Pope Pius VIII

Pope Pius VIII
Papacy began	31 March 1829
Papacy ended	30 November 1830
Predecessor	Leo XII
Successor	Gregory XVI
Orders
Ordination	17 December 1785
Consecration	17 August 1800 by Giuseppe Maria Doria Pamphilj
Created Cardinal	8 March 1816 by Pius VII
Personal details
Birth name	Francesco Saverio Castiglioni
Born	(1761-11-20)20 November 1761 Cingoli, Marche, Papal States
Died	30 November 1830(1830-11-30) (aged 69) Quirinal Palace, Rome, Papal States
Previous post	Bishop of Montalto delle Marche (1800-1816) Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Traspontina (1816-1821) Bishop of Cesena (1816-1821) Official of the Roman Curia (1821) Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati (1821-1829) Prefect of the Roman Curia (1821-1829)
Coat of arms
Other popes named Pius

Pope Pius VIII (20 November 1761 – 30 November 1830), born Francesco Saverio Castiglioni,^{[lower-alpha 1]} reigned as Pope from 31 March 1829 to his death in 1830.

Pius VIII's pontificate was the shortest of all the popes of the 19th century, and is likely the least remembered. His brief papacy witnessed the Catholic Emancipation in Great Britain in 1829, which he welcomed, and the July Revolution in France in 1830, which he reluctantly accepted. Pius VIII is often remembered for his writings on marriages between Catholics and Protestants in the 1830 encyclical Litteris altero abhinc, in which he declared that a marriage could only be properly blessed if proper provisions had been made to ensure the bringing up of children in the Catholic faith. His death less than two years after his election to the papacy has led to speculation of a possible murder.

Biography

Early life

Francesco Saverio Castiglioni was born in Cingoli, Marche, the third of eight children of Count Ottavio Castiglioni and his wife Sanzia Ghislieri. His baptismal name was recorded as Francesco Saverio Maria Felice. He studied at the Collegio Campana run by the Society of Jesus and, after that, at the University of Bologna where he earned a doctorate in canon law and in civil law in 1785. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 17, 1785.^[1]

He served as the Vicar General of Anagni (1788–90), Fano (1790-97) and Ascoli Piceno (1797-1800). In 1800, Castiglioni was appointed as the Bishop of Montalto.

Episcopate and cardinalate

Castiglione received episcopal consecration in 1800 in Rome and commenced his work in his new diocese. After he refused to swear allegiance to Napoleon I of France (1804–14, 1815) he was taken to a series of Italian cities before being sent to France. After Napoleon fell, he returned to his diocese in 1814. He was praised by Pope Pius VII who in 1816 elevated him to the cardinalate as the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Traspontina. He held various high offices thereafter, including that of Major Penitentiary. He soon became a Cardinal-Bishop of the suburbicarian see of Frascati.

Castiglioni was considered a front-runner in the conclave of 1823. He was known to be close to Pius VII, who often referred to Castiglioni as "Pius VIII."^[2] However, he failed to gain the necessary votes, in part due to controversy surrounding an alliance between him and another favorite, Secretary of State Ercole Consalvi. Cardinal Annibale della Genga was elected instead, and he took the name of Pope Leo XII. The following statement has been given concerning Castiglione, or Pope Pius VIII:

"As a Cardinal, Castiglione had continued to live modestly, made no enemies, and although his own private life had always been irreproachable, he had shown no signs of censoriousness where others were concerned. He suffered from a very painful and distressing complaint, having perpetually suppurating sores on his neck and body, and [later as pope] was far too ill and feeble to do more than sign the documents presented to him by [Cardinal] Albani, who ruled the Papal States as autocratically as though he had himself worn the triple crown."^[3]

Papacy

Papal styles of Pope Pius VIII
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	None

Election

After the death of Pope Leo XII in 1829, Castiglioni was again considered to be a major candidate, though was questioned due to his frail health. Despite these concerns, he was elected as pope in the papal conclave of 1829. Given that Pope Pius VII had referred to him as Pius VIII, it seemed only suitable that it was the pontifical name that he chose. His coronation took place on April 5, 1829.

