Leo XII

Pope (cardinal Annibale della Genga), was born in the district of Spolcto in 1760, of a noble family of the Romagna; was made archbishop of Tyre in 1793, and was later employed as nuncio to Germany and France by Pius VII, who made him a cardinal in 1816. On the death of this pontiff he was elected pope, in September, 1823. He was well acquainted with diplomacy and foreign politics, and in the exercise of his authority, and in asserting the claims of his see, he assumed a more imperious tone than his meek and benevolent predecessor. He re-established the right of asylum for criminals in the churches, and enforced the strict observance of fast days. He was a declared enemy of the Carbonari and other secret societies. He proclaimed a jubilee for the year 1825; and in his circular letter accompanying the bull, addressed to the patriarchs, primates, archbishops, and bishops, he made a violent attack on the Bible Societies, as acting in opposition to the decree of the Council of Trent (session 4) concerning the publication and use of the sacred books. Leo also entered into negotiations with the newstates of South America for the sake of filling up thevacant sees. He gave a new organization to the university of the Sapienza at Rome, which consists of fivecolleges or faculties, viz., theology, law, medicine, philosophy, and philology; and he increased the number of the professors, and raised their emoluments. He published in October, 1824, a Moto Proprio, or decree, reforming the administration of the papal state, and also the administration of justice, or Procedura Civile, and: he fixed the fees to be paid by the litigant parties. He corrected several abuses, and studied to maintain order. and a good police in his territories. He died February 10, 1829, and was succeeded by Pius VIII. See Engl. Cyclop. s. 5.; Rudoni, Leone XII e Pio VIII (1829);. Schmid, Trauerre de of Leo XII (1829); Artaud de Montor, Histoire clu pape Leon XII (1843, 2 vols. 8vo); Wiseman, Recollections of the last four Popes (see Index).