ROMILLI, BARTOLOMEO CARLO. - Archbishop, born at Bergamo on 14 March 1795, died at Milan on 7 May 1859. Appointed parish priest of Trescorre in 1838, he distinguished himself by his spirit of charity and pastoral zeal, qualities which he confirmed during his brief episcopate at Cremona, to whose bishopric he was elected on 19 Jan. 1845.
Promoted by Pio IX to the archbishopric of Milan, at the designation of Emperor Ferdinando I, on 14 June 1846, his appointment was received with overwhelming enthusiasm, also because for twenty-eight years the Ambrosian Church had been governed by the Austrian cardinal Gaysruck. The entry of Archbishop R., which took place on the following 4 Sept., gave rise to scenes of fervent Italian patriotism that were truly like a prelude to the Milanese Forty-Eight. But R., a man of learning and piety, did not allow himself to be overcome by the political events that followed and, despite enormous difficulties, among which the sharp conflicts and divisions within the clergy deserve particular notice, carried out notable pastoral work: he made the canonical visitation, established the Oblates in the seminaries, multiplied the Conferences of S. Vincenzo de' Paoli, protected the religious Orders, safeguarded the Ambrosian rite, reorganized the curial Archive, and gave every support to the foundation of the Istituto delle Missioni Estere.