Modernism and Biblical translations

As Pope Pius VIII, he initiated some reforms in the states of the Church. On 24 May 1829 he issued an encyclical, Traditi humilitati. Perhaps indicating that the current debate on religious pluralism was also occurring in his own time he condemned the "foul contrivance of the sophists of this age" that would place Catholicism on par with any other religion.

Regarding Bible translations, he wrote in that encyclical:

"We must also be wary of those who publish the Bible with new interpretations contrary to the Church's laws. They skillfully distort the meaning by their own interpretation. They print the Bibles in the vernacular and, absorbing an incredible expense, offer them free even to the uneducated. Furthermore, the Bibles are rarely without perverse little inserts to ensure that the reader imbibes their lethal poison instead of the saving water of salvation."^[4]

On 25 March 1830, in the brief encyclical Litteris altero, he condemned the masonic secret societies and modernist biblical translations.

Other activities

An 1829 painting by Horace Vernet of Pope Pius VIII in the Sedia gestatoria.

His brief pontificate saw the Catholic Emancipation in the United Kingdom and the July Revolution in France, which occurred in 1829 and 1830, respectively. Pius VIII recognised Louis Philippe (1830–48) as French king and allowed him to use the French king's customary title "Roi Très Chretien," which means "His Most Christian Majesty."^[5]

Pius VIII accepted the situation on mixed marriages between Protestants and Catholics in Germany, but he opposed changes in Ireland and Poland, which were still strongly Catholic. In Litteris altero abhinc, he declared that a mixed marriage could only be blessed by a priest if proper promises had been made to educate the children of the marriage as Catholics.^[6]

Pius VIII also held three consistories in which he elevated a total of six men into the cardinalate. He held these ceremonies on July 27, 1829, March 15, 1830, and July 5, 1830.^[7]

He canonized no saints during his brief pontificate but he beatified two individuals.

• 23 December 1829: Benincasa da Montepulciano
• 4 March 1830: Chiara Gambacorti

In 1830 he proclaimed Saint Bernard of Clairvaux a Doctor of the Church.

Health and death

The monument to Pius VIII.

Pius VIII was in very poor health during most of his papacy. He died on November 30, 1830 at the age of 69 in the Quirinal Palace in Rome. Prince Don Agostino Chigi, a contemporary of the late pope's and one of the papal nobility associated with the papal court, recorded in his diary entry for December 2, 1830 (in Latin):

"During the dissection of the Pope's body, which occurred yesterday evening, as far as they say, only very healthy internal organs (viscera) were found, except some weakness of the lungs, or, according to others, a tired heart; it is therefore impossible to know the cause of death."

These few words have been interpreted by some conspiracy theory proponents as evidence that the late pontiff had indeed been poisoned. Cardinal Camillo di Pietro gave the funeral ovation for the late pope, before the cardinals entered the conclave to choose a successor. The late pope was succeeded by Pope Gregory XVI.

See also

• Cardinals created by Pius VIII

References

Literature

• Giuseppe Monsagrati: Pio VIII. In: Massimo Bray (ed.): Enciclopedia dei Papi, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Vol. 3  (Innocenzo VIII, Giovanni Paolo II), Rome, 2000, OCLC 313581724
• Christof Dahm (1994). "Pius VIII". In Bautz, Traugott. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). 7. Herzberg: Bautz. cols. 673–677. ISBN 3-88309-048-4. 
• Entry in the Catholic Encyclopedia

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pius VIII.

