Pope Gregory XVI

Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846 (1765–1846)

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Lived 1765–1846, aged 81Italy

Italy Religious Figures

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Era
1765–1846
Aged 81

Summary

Updated 2026-06-21

The last pope to rule the Papal States from election to death, and the last elected without already being a bishop — a Camaldolese monk who spent fifteen years holding the line against both Italian nationalism and the slave trade.

Biography

About

Born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari in Belluno in 1765, he joined the Camaldolese order at eighteen, taking the name Mauro, and was ordained a priest in 1787 while teaching philosophy and theology. Made a cardinal, he was elected pope in February 1831 and took the name Gregory XVI. His fifteen-year pontificate became a rearguard defense of traditional doctrine and the temporal power of the Papal States against the rising tide of Italian patriotic movements. Overseas, he pushed a renewed commitment to missionary work. In 1839, his papal brief In supremo apostolatus condemned both the slave trade…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Pope Gregory XVI

Pope Gregory XVI

said15 Aug 1832

Now We consider another abundant source of the evils with which the Church is afflicted at present: indifferentism.

— Mirari vos (15 August 1832)

Pope Gregory XVI

said15 Aug 1832

This shameful font of indifferentism gives rise to that absurd and erroneous proposition which claims that liberty of conscience must be maintained for everyone.

— Mirari vos (15 August 1832)

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

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