Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/652

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584

ANTONELLI


584


ANTONIANO


Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli


created liini in aim Minister of Finance in the first nii-isterial council; president of the newly-organized Council of State; member of the ecclesiastical com- mission for civil reform (February, 1848), and premier of his first constitiitional ministry (10 March, 1848), in which there was a preponderance of the lay element. Resigning tliis of- fice (3 May, 1848) to Coimt Mamiani, who organized a new liberal minis- try, Antonelli be- came Prefect of SacredPalaces, and after the death of Rossi arranged the flight of the Pope to Gaeta, where he was made Secretary of State and conducted the negotiations for t he restoration of papal rule. Re- turning to Rome with the Pope (12 April, 1850), he retained the reins of power which he held until his death, twenty-seven years later. His life during this period is inextricably bound up with the history of the reign of Pius IX. Until 1870 he was practically the temporal ruler of Rome, being charged by Pius IX with the care of public interests, that the Pontiff might devote himself more exclusively to his spiritual duties. It is impossible as yet to form a just estimate of the works of Antonelli, or to reconcile the extravagant praise of his admirers with the vi- tuperations of his enemies. It must be said that he defended vigorously the rights of the Holy See, won the respect of princes and statesmen for his diplomatic ability, and showed himself fearless, braving alike public opinion and private jealousy. In extenuation of the charge that his aim was to a large extent personal aggrandizement, it must be recalled that he was a statesman rather than a prelate, and that he was not a priest, although most assiduous in the discharge of his religious duties.

Dk Waal in Kirchenlex.

F. M. RUDGE.

Antonelli, Leon.\rdo, Cardinal, b. at Sinigaglia, G November, 1730; d. 23 January, 1811, nephew of Cardinal Nicolo Maria Antonelli. During the early part of his long diplomatic career he held among other offices those of canon of the Vatican Basilica, prefect of archives in the Castle of San Angelo, Secretary of the Sacred College and Assessor of the Holy Office. He was created Cardinal-Priest of St. Sabina by Pius VI in the consistory of 24 April, 1775, and later Dean of the Sacred College and Bishop of Ostia and Velletri. At the time of the French Revolution, with a view to preventing the suspension of church services he lent his support to the vote for the civil constitution of tlio French clergy decreed by the National Ass(.inl)ly of I'rance (12 July, 1790). In addition to the responsible posts already men- tioned, he filled those of grand penitentiary, prefect of the Signature of Justice and of the Congregation of the Index, and pro-secretary of Briefs. He assisted in the preparation of the Concordat, anil was present at the election of Pius VII (1800). whom he later accompanied to Paris (1804). He was banished from Home by tlic French (1808) to Spoleto and later to Sinigaglia, where he died, leaving to the Congregation of Propaganda bequests for the suj)- port of twelve .\rmenian students in the College of


Urbane. Though .Antonelli has been criticized for arrogating to the papacy too arbitrary a civil power, a perusal of his letter to the bishops of Ireland re- veals a more tolerant spirit than is generally at- tributed to him. Possessed of a rich library, he was the friend and protector of letters, and had as hbrarian the learned Cancellieri. He also acquired some fame as an archEeologist.

Cancellieri, C'enotaphium Leonardi Antonelli Cardinalis (Pesaro, 1825).

F. M. RuDGE.

Antonelli, Nicolo Maria, Cardinal, learned canonist, ecclesiastical historian, and Orientalist, b. at Sinigaglia, 8 July, 1698; d. 24 September, 1767. He wrote De Titulis Quos S. Evarislus Presbyteris Romanits DUtribuit (Rome, 1725), in defence of the parochial character of the primitive Roman churches. He also edited (and defended) the commentary of St. Athanasius on the P.salms (ib., 1746), sermons of St. James of Nisibis (Armenian and Latin, ib., 1756), and under the name of Emman. de Azevedo, S..J., Velus Missale Romanum Monasticum Lateranenne (ib., 1752).

HvRTER, Nomenclator, III, 100 sq: Storia Lett, d'ltalia, IX, 272-92.

Thomas J. Sh.\h.\n.

Antoniano, Giov.wjni, patrologist, b. at Nime- guen, in Holland, early in the sixteenth century; d. same place, in 15S8. From his very entrance into the Dominican Order, in his city, his patience, in- dustry, and inclination for patristic studies, singled him out as a capable editor of the writings of the Fathers of the Church, then urgently called for by the learned. As Prior of Nimeguen in 1566, and again in 1587, he distinguished himself for his learned and erudite sermons against the funda- mental principles of Protestantism. He was asso- ciated in his literary labours with Henry Gravius, wliose pupil he was, and whom he succeeded as editor of the works of the Fathers. Antoniano published (Cologne, 1537), with the critical apparatus of his day, the work of St. Gregory of Nyssa on the crea- tion of man and the "He.xameron" of St. Basil the Great, both in the Latin translation of Dionysius Exiguus. He also published (Cologne, 1560) the writings of St. Paulinus of Nola, and (Antwerp, 1568) the letters of St. Jerome.

QUF.TIF AND ECHARD, SS. Ord. Pfffrf., II, 283; MeIJER,

Dommikaner Klooater en Statie te Nejmegen (1892), 84 sqq.

Thos. M. Schwertner.

Antoniano, Silvio, Cardinal, writer on education, b. 31 December, 1540, in Rome; d. there 16 August, 1603. He was educated at the LTniversity of Ferrara, which conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws (1556) and appointed him professor of classical literature. In 1563 Pius IV called him to the chair of belles-lettres in the Sapienza University, a posi- tion in which he enjoyed the friendship of distin- guished churchmen, especially of St. Charles Bor- romeo. He resigned his chair, however, in 1566, took up the study of theology under the direction of St. Philip Neri, and was ordained priest, 12 June, 1568. During the latter part of the sixteenth cen- tury Humanism made rapid progress in Italy under the leadership of men like Sadolet, Piccolommi, and Valiero. Sharing their enthusiasm. Antoniano de- voted himself to the study of educational problems, and at the instance of St. Charles Borromco. wrote liis principal work on the Christian education of children. (Tre libri dell' cducazione cristiana de' figliuoli, Verona, 1583.) Clement VIII appointed Antoniano Secretary of Papal Briefs (1593), and created him cardinal. 3 March, 1599. His work passed through several cilitions in Italian and was translated into French by Guignard (Troyes, 18,56; Paris, 1873), and into German by Kunz (Freiburg.