• Papal Encyclicals Online
• Catholic Encyclopedia article
• Pope Pius VIII encyclicals and other works, IntraText Digital Library
• Agostino Chigi Diary, IntraText Digital Library (Italian)
• Catholic-Hierarchy entry
• CASTIGLIONI, Francesco Saverio (1761-1830). In: Salvador Miranda: The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, online at fiu.edu, Website of Florida International University, retrieved 20 May 2013.
• Works by and about Pope Pius VIII in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (German Digital Library)

Popes of the Catholic Church
List of popes canonised Tombs extant non-extant Antipope Pope emeritus Papal resignation Pope-elect
1st–4th centuries During the Roman Empire (until 493) including under Constantine (312–337)	Peter Linus Anacletus Clement I Evaristus Alexander I Sixtus I Telesphorus Hyginus Pius I Anicetus Soter Eleuterus Victor I Zephyrinus Callixtus I Urban I Pontian Anterus Fabian Cornelius Lucius I Stephen I Sixtus II Dionysius Felix I Eutychian Caius Marcellinus Marcellus I Eusebius Miltiades Sylvester I Mark Julius I Liberius Damasus I Siricius Anastasius I
5th–8th centuries Ostrogothic Papacy (493–537) Byzantine Papacy (537–752) Frankish Papacy (756–857)	Innocent I Zosimus Boniface I Celestine I Sixtus III Leo I Hilarius Simplicius Felix III Gelasius I Anastasius II Symmachus Hormisdas John I Felix IV Boniface II John II Agapetus I Silverius Vigilius Pelagius I John III Benedict I Pelagius II Gregory I Sabinian Boniface III Boniface IV Adeodatus I Boniface V Honorius I Severinus John IV Theodore I Martin I Eugene I Vitalian Adeodatus II Donus Agatho Leo II Benedict II John V Conon Sergius I John VI John VII Sisinnius Constantine Gregory II Gregory III Zachary Stephen II Paul I Stephen III Adrian I Leo III
9th–12th centuries Papal selection before 1059 Saeculum obscurum (904–964) Crescentii era (974–1012) Tusculan Papacy (1012–1044/1048) Imperial Papacy (1048–1257)	Stephen IV Paschal I Eugene II Valentine Gregory IV Sergius II Leo IV Benedict III Nicholas I Adrian II John VIII Marinus I Adrian III Stephen V Formosus Boniface VI Stephen VI Romanus Theodore II John IX Benedict IV Leo V Sergius III Anastasius III Lando John X Leo VI Stephen VII John XI Leo VII Stephen VIII Marinus II Agapetus II John XII Benedict V Leo VIII John XIII Benedict VI Benedict VII John XIV John XV Gregory V Sylvester II John XVII John XVIII Sergius IV Benedict VIII John XIX Benedict IX Sylvester III Benedict IX Gregory VI Clement II Benedict IX Damasus II Leo IX Victor II Stephen IX Nicholas II Alexander II Gregory VII Victor III Urban II Paschal II Gelasius II Callixtus II Honorius II Innocent II Celestine II Lucius II Eugene III Anastasius IV Adrian IV Alexander III Lucius III Urban III Gregory VIII Clement III Celestine III Innocent III
13th–16th centuries Viterbo (1257–1281) Orvieto (1262–1297) Perugia (1228–1304) Avignon Papacy (1309–1378) Western Schism (1378–1417) Renaissance Papacy (1417–1534) Reformation Papacy (1534–1585) Baroque Papacy (1585–1689)	Honorius III Gregory IX Celestine IV Innocent IV Alexander IV Urban IV Clement IV Gregory X Innocent V Adrian V John XXI Nicholas III Martin IV Honorius IV Nicholas IV Celestine V Boniface VIII Benedict XI Clement V John XXII Benedict XII Clement VI Innocent VI Urban V Gregory XI Urban VI Boniface IX Innocent VII Gregory XII Martin V Eugene IV Nicholas V Callixtus III Pius II Paul II Sixtus IV Innocent VIII Alexander VI Pius III Julius II Leo X Adrian VI Clement VII Paul III Julius III Marcellus II Paul IV Pius IV Pius V Gregory XIII Sixtus V Urban VII Gregory XIV Innocent IX Clement VIII
17th–20th centuries Revolutionary Papacy (1775–1848) Roman Question (1870–1929) Vatican City (1929–present) World War II (1939–1945) Cold War (1945-1991)	Leo XI Paul V Gregory XV Urban VIII Innocent X Alexander VII Clement IX Clement X Innocent XI Alexander VIII Innocent XII Clement XI Innocent XIII Benedict XIII Clement XII Benedict XIV Clement XIII Clement XIV Pius VI Pius VII Leo XII Pius VIII Gregory XVI Pius IX Leo XIII Pius X Benedict XV Pius XI Pius XII John XXIII Paul VI John Paul I John Paul II
21st century	Benedict XVI Francis
Book Category Pope portal Catholicism portal

