In my work as a hospice chaplain I recently had a long conversation with a patient, a strict Catholic woman, who was terrified that she might not die in a state of grace, and that if she was not entirely absolved of her sins she would not be allowed to enter heaven. I was so perturbed by her distress and her certainty that the gates of heaven might be still closed against her even though she had made her final confession, received full absolution from her priest, and had had no obvious opportunity for further sinning given the frailty of her health, that I rang her priest to see what else could be done. There was nothing more to do, he told me, it was all in the hands of God.
Iniziamo i dieci giorni verso il ritorno, la teshuvà. A cosa somiglierà? E come saranno i giorni, le settimane e i mesi dopo la chiusura di questo periodo delle festività quando non saremo più così consapevoli dei sentieri che tracciamo sulle pagine della vita.
Absolution - Le Regole Della Ven
I giorni sono pergamene. Lasciamo il segno che scegliamo oppure no. Scriviamo e leggiamo, cambiando non solo la nostra traiettoria di vita ma anche potenzialmente quella degli altri. Cosa scriveremo sulle pergamene nel prossimo anno? Cosa segneremo sulla pergamena della nostra vita e cosa segneremo sulla pergamena della vita degli altri?
Webgraphy. Biography by Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz, in German, Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon; biography by Marina Caffiero, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 52 (1999), Treccani; his engraving and biography, in English, Vatican Archives; Giuseppe Garampi, tra i Grandi della politica from Lumi di Romagna", pp. 26-33, in Italian, Riministoria, Antonio Montanari, Rimini; brief biographical data, in Italian, Comune di Rimini; his tomb in Ss. Giovanni e Paolo, Rome, Australian National University; his engraving and portrait, Araldica Vaticana.
Birth. November 11, 1751, Genoa. Of the noble family of the dukes of Melfi. Third son of Prince Giovanni Andrea IV Doria Pamphilj Landi and Eleonora Carafa della Stadera. Brother of Cardinal Antonio Maria Doria Pamphilj (1785), and uncle of Cardinal Giorgio Doria Pamphilj (1816). Other cardinals of the Doria family were Girolamo Doria (1529); Giovanni Doria (1604); Giorgio Doria (1743); and Sinibaldo Doria (1731). Related to Pope Innocent X. Other cardinals of the Pamphilj family were Girolamo Pamphilj (1604); Camillo Francesco Maria Pamphilj (1644); and Benedetto Pamphilj, O.S.Io.Hieros. (1681). His last name is also listed as Doria Pamphili Landi.
Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of February 14, 1785; by papal post the news of his promotion and the red berrettino was sent to Paris by Monsignor Vincenzo Catenacci; then, the new cardinal went to Viterbo, where the pope sent him the red biretta with Ablegato Ercole Dandini with an apostolic brief dated February 25, 1785; received the red hat on April 7, 1785; and the title of S. Pietro in Vincoli, April 11, 1785. Legate in Urbino for a triennium, December 19, 1785; his legation was extended until March 1794. Secretary of State, March 16, 1797; he exercised the post in practice until the French occupation of Rome on February 17, 1798; in principle, he was secretary until the death of the pope on August 29, 1799. Prefect of the Sacred Consulta, of the S.C. of Loreto, and member of the S.C. of the Holy Office before April 1, 1797. Arrested by the French authorities on March 8, 1798, he was imprisoned in the convent of the Convertites; later, in Civitavecchia; and finally, he was expelled from the territory of the Roman Republic. Accompanied Pope Pius VI to Sienna on April 13, 1798, the exile decreed by Napoléon; he then went to Genoa. Participated in the conclave of 1799-1800, which elected Pope Pius VII. Entered Rome with the new Pope Pius VII on July 3, 1800. Secretary of Memorandums, August 11, 1800. Named pro-secretary of State during the brief absence of Cardinal Ercole Consalvi, who went to Paris for the negotiations of the concordat from June 6 to July 31, 1801. Pro-camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, November 13, 1801; occupied the post until his expulsion from Rome by the French in the Spring of 1808. Named protector of the Order of the Servants of Mary and of the Order of the Friars Minor (Franciscans) on May 4, 1802. He was also protector of the Canons Regular of SS. Salvatore; of the Archconfraternity of S. Girolamo della Carità; of the monasteries of S. Cecilia and Ss. Giacomo e Maddalena alla Lungara; of Collegio Ibernese; and of several cities like Macerata, Pergola, Fossombrone, Alatri and Urbania. He was member of the SS. CC. of the Holy Office, Council, Propaganda Fide, Consistorial, and others. Opted for the title of S. Cecilia, September 20, 1802. Opted for the order of bishops and the suburbicarian see of Frascati, retaining in commendam the title of S. Cecilia, September 26, 1803. Pro-camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, November 10, 1801 to May 19, 1814. After the occupation of Rome by the French troops of General Miollis on February 2, 1808 and the resignation of the Cardinal Secretary of State Filippo Casoni, he was named again pro-secretary of State in the first days of February 1808; a short time later, on March 23, 1808, he was one of the fourteen cardinals expelled from Rome by the French; he went to Parma and then to Genoa and Pegli; transferred to Paris by order of Napoléon I Bonaparte in September 1809; he attended the wedding of Napoléon and Marie-Louise of Austria in Paris on April 2, 1810; all the eleven cardinals who assisted were called "red cardinals". In 1811, he was designated by Napoléon, as sub-dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, to be part of a group of five cardinals sent to Savone to obtain from Pope Pius VII, who was a prisoner in that city, the approval of the decisions of a national council celebrated in Paris from September 3 to 20, 1811. In 1813, Napoléon made him intermediary to negotiate the Concordat of Fontainbleau. Opted for the suburbicarian see of Porto e Santa Rufina, retaining the title of S. Cecilia in commendam, and officially recognized as sub-dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, September 26, 1814.
