SANTUCCI, VINCENZO. - Cardinal, b. at Gorga, diocese of Terracina, 18 Feb. 1796, d. at Rocca di Papa, 19 Aug. 1861.
He began his career in the Secretariat of State; he was chargé d’affaires at the nunciature in Turin, deputy of the Secretariat of State and secretary of the Cifra, then, in 1847, secretary of the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs. He dealt with particular competence with the settlement of the disputes that had arisen between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Created cardinal deacon on 7 March 1853, he presided over one of the Congregations for the preparatory work for the promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. As prefect of the Congregation of Studies, he showed keen interest in the progress of science and endowed the Universities of Rome and Bologna with new chairs, improving their scientific cabinets and calling distinguished professors to teach there. Diomede Pantaleoni and Fr Carlo Pas-
saglia regarded him as a valuable element for a possible agreement between Church and State and for the settlement of the Roman Question; in fact, however, he kept apart from the negotiations conducted between representatives of Cavour and Roman reformers.