He was created a Cardinal by
Pope Pius IX in the Consistory of 15 March 1852, and was assigned the
titular church of
San Onofrio on 18 March. He was appointed
bishop of Jesi, a diocese directly suffragan to the Holy See; he was allowed to retain the title of Archbishop. On 29 September 1860, the papal fortress of
Ancona surrendered to the forces of Victor Emanuel II. On 17 March 1861 he was proclaimed King of Italy, and on 27 March the city of Rome was proclaimed the capital of Italy. Nothing was left to the Pope to govern, outside of the city of Rome itself. The anticlerical government of Turin immediately began to harass those who were faithful to the papacy. On 23 April 1864, Cardinal Morichini was arrested in his episcopal palace in Jesi. He protested that a cardinal could only be judged by the pope, and he was ignored. During the night he was removed to Ancona, where he was imprisoned. The charge was that he had been corresponding with a foreign power. The "foreign power" turned out to be the Apostolic Penitentiary in Rome, with whom Morichini had indeed been corresponding, on a purely spiritual matter, to arrange for a consultation between the Penitentiary and one of his priests over a matter raised in a sacramental confession. Two of the Canons of the cathedral were also arrested and interrogated. The cardinal was released on 10 May, having been exonerated. On his return to Jesi, there were anti-clerical demonstrations. The entire incident was an effort to intimidate the leaders of the papal party in the territory newly annexed by the Turin government. A similar incident was arranged for the bishop of Spoleto. He participated the
First Vatican Council (1869–1870). He was transferred to the archdiocese of
Bologna in 1871 by Pius IX. He relinquished that see on 22 December 1876, having been named Cardinal Secretary of Memorials in the Roman Curia. He became cardinal-
bishop of Albano on 12 March 1877. He participated in the
1878 conclave. On 15 July 1878, he was appointed Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Signature of Justice by the new pope,
Leo XIII (Pecci). He died in Rome on 26 April 1879, and was buried in the Campo Verano cemetery. ==Author==