Cardinalate. Created cardinal and reserved in pectore in the consistory of February 14, 1785. Named nuncio in Portugal, May 7, 1785; arrived in Lisbon in August 1785. Of particular concern was the condition of the religious orders, especially in Brazil, which because of their decadence, required a thorough reform; the nuncio obtained an apostolic brief from Pope Pius VI, dated November 3, 1789, establishing a council charged with the reorganization of the orders; the nuncio followed very closely the work of the council which in time produced the desired results. The nuncio was active, in harmony with the directives given to him by the Secretariat of State, in directing the foreign policy of Portugal against the French and counter-revolutionary; first inducing Portugal to protest vigorously to Paris against the annexation of Avignon; and then pushing the queen of Portugal against those in France who promoted "dangerous novelties". In November 1792, Nuncio Bellisomi made contact with the British charge d'affaires Mr. Osterwald, handing him a memorandum that called for the protection by the English fleet to the coasts of the Papal States. Nuncio Bellisomi had a great collaborator in the fight against Jansenism in Portugal in the person of Cardinal José Francisco Miguel António de Mendoça, patriarch of Lisbon. Published in the consistory of February 21, 1794; with an apostolic brief of February 25, 1794, the pope sent him the red biretta; received the red hat and the title of S. Maria della Pace, December 18, 1795. Ascribed to the SS. CC. of Propaganda Fide, Bishops and Regulars, Ecclesiastical Immunity, and Consistorial. Protector of Terra di Montefiore. Solemn celebrations were held in Pavia on the occasion of his promotion to the cardinalate, including those of the Accademia degli Affidati with discourses and poetry, which were later published in a volume by Elia Giardini with the collaboration of Gian Paolo Dolfin, bishop of Bergamo, and Pio Bellisomi, brother of the new cardinal. Transferred to the see of Cesena, with personal title of archbishop, September 22, 1795. Participated in the conclave of 1799-1800, celebrated in Venice, which elected Pope Pius VII; Cardinal Franziskus Herzan von Harras expressed the displeasure of Holy Roman Emperor Franz II against his election to the papacy. In 1801 presided, at the request of Napoléon Bonaparte, an ecclesiastical committee that prepared the Organic Law of the Italian Clergy (1802), a legislation similar to the French Concordat of 1801. Opted for the title of S. Prassede, September 18, 1807; he was absent from Rome and was represented by Cardinal Giuseppe Maria Doria Pamphilj through a brief to His Holiness, dated September 15, 1807.
Webgraphy. Biography by Luisa Bertoni, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 27 (1982), Treccani; his genealogy, C4, Libro d'Oro della Nobilità Mediterranea; La dinastia dei Colonna di Stigliano, in Italian, Colonna Orologi; Famiglia Colonna, in Italian, Nobili Napoletane; his engraving and arms, Araldica Vaticana.
Bibliography. Boutry, Philippe. "Pio VII." Enciclopedia dei papi. 3 vols. Roma : Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 2000, III, 509-525; Notizie per l'anno MDCCXCVI. In Roma MDCCXCVI : Nella Stamperia Cracas, presso la fine del Corso, p. 13; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recientoris Aevi. Volumen VI (1730-1799). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 34 and 43. 2ff7e9595c
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