Catholic Church
History (Timeline)	Jesus Twelve Apostles Early Christianity History of the papacy Ecumenical Councils Missions Great Schism of East Crusades Great Schism of West Protestant Reformation Counter-Reformation Catholic Church by country Vatican City index
Hierarchy	Pope Roman Curia Cardinals Patriarchs Major Archbishops Primates Metropolitans Archbishops Diocesan Bishops Coadjutor Bishops Auxiliary Bishops Titular Bishops Bishops Emeriti Priesthood Abbots Abbesses Brothers Monks Hermits Friars Nuns Masters of novices Novices Oblates Postulants Provincial superiors Priors Superior general
Theology	Body and Soul Catechism Divine grace Dogma One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church Original sin Saints list Salvation Sermon on the Mount The Ten Commandments Trinity Worship
Sacraments	Baptism Confirmation Eucharist Penance Anointing of the Sick Last rites Holy Orders Matrimony
Mariology	Catholic Mariology Assumption History of Mariology Immaculate Conception Mariology of the popes Mariology of the saints Mother of God Perpetual Virginity Veneration
Doctors of the Church	Gregory the Great Ambrose Augustine of Hippo Jerome John Chrysostom Basil of Caesarea Gregory of Nazianzus Athanasius of Alexandria Cyril of Alexandria Cyril of Jerusalem John of Damascus Bede the Venerable Ephrem the Syrian Thomas Aquinas Bonaventure Anselm of Canterbury Isidore of Seville Peter Chrysologus Leo the Great Peter Damian Bernard of Clairvaux Hilary of Poitiers Alphonsus Liguori Francis de Sales Peter Canisius John of the Cross Robert Bellarmine Albertus Magnus Anthony of Padua Lawrence of Brindisi Teresa of Ávila Catherine of Siena Thérèse of Lisieux John of Ávila Hildegard of Bingen Gregory of Narek
Popes	Pope Francis (2013–) conclave inauguration theology canonizations visits Pope Benedict XVI (2005–2013) Pope John Paul II (1978–2005) (more)
Orders, institutes and societies	Assumptionists Annonciades Augustinians Basilians Benedictines Bethlehemites Blue nuns Camaldoleses Camillians Carmelites Carthusians Cistercians Clarisses Conceptionists Crosiers Dominicans Good Shepherd Sisters Jesuits Mercedarians Minims Franciscans Hieronymites Olivetans Oratorians Piarists Premonstratensians Redemptoristines Servites Theatines Trappists Trinitarians Visitandines
Associations of the faithful	International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements International Federation of Catholic Universities International Kolping Society Schoenstatt Movement International Union of Catholic Esperantists Sant'Egidio Community (more)
Charities	Aid to the Church in Need Caritas Internationalis Catholic Home Missions Catholic Relief Services CIDSE
Vatican II	Definition of the Church Dei verbum Gaudium et spes Lumen gentium Nostra aetate Sacrosanctum Concilium
Particular churches	Latin Church Eastern Churches: Albanian Armenian Belarusian Bulgarian Chaldean Coptic Croatian and Serbian Eritrean Ethiopian Georgian Greek Hungarian Italo-Albanian Macedonian Maronite Melkite Romanian Russian Ruthenian Slovak Syriac Syro-Malabar Syro-Malankara Ukrainian
Liturgical rites	Alexandrian Ambrosian Anglican Use Antiochian Armenian Byzantine East Syrian Mozarabic Roman Sarum
Catholicism portal Pope portal Index