the Consulta, lieutenant in the Apostolic Camera, clerical prelate of the Camera, and president of the Archives. In 1847, as president of the Water and Roads Department, he earned considerable 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 of the same year, in the cabinet presided over by Cardinal Bofondi, he was appointed Minister of the Interior and encouraged Pius IX to continue along the path of the reforms undertaken. In the Soglia ministry he was replaced by Pellegrino Rossi at the Interior Department, 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 Cancelleria. He then remained at Pius IX’s side during the sombre days that followed 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 subsequently resigned in order to retire to private life, until Pius IX, in the Consistory of 26 March 1863, rewarded his merits by creating and proclaiming him cardinal deacon of S. Maria in Portico.