Cardinal Consalvi was ‘honest broker, man of faith’ who withstood Napoleon
By Devin Watkins
The seminary in Rome preparing English and Welsh men for the priesthood is perhaps not an immediately obvious choice of venue to host a symposium celebrating the bicentenary of the death of Italian-born Cardinal Secretary of State Ercole Consalvi. Yet, the connection was proved solid on the evening of 24 January.
“We treat Cardinal Consalvi as our second founder,” said Fr. Stephen Wang, Rector of the Venerable English College.
After Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Rome in 1798, his troops ransacked the VEC and forced the students to return to England. It was thanks to the support of Cardinal Consalvi (1757-1824) that the College’s property and patrimony were conserved until its re-establishment twenty years later in 1818.
“Cardinal Consalvi is really important for us here at the College,” affirmed Fr. Wang, in an interview with Vatican News.
Bicentenary of Consalvi’s death
Cardinal Consalvi formed the focus of attention for several historians and Vatican officials attending the “Consalvi and the United Kingdom” symposium.
Hosted by the Venerable English College and organized by the British Embassy to the Holy See, the 3-hour conference was part of a series of events that filled the day, which began with Holy Mass celebrated by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin at the church of San Marcello al Corso, where Cardinal Consalvi is buried.
The day wrapped up with a concert entitled “Power, Patronage & Diplomacy”, held at the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso.
Consalvi’s negotiations with Napoleon
“He is not a priest. He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” That remark was the backhanded compliment which Napoleon made about Cardinal Consalvi at their last meeting, just before the French Emperor was exiled to Elba.
Yet, his words rang true: Cardinal Consalvi was never ordained a priest. After Pope Pius VII made him his Secretary of State in 1800, he was ordained a deacon, and therefore wore the customary ecclesiastical garb, including a cassock of woven wool.
Cardinal Consalvi was also astute and determined in his negotiations with Napoleon on behalf of the Pope, which resulted in the Concordat of 1801.
Later, after Napoleon exiled Pope Pius VII to Savona, in 1809, Cardinal Consalvi was taken to Paris, along with 12 other Cardinals. They became known as the “black cardinals” after they were stripped of their property and ecclesiastical status. Cardinal Consalvi endured 5 years of imprisonment, until his release in 1814.
‘Man of faith dedicated to serving Pope and the Church’
“He was prepared to suffer for his beliefs and the things and people to whom he was committed,” according to Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations.
The English-born Archbishop, who holds a brief similar to foreign minister, attended the Venerable English College as a seminarian, but he admitted to having heard very little about Cardinal Consalvi during his time there.
“Consalvi lived in very difficult times—difficult times for the papacy, the loss of the papal states. Europe was in turmoil,” said Archbishop Gallagher in an interview with Vatican News.
“Of course, we also live in challenging times,” he added. “So, to see somebody then who was trying to serve the Pope and was convinced that the Pope’s action was really focused on the common good, I think I find that encouraging.”
The Archbishop noted that Cardinal Consalvi gained considerable credibility with his contemporaries, saying he was seen as “an honest broker.”
“He obviously was a man of great humanity—he enjoyed life and he enjoyed the things of life—but he was also a man of great faith,” said Archbishop Gallagher. “He was deeply human, deeply religious, and had a vision for the future and the work of the Church of his day.”
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