Carlo Odescalchi

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Carlo Odescalchi, (5 March 1785 – 17 August 1841) was an Italian prince and priest,

Jesuit.[1]

Early life

A relative of Benedetto Odescalchi, who reigned as Pope Innocent XI from 1676 until 1689, Carlo was born in Rome, the second son of the noble Baldassare Erba-Odescalchi, a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire and Duke of Syrmia in the Kingdom of Hungary, and his wife Valeria Caterina Giustiniani,[2] who also belonged to a family of nobles.

Carlo was first

Society of Jesus
, he planned on entering the Society and was given preliminary acceptance but gave up the attempt due to the resistance of his sister Vittoria, who desperately sought to live near her brother. Pius VII himself agreed with Vittoria and promised Carlo that he could enter at a more appropriate time, but after Vittoria's marriage three years later, Pius decided to keep Carlo and appointed him papal auditor.

In Papal service

Pius VII, following his release from

canon of St. Peter's Basilica
.

On 10 March 1823, Pius VII appointed Odescalchi the

Holy Year
.

Odescalchi resigned as Archbishop of Ferrara on 2 July 1826. He was then named the Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars on 5 February 1828.

He was later appointed to two cardinal's posts on 15 April 1833:

Cardinal Bishop of Sabina (which he resigned on 30 November 1838, along with the post of Prefect of Bishops and Regulars) and Cardinal Priest of San Lorenzo in Damaso (which he resigned on 19 December 1834). In 1837 he ordained Gioacchino Pecci, the future Pope Leo XIII). As a cardinal, Odescalchi participated in the conclaves
of 1823, 1829, and 1830-31.

Jesuit

In 1837, Odescalchi submitted to

Society of Jesus, but the Pope refused. Appointed Grand Prior of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in Rome, he again asked the Pope to accept his resignation, which Gregory did this time. After abdicating his cardinalate and episcopate in 1838, Odescalchi finally entered the Jesuit Order on 6 December and took the habit on the 8 December, professing his vows
on 2 February 1840.

For three years he was much in demand for

spiritual retreats to the clergy
and rural missions in the Northern part of Italy. The correspondence that followed his death suggests that many considered him a saint.

Veneration

Odescalchi died at the age of 56, on 17 August 1841 at 10:30 a.m., in the San Bartolomeo Jesuit school in Modena, then an independent state, and was buried in the adjoining church of San Bartolomeo. As part of the beatification process, the canonical recognition of the body took place on 31 March 1927.

References

  1. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Carlo Odescalchi" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  2. OCLC 53276621
    .

Further reading

  • Antonio Angelini, Storia della vita del padre Carlo Odescalchi della Compagnia di Gesu scritta da Antonio Angelini della medesima Compagnia, Perrotti, Napoli, 1855.
  • Théophile Bérengier, Vita del cardinale Carlo Odescalchi morto religioso della Compagnia di Gesù: (1785-1841), Tipografia Emiliana, Venezia, 1888.
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