Gaetano Bedini

Gaetano Bedini (15 May 1806 – 6 September 1864) was an Italian ecclesiastic, Cardinal and diplomat of the Catholic Church.

Bedini was born in Senigallia into the peasant Bedini family of Ostra, the son of Alessandro Pellegrino and Marianna Spadoni.

The youngest of 7 sons, Bedini was intended by his father to be a priest. He entered the seminary at Senigallia and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on 20 December 1828 by Cardinal Fabrizio Sceberras Testaferrata. In the following years he became canon of the cathedral of Senigallia (1829–1838).

Thanks to influential friends, including Giovanni Mastai Ferretti (the future Pope Pius IX, also native of Senigallia), he dedicated himself to politics. He was secretary of Lodovico Altieri, archbishop of Ephesus and nuncio in Austria from 1838 to 1845. When Lodovico Altieri was named cardinal, Bedini gained exposure to the diplomatic atmosphere, and he was subsequently called to Rome as Papal Chamberlain of Gregorius XVI and the Protonotary apostolic.

The first important assignment received by Bedini was that of Internuncio in Brazil, from 28 October 1845 to 16 August 1847. He worked for the improvement of the living conditions of German immigrants and supported Catholicism against the Protestant proselytism. His work led the Chamber of Deputies of Rio de Janeiro to improve the living conditions of the German immigrants.

Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was also living in South America at the time, wrote a famous letter to Bedini in 1847 in which he declared “to offer to Pius IX its sword and the Italian legion for the native land and the church” remembering “the garnishments of our August religion, always new and always immortal” knowing that “the throne of Peter rests over such foundations that don't need aid, because the human forces cannot shake them”. Bedini replied thanking him, but the offer to Rome of the legion Rome was never received.

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