Existing comment:
Gaetano Bedini, 1806-1864
Born Sinigaglia, Italy
In 1853, Italian archbishop Gaetano Bedini traveled to the United States at the request of Pope Pius IX to assess the condition of the Catholic Church in North America and to study the possibility of establishing a papal mission in Washington, D.C. Bedini's multi-month, fact-finding tour coincided with an intense wave of anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant feeling fanned by the newly ascendant American (or Know-Nothing) Party. In several cities, his presence sparked hostile demonstrations. Upon returning to the Vatican, Bedini advocated successfully for the creation of a North American College in Rome to prepare Roman Catholic clergy for service in the United States.
Albert Sands Southworth and Josiah Johnson Hawes, 1853 |