Giovanni Morone - Biography - Incarceration On Orders of The Pope

Incarceration On Orders of The Pope

Morone opted for the titulus of Santa Maria in Trastevere on June 12, 1556. But on May 31, 1557, on direct orders of Pope Paul IV, carried out by his nephew, Cardinal Carlo Carafa, Morone was imprisoned in the Castel Sant'Angelo (with others, including Bishop Egidio Foscherari), on suspicion of the Lutheran heresy. The College of Cardinals, led by their Dean, Cardinal du Bellay, demanded a Consistory the next day, and the Pope was forced to explain himself. He stated that there had been questions about the orthodoxy of Cardinal Morone since the time of Paul III, and he also attacked Cardinal Pole. He insisted that Morone remain in the hands of the Inquisition for a future time when all the Cardinals would be summoned to judge his case. A commission of Cardinals was appointed to conduct the interrogations, among whom was Cardinal Michele Ghislieri (the future Pope Pius V), Cardinal Scipione Rebiba, Cardinal Giovanni Reuman Suau, and Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. The prosecution entirely failed, the Cardinals having found no grounds for any of the charges. Morone might have had his liberty, and the Suburbicarian Bishopric of Albano, but refused to leave prison unless Paul IV publicly acknowledged his innocence. Paul IV, a former Inquisitor who believed that the Inquisition was never wrong, refused to admit his error, and therefore Morone remained incarcerated until the pope's death (Aug. 18, 1559). It is believed that Paul IV published his Cum ex Apostolatus Officio to prevent Cardinal Morone from being elected the next Pope because he suspected Morone of being in league with Protestants. As events turned out, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo de' Medici was elected, and took the name Pope Pius IV. Morone did have the great pleasure of making the acquaintance of Cardinal Carlo Borromeo at that Conclave, and Borromeo conceived a very high opinion of Morone's virtues.

Upon the election of Pius IV, Morone's name was cleared publicly, and he accepted the office of Cardinal Bishop of Albano, which he exchanged for that of Sabina in 1561, then Palestrina in 1562, and Porto and Santa Rufina in 1565. In 1564 he had the pleasure of receiving back from Pius IV the diocese of Modena, upon the decease of the incumbent, and he held the post until 1571. In 1566 he was a candidate at the Conclave summoned to elect a successor to Pius IV. He had the support of the Emperor and the Spanish, and was supported by Cardinal Carlo Borromeo; but the French faction and some of the Italian princes (Ferrara and Florence) were able to exclude him from the Papal Throne. Even Cardinal Ghislieri, his old Inquisitor under Paul IV, worked against him, though he had earlier declared him innocent. Now, he let it be known that he had reconsidered the case of Cardinal Morone, and could not bring himself to vote for him to be Pope. Nonetheless, Morone received as many as twenty-nine votes in the scrutinies, a majority, but not the two-thirds majority (35) needed to elect. Ghislieri himself was elected, no doubt a complete coincidence, having nothing to do with Ghislieri's stated view on his principal opponent, and took the name of Pope Pius V.

He became Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1570, and assumed the Bishopric of Ostia and Velletri which went with the Deanship. In that capacity he presided over the Conclave of 1572, which elected Ugo Boncompagni as Pope Gregory XIII. As Cardinal Bishop of Ostia and Velletri, he was attentive to the implementation of the decrees of the Council of Trent, especially as regards the holding of regular diocesan synods. On June 3, 1573, a Synod took place under his authority in the Diocese of Veletri, with his Suffragan bishop, Lorenzo Bernardini, presiding. In October 1579, the Cardinal Bishop himself presided. The original Acta are preserved, with his handwriting and seal on them.