Bartolomeo Pacca was born at
Benevento, the son of the nobleman Orazio Pacca,
Marquess di Matrice, and Crispina Malaspina. He was educated by the
Jesuits at
Naples, by the
Somaschans in the
Clementine College at Rome, and at the
Accademia dei Nobili Ecclesiastici.
Diplomatic career Jurisdictional disputes in Germany In 1785, he was consecrated
titular archbishop of
Tamiathis and
Pope Pius VI appointed him to succeed
Carlo Bellisomi, who had been appointed to Portugal, as
nuncio at Cologne, the centre of anti-Roman agitation. Pacca arrived at Cologne in June 1786.
Archduke Maximilian of Austria, who had written a courteous letter to Pacca at Rome, told him he would not be recognized unless he formally promised not to exercise any act of jurisdiction in the archdiocese. The same attitude was taken by the Archbishops of Trier and Mainz, the other
ecclesiastical Electors. Hostility to Rome, incited chiefly by the work of
Febronius, was then at a high pitch on account of the establishment of the new
nunciature of Munich; yet the other bishops and the magistrates of Cologne received Pacca with all due respect. Even Prussia made no difficulty, and its monarch, in recognition of his friendly attitude, was accorded at Rome the title of king, against which
Pope Clement XI had protested in 1701, when the emperor would have granted it. On his journey through his dominions on the Rhine,
Frederick William received the nuncio with great honour. Pacca's position with respect to the three ecclesiastical electors was difficult. When the
Archbishop of Cologne, in 1786, opened in his residential city the
University of Bonn, the discourses given were a declaration of war against the Holy See. At the
University of Cologne, although still loyal to the Holy See, an attempt to support Febronian propositions was frustrated by the nuncio, against whom innumerable pamphlets were directed. Pacca induced some prominent German writers to uphold the rights of the Holy See. The Portuguese kings ordered the construction of churches, and nominated pastors and bishops. Thus the structure of the kingdom of Portugal had both religious and political dimensions. Under the
Padroado Real many characteristic activities of the Catholic Church were functions of powerful politicians. The
Marquis of Pombal had institutionalized the process of book censorship with establishment of the
Real Mesa Censória (Royal Censorial Court). A law passed on April 5, 1768 reaffirmed the right of "temporal sovereignty" over the prohibition of "pernicious books and papers" in the interest of political defense. This law actually prohibited even certain documents issued by the Holy See like the
In Coena Domini bull of 1792 (which reserved exclusively to the Pope powers now claimed by the Monarch). The censors would forbid books supporting an
ultramontane view and approve those espousing the opposite position. Four of the eight members of the
Mesa, which supervised books pertaining to theology and dogma, were not ecclesiastics. As the
Mesa had jurisdiction over all printed materials, this included pastoral letters. Pacca made little headway against the entrenched institution. and assigned to various
Roman Congregations. Of both nunciatures, he wrote memoirs, containing observations on the character of the countries and their governments.
Rome In 1808 French troops were stationed in Rome. Yielding to the insistence of
Napoleon Bonaparte,
Pope Pius VII sacrificed
Cardinal Consalvi, his faithful
Secretary of State, and the pro-secretaries, Casoni, Doria and Gabrielli. The last-named was surprised in his apartments by the soldiers, placed under arrest, and ordered to leave papal territory. Two days later (18 June 1808) the pope appointed Pacca pro-secretary. He died at Rome on 19 April 1844, and was buried in the church of
Santa Maria in Portico. ==Legacy==