Christ's Faithful People
Christ's Faithful People
1744 - 1758 AD
"If you want a saint, take Gotti; if you want a statesman, take Aldovrandi; if you want a good fellow, take me." Thus spoke Prospero Lambertini in his jocose way at the painfully long conclave of 1740. When the cardinals took Lambertini at his word, they got a good fellow, all right; but much more, a good priest and a good pope. Lambertini accepted and chose to be called Benedict XIV.
Prospero Lambertini was born March 31, 1675, at Bologna of an ancient family which had produced two members worthy of beatification. After studies under tutors and the Somaschi Fathers, Lambertini took doctorates in law and theology when only nineteen. He entered the papal service and rose to be titular archbishop of Theodosia, archbishop of Ancona, and finally of Bologna. As archbishop he proved to be a great spiritual leader. A cardinal in 1728, he became a trusted adviser of the popes. Yet his power to work was so great that with all his work he was able to be a scholar and at the same time to enjoy the company in which his good humor and brilliant wit made him popular.
Even as cardinal, Benedict XIV had been known for his tendency to conciliation. As pope he went the limit in his efforts to appease the power-greedy monarchs. If Benedict's extensive concessions to Spain, Naples, and Sardinia aroused criticism, at least they proved his deep desire for peace and harmony.
Since Benedict was known to be so conciliatory, Jansenists and infidels hoped much from him. Of course they were disappointed. Although he was a little easier on the Jansenists, he continued to demand submission to the bull Unigenitus. When Benedict accepted Voltaire's dedication of his drama Mahomet, infidels hoped that at last they had a pope suitable to the eighteenth century. But Benedict soon showed his awareness of the time's danger by condemning the works of Voltaire and other infidels and by renewing Clement XII's prohibition of Freemasonry.
Benedict XIV stands out among modern popes as a great legislator. Many- sided, he improved not only canon law but liturgy and ecclesiastical discipline. A scholar himself, he founded four academies in Rome and worked hard to improve the University of Rome. He gave the Church a glorious new order when in 1749 he approved the rule of St. Alphonsus Liguori's Redemptorists.
In the field of mission activity Benedict put a definite end to the arguments about the Chinese rites by ordering all missionaries to take an oath against the forbidden practices. Benedict secured the reunion of the Egyptian Melchites, and by skillful diplomacy averted a storm among the Maronites.
Since his pontificate had begun with the War of the Austrian Succession and ended with the Seven Years' War still raging, Benedict's diplomatic problems were many and delicate. Through them all he so conducted himself that at his death on May 3, 1758, Benedict XIV was mourned even by Protestants. The English Protestant Horace Walpole observed that Benedict "restored the lustre of the tiara. By what art did he achieve that glory? Solely by his virtues."
