The papal bull ''Quod Divina Sapientia'', issued by

Pope Leo XII Pope Leo XII ( it, Leone XII; born Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiorre Girolamo Nicola della Genga (; 2 August 1760 – 10 February 1829), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 28 September 1823 to his death ...

28 August 1824, organised all public instruction in the Papal States under ecclesiastical supervision. Ancient autonomies of the old universities were abolished, streamlining their hierarchies, a progressive move, but placing them under the immediate supervision of the

Pontifical state The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from ...

by means of a congregation of cardinals that was to function in essence as a ministry of public education, with, among its duties, the prerogative of selecting professors to fill established university chairs. Cardinal Wiseman observed approvingly that to the Congregation "belongs the duty of approving, correcting, or rejecting, changes suggested by the different faculties; of filling up vacancies in chairs; and watching over the discipline, morals and principles of all the universities and other schools." Cardinal Wiseman notes that professorships were thrown open in public competition, open to "such competitors as had sent in satisfactory testimonials of character." An exception to open competition was made in the case of those who had published a work that would sufficiently attest to its author's competency. The '' nihil obstat'' for publication served as a first control against unacceptable opinions in print, sanctioned by an '' imprimatur''. Cardinal

Francesco Bertazzoli Francesco Bertazzoli (1 May 1754 – 7 April 1830) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was a longtime confidant of Pope Pius VII, who made him a cardinal in 1823. Biography Francesco Bertazzoli was born in Lugo on 1 May 1754. Studied ...

, examiner of bishops in theology, was immediately appointed prefect; Bartazzoli had headed the commission of cardinals examining prospects for reforming the pontifical universities. Scientific courses at the University of Perugia were brought under the Faculty of Philosophy, where they could be monitored in detail. Unsupervised instruction was forbidden; at Viterbo, the courses being given at the Ospedale Grande degli Infermi were interrupted under the provisions of ''Quod Divina Sapientia'', when ecclesiastical officials forced the hospital to limit its activities to the treatment of patients.Università degli Studi della Tuscia: "Viterbo and the University of Tuscia"
. With the Unification of Italy, a series of decrees by Vittorio Emanuele, 1860-62 freed the universities in the former States of the Church from ecclesiastical supervision.

Notes

{{Authority control Catholic education 19th-century papal bulls 1824 documents 1824 in Christianity Documents of Pope Leo XII August 1824 events

See also

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