Giuseppe II Pozzobonelli (or ''Puteobonellus'', 1696–1783) was an Italian

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

and the

Archbishop of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has long maintained its own Latin liturgical rite usage, the Amb ...

from 1743 to 1783.

Early life

Giuseppe Pozzobonelli was born on 11 August 1696 in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, which at the time was part of

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan (; ) was a state in Northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti of Milan, Visconti family, which had been ruling the city since 1277. At that time, ...

. Pozzobonelli was the son of a noble family, and lost his mother during childhood. He was educated by the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

s and on 5 January 1722 he earned a

doctorate in utroque iure A doctor of both laws, from the Latin , , or ("doctor of both laws") (abbreviations include: JUD, IUD, DUJ, JUDr., DUI, DJU, Dr.iur.utr., Dr.jur.utr., DIU, UJD and UID), is a scholar who has acquired a doctorate in both civil law (legal syste ...

at the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...

. On 23 December 1730 Giuseppe Pozzobonelli was ordained

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

for the Archdiocese of Milan by Cardinal Benedetto Erba Odescalchi, who was his

spiritual father In a number of Christian traditions, including Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism, a confessor is a priest who hears the confessions of penitents and pronounces absolution. History During the Diocletianic Persecut ...

. He joined the teaching staff of the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

of his archdiocese. In 1734 he was named conservator of the

Biblioteca Ambrosiana The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is a historic library in Milan, Italy, also housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Ambrosian art gallery. Named after Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, it was founded in 1609 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, whose age ...

. Later he was named vicar of the archbishop for the nuns of the town. At the death of Archbishop

Carlo Gaetano Stampa Carlo III Gaetano Stampa (1667–1742) was an Italian cardinal and Archbishop of Milan from 1737 to 1742. Early life Carlo Gaetano Stampa was born on 1 November 1667 in Milan to count Cristiano Stampa and Giustina of the House of Borromeo. ...

on 23 December 1742 he was elected

vicar capitular A diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an archdiocese, archeparchy, and eparchy) is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic part ...

of the Archdiocese.

Archbishop of Milan

In July 1743, Pope

Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV (; ; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Benedict X (1058–1059) is now con ...

named him archbishop of Milan, and on 21 July 1743 he was consecrated

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

by the pope himself in

San Carlo al Corso San Carlo al Corso may refer to: * San Carlo al Corso, Milan, church in Milan, Italy * San Carlo al Corso, Noto, church in Noto, Italy * Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso (usually known simply as ''San Carlo al Cors ...

, Rome. However he could formally take possession of Milan's diocese only eleven months later, on 21 June 1744, due to the late assent from

Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position in her own right. She was the sovereig ...

. In the meantime, on 9 September 1743, he was appointed

Cardinal Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

with the title of Santa Maria in Via. He kept such title until 2 August 1758 when he moved to the title of

Santa Maria sopra Minerva Santa Maria sopra Minerva is one of the major Church (building), churches of the Order of Preachers (also known as the Dominicans) in Rome, Italy. The church's name derives from the fact that the first Christian church structure on the site was b ...

, and again on 28 May 1770 he moved to the title of

San Lorenzo in Lucina The Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Lucina ( or simply ; ) is a Roman Catholic parish, titular church, and minor basilica in central Rome, Italy. The basilica is located in Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina in the Rione Colonna, about two blocks ...

. Giuseppe Pozzobonelli took very seriously his service as bishop: he made pastoral visits to almost all areas of his large diocese, he often preached and personally conferred the

sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of ...

. He paid particular attention to the instruction and to the morality of the clergy. He celebrated a

Jubilee A jubilee is often used to refer to the celebration of a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term comes from the Hebrew Bible (see, "Old Testament"), initially concerning ...

in 1751 whose main event was the

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

of the body of

Saint Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo (; ; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was an Italian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. He was made a cardinal in 1560. Borromeo founded the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and was a ...

among the streets of the town. He supported the idea to place a statue of

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

atop

Milan Cathedral Milan Cathedral ( ; ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary (), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Dedicated to the Nativity of Mary, Nativity of St. Mary (), it is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdi ...

(now known as the '' Madonnina''), which was so erected in 1774 and became a reference point for the people of Milan. During his tenure as archbishop he kept good relations with the Habsburg authorities and he give his support to the former Jesuits after the Jesuit suppression. However starting from 1767 some contrasts arose with the Habsburgs due to some ecclesiastic reforms decided by the government. Due to these rifts and to his poor health on 19 March 1769 Pozzobonelli tendered his resignation, but Pope

Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII (; ; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. He was installed on 16 July 1758. ...

refused to free him from his duties as archbishop of Milan. Pozzobonelli participated to the Conclave of 1758 and to the

Papal conclave, 1769 The 1769 papal conclave (15 February – 19 May) was convoked after the death of Pope Clement XIII on 2 February 1769 and ended with the election of Cardinal Giovanni Ganganelli, who took the name ''Clement XIV''. Death of Pope Clement XIII C ...

where was believed to be a

papabile ( , , ; plural: ; ) is an unofficial Italian term coined by Vaticanologists and used internationally in many languages to describe a Catholic man—in practice, always a cardinal—who is thought of as a likely or possible candidate to be ...

. He didn't participated to the following conclave for health reasons. Giuseppe Pozzobonelli died in Milan on 27 April 1783, and his remains were buried in the North nave of the

Cathedral of Milan Milan Cathedral ( ; ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary (), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Dedicated to the Nativity of St. Mary (), it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Archbi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pozzobonelli, Giuseppe 1696 births 1783 deaths 18th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Archbishops of Milan 18th-century Italian cardinals Burials at Milan Cathedral