Giacinto Achilli
Giacinto Achilli | |
---|---|
Dominican friar | |
Known for | Accused of child sexual abuse |
Giovanni Giacinto Achilli (Italian pronunciation:
Early life as a priest
Achilli was born in
In 1833 Achilli obtained the degree of Master of Sacred Theology at the Roman College of St. Thomas, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, The Angelicum.[4]
In 1840, for being against the abuses of the Roman Inquisition, Achilli underwent a sequence of disciplinary actions and sanctions, largely arising from allegations by his pro-Inquisition opponents[2][3] of sexual misconduct[5] including the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl in Naples.
On 16 June 1841, the Roman Inquisition finally lost patience and permanently suspended Achilli from the
Malta and England
After establishing himself in Malta in 1846, opening an Italian Protestant church, in May 1847 he travelled to London. There, the committee of the Protestant College of St Julian's, Malta, appointed him professor with a special mission to spread Protestantism in Italy. However, during his absence from Malta, two of his fellow Protestant preachers were accused of "fornication" and it was further alleged that Achilli had encouraged them in their misconduct. Achilli returned to Malta in December but was dismissed by the London committee, along with his fellow accused, in May 1848.[5]
However, he returned to London in June, where he still enjoyed important supporters including Sir
Risorgimento
Following the
The Roman Republic fell in June 1849 when the French took the city and reinstated
England and controversy
Achilli's evangelical supporters brought him to England and established him in an Italian chapel under the aegis of the Evangelical Alliance. A series of antagonistic pamphlets established itself between Eardley and prominent English Catholic
Could you off hand answer me a question? Could I be had up for a libel, in criminal court or civil, for saying against Dr. Achilli the contents of the Article in the Dublin, since published as a pamphlet? I can't make out he has answered it. It contains the gravest charges, ... with many of the legal documents proving them.[8]
Hope-Scott was reassuring, expressing the opinion that an action was possible but not probable and that the risk was worth taking. Newman delivered his lecture on 28 July 1850.[8] In August, The Evangelical Alliance gave notice that they intended to support Achilli in a libel action against Newman.[5]
Newman's trial for libel
Achilli offered a compromise but Newman felt that he could not admit any culpability. Such an admission would taint Wiseman and the wider church in addition to himself. Newman asked Wiseman for whatever documentary evidence he possessed but Wiseman, unworldly at the best of times, was distracted by other matters and could offer nothing.[9]
In November 1851, Achilli swore an affidavit denying the allegations made against him. This enabled him to bring criminal proceedings for the common law offence of defamatory libel against Newman, rather than a simple civil action for damages.[2] Newman was liable to maximum sentence of an unlimited fine or a year's imprisonment.[10]
The trial began on 21 June and lasted five days. The
Newman was convicted of libel on 25 June 1852. It was found that he had failed to justify 22 of the 23 charges. It is a very painful matter for us who must hail this libel as false, believing it is in great part true—or at least that it may be.[12]
After the trial
A
... indecorous in their nature, unsatisfactory in their result, and little calculated to increase the respect of the people for the administration of justice or the estimation by foreign nations of the English name and character. We consider that a great blow has been given to the administration of justice in this country, and that Roman Catholics will henceforth have only too good reason for asserting that there is no justice for them in cases tending to arouse the Protestant feelings of judges and juries.[3]
The outcome of the trial was a
See also
References
- ^ "Cover". The People's illustrated journal. No. XI. 10 July 1852.
- ^ a b c Ker (2004)
- ^ a b c d Ward (1912), p. 292
- ^ "DR. ACHILLI AND DR. NEWMAN". New Zealander. Vol. 8, no. 651. 10 July 1852. p. 4. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Gilley (2004)
- ^ Ward (1912) p. 276
- ^ Wiseman (1850–1)
- ^ a b c Ward (1912), p. 278
- ^ a b Ward (1912), p. 280
- ^ Libel Act 1843, s.5
- ^ Ward (1912), p. 291
- ^ Ms letter to Keble (Nov. 8, 1852), Taylor Collection, Bodleian, quoted in Griffin, John R., A Historical Commentary on the Major Catholic Works of Cardinal Newman, (New York, 1993), p. 66.
Webb, Anglo-Florentines, p. 514.
Bibliography
- Achilli, G. (1851). Dealings with the Inquisition, or, Papal Rome, Her Priests, and her Jesuits, with Important Disclosures. London: A. Hall, Virtue & Co.
- Achilli vs. Newman. New York: Dewitt & Davenport. 1852. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012.
- Cantimori, D. (1960). "Achilli, Giacinto". In Ghisalberti, A. M. (ed.). Dizionario Biografico Degli Italiani. Vol. 1. Rome. p. 144.
{{cite encyclopedia}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Dessain, C. S., ed. (1961). The Letters and Diaries of John Henry Newman. Vol. 14–15.
- Finlason, W. F. (1852). Report of the Trial and Preliminary Proceedings in the Case of the Queen on the Prosecution of G. Achilli v. Dr Newman.
- Gilley, S. (2004). "Achilli, (Giovanni) Giacinto (b. c.1803)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 22 July 2007. (subscription or UK public library membershiprequired)
- Ker, I. (January 2007) [2004]. "Newman, John Henry (1801–1890)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 23 July 2007. (subscription or UK public library membershiprequired)
- Mirow, M. C. (1995–1996). "Roman Catholicism on trial in Victorian England: the libel case of John Henry Newman and Dr. Achilli". Catholic Lawyer. 36: 401–453.
- Ward, W. (1912). "The Achilli Trial". Life of John Henry Cardinal Newman. Vol. 1. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
- Webb, Diana; Webb, Tony (2020). The Anglo-Florentines: The British in Tuscany, 1814–1860. London: Bloomsbury.
- Wiseman, N. P. (1851). Dr Achilli: Authentic 'Brief Sketch of the Life of Dr Giacinto Achilli'., expanded from Dublin Review 56 (1850)