Pope Pius VIII

2 Papacy

Pope Pius VIII (20 November 1761 30 November

1830), born Francesco Saverio Castiglioni,[lower-alpha 1]
reigned from 31 March 1829 to his death in 1830.

2.1 Election
Main article: Papal conclave, 1829

1
1.1

Biography

After the death of Pope Leo XII in 1829, Castiglioni was

considered to be a candidate though was questioned due
to his frail health. Still, he had been a front runner in
the previous conclave and Pope Leo XII had said that he
was some day to be Pius VIII. Even Pope Pius VII had
made a similar comment. He was elected as pope in the
papal conclave and given that both Leo XII and Pope Pius
VII had referred to him as Pius VIII, it was only suitable
that it was the pontical name that he chose. His coronation took place on 5 April 1829 where the protodeacon
Cardinal Giuseppe Albani crowned him.

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 then studied at the University of Bologna where
he earned a doctorate in canon law and in civil law in
1785[1]

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1785 and studied

canon law. He served as the Vicar General of Anagni 2.2 Reforms
(1788-90), Fano (1790-97) and Ascoli Piceno (17971800). In 1800, he was appointed as the Bishop of As Pope Pius VIII, he initiated some reforms in the states
of the Church. On 24 May 1829 he issued an encyclical,
Montalto.
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
1.2 Episcopate and cardinalate
of this age that would place Catholicism on par with any
other religion.
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 2.3 Biblical translations
(180414, 1815) he was taken to a series of Italian cities
before being sent to France. After Napoleon fell, he re- Regarding Bible translations, he wrote in that encyclical:
turned to his diocese in 1814. He was praised by Pope
Pius VII who in 1816 elevated him to the cardinalate
We must also be wary of those who publish
as the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Traspontina.
the Bible with new interpretations contrary to
He held various high oces thereafter, including that of
the Churchs laws. They skillfully distort the
Major Penitentiary. He soon became a Cardinal-Bishop
meaning by their own interpretation. They
of the suburbicarian see of Frascati.
print the Bibles in the vernacular and, absorbAs a Cardinal, Castiglione had continued to live moding an incredible expense, oer them free even
estly, made no enemies, and although his own private life
to the uneducated. Furthermore, the Bibles are
had always been irreproachable, he had shown no signs
rarely without perverse little inserts to ensure
of censoriousness where others were concerned. He sufthat the reader imbibes their lethal poison infered from a very painful and distressing complaint, havstead of the saving water of salvation.
ing 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 On 25 March 1830, in the brief Litteris altero, he conGiuseppe Albani, who ruled the Papal States as autocrat- demned the masonic secret societies and modernist bibically as though he had himself worn the triple crown.[2] lical translations.
1

2.4

Other activities

His brief ponticate saw the Catholic Emancipation in

the United Kingdom and the July Revolution in France
(1830). Pius VIII recognised Louis Philippe (183048)
as French king and even allowed him to use the French
kings customary honoric Roi Trs Chretien (Most
Christian King).

EXTERNAL LINKS

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 partisans

of a conspiracy theory as evidence that the late ponti had
indeed been poisoned. Cardinal Camillo di Pietro gave
the funeral ovation for the late pope, before the cardinals
Pius VIII accepted the situation on mixed marriages be- entered the conclave to choose a successor. The late pope
tween Protestants and Catholics in Germany, but he op- was succeeded by Pope Gregory XVI.
posed changes in Ireland and Poland.
Pius VIII also held three consistories in which he elevated
six new cardinals into the cardinals and he held these ceremonies on 27 July 1829, 15 March 1830 and 5 July 1830,
the last of his ponticate.

4 See also
Cardinals created by Pius VIII

Health, death and conspiracy 5 Notes

theory
[1] English: Francis Xavier Castiglioni
[1] CASTIGLIONI, Francesco Saverio (1761-1830)". The
Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Retrieved 11
February 2014.
[2] Pope Pius VIII: Proceedings of the Conclave that led to
his election. Pickle-publishing.com. Retrieved 2013-0623.

6 External links
Papal Encyclicals Online
Catholic Encyclopedia article
The monument to Pius VIII.

Pius VIII was in very poor health from his election until his death one year after the conclave. He died on 30
November 1830 at the age of 69 in the Quirinal Palace,
Rome. Prince Don Agostino Chigi, a contemporary of
the late popes and one of the papal nobility associated
with the papal court, recorded in his diary (2 December
1830):
Nella sezione del cadavere del Pontece che
segu ieri sera per quanto si dice, furono
trovate le viscere sanissime e solo si rinvenuta
qualche debolezza nel polmone, altri dicono
qualche sancamento nel cuore; resterebbe
perci a sapersi di qual male sia morto."
(Translation:
During the dissection of
the Popes body, which occurred yesterday
evening, as far as they say, only very healthy
internal organs (viscera) were found, except

Pope Pius VIII encyclicals and other works, IntraText Digital Library
Agostino Chigi Diary, IntraText Digital Library
(Italian)
Catholic-Hierarchy entry

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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Pope Pius VIII Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_VIII?oldid=668137413 Contributors: AxelBoldt, Derek Ross, Mav,
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