51
this nomination, as numerous controversies still existed between the papacy and the
Kingdom of Italy.
Soon after his interview with the Pope, the Jesuit Father General immediately
wrote to Secchi in Sicily. Beckx did not ask Secchi to give up his chair but to obtain
more clarification from the Italian government about the ways in which his loyalty
to the Pope and the Society of Jesus would be respected as a professor in a state
university. Secchi replied to Beckx that he would ask the Italian government for
further guarantees, including that the Jesuit community of the Roman College
would be respected in its own buildings. At the same time, with great humility,
Secchi affirmed that if his Jesuit superiors were to ask him to renounce the chair, he
would do so. Moreover, if he could no longer direct the Observatory as a consequence of that, he was ready to leave Rome to be assigned to another role.
It is easy to imagine the inner feelings and suffering of Angelo Secchi, after more
than 20 years of scientific activity at the Observatory and many internationally recognized achievements. As a Jesuit he wanted to obey his superiors, and not oppose
the Pope’s will.
In the following days, two important events took place that had a crucial influence on Secchi’s final decision.
The first concerned the dismissal of the Jesuit schools, decreed in Rome by the
Italian government: the official motivation was so that the members of this religious
order would not warn the families of their pupils about the loss of the legal value of
their school degrees. Only a month later, on December 3, the new government inaugurated a new high school in those same buildings, entitled to Ennio Quirino
Visconti (a school still active today), entrusting it to lay teachers.
The second episode concerned the speech Science and Freedom delivered by the
jurist Emidio Pacifici-Mazzoni (1834–1880) on November 20, 1870 at the University
“La Sapienza” for the opening the new academic year. Various professors who were
faculty members, thanks to their previous papal nomination, judged that speech as
an indirect attack on the Pope, as the Catholic Church was accused of having maintained an obscurantist attitude toward science. The Jesuit Fr. Johann Bollig
(1821–1895), distinguished Professor of Oriental Languages, directly informed
Secchi about the contents of this speech (Castellani 1944: 174) in a letter written on
November 21.
In light of these events, Angelo Secchi drafted a letter addressed to Senator
Brioschi from Palermo, dated November 25, formally renouncing the appointment
of Professor of the Chair of Physical Astronomy. As Secchi himself asked, the letter
was first read privately by the General Superior Fr. Beckx and then shown to Pope
Pius IX, on November 29. Soon after, the letter was sealed and delivered to Francesco
Brioschi.
In this letter, the Jesuit astronomer wrote (Castellani 1944: 175):
However, I must inform you that when I accepted this prestigious position, before the official decree [of appointment] was published, the circumstances were very different from the
present ones. The favorable disposition that V. S. [Your Lordship] assured me towards our
schools of the Roman College was such that it induced me to accept, and my superiors not
to oppose, hoping that a mutual agreement could be beneficial to our youth. Now things
3 Between Science and Religion: Angelo Secchi and his Time
this nomination, as numerous controversies still existed between the papacy and the
Kingdom of Italy.
Soon after his interview with the Pope, the Jesuit Father General immediately
wrote to Secchi in Sicily. Beckx did not ask Secchi to give up his chair but to obtain
more clarification from the Italian government about the ways in which his loyalty
to the Pope and the Society of Jesus would be respected as a professor in a state
university. Secchi replied to Beckx that he would ask the Italian government for
further guarantees, including that the Jesuit community of the Roman College
would be respected in its own buildings. At the same time, with great humility,
Secchi affirmed that if his Jesuit superiors were to ask him to renounce the chair, he
would do so. Moreover, if he could no longer direct the Observatory as a consequence of that, he was ready to leave Rome to be assigned to another role.
It is easy to imagine the inner feelings and suffering of Angelo Secchi, after more
than 20 years of scientific activity at the Observatory and many internationally recognized achievements. As a Jesuit he wanted to obey his superiors, and not oppose
the Pope’s will.
In the following days, two important events took place that had a crucial influence on Secchi’s final decision.
The first concerned the dismissal of the Jesuit schools, decreed in Rome by the
Italian government: the official motivation was so that the members of this religious
order would not warn the families of their pupils about the loss of the legal value of
their school degrees. Only a month later, on December 3, the new government inaugurated a new high school in those same buildings, entitled to Ennio Quirino
Visconti (a school still active today), entrusting it to lay teachers.
The second episode concerned the speech Science and Freedom delivered by the
jurist Emidio Pacifici-Mazzoni (1834–1880) on November 20, 1870 at the University
“La Sapienza” for the opening the new academic year. Various professors who were
faculty members, thanks to their previous papal nomination, judged that speech as
an indirect attack on the Pope, as the Catholic Church was accused of having maintained an obscurantist attitude toward science. The Jesuit Fr. Johann Bollig
(1821–1895), distinguished Professor of Oriental Languages, directly informed
Secchi about the contents of this speech (Castellani 1944: 174) in a letter written on
November 21.
In light of these events, Angelo Secchi drafted a letter addressed to Senator
Brioschi from Palermo, dated November 25, formally renouncing the appointment
of Professor of the Chair of Physical Astronomy. As Secchi himself asked, the letter
was first read privately by the General Superior Fr. Beckx and then shown to Pope
Pius IX, on November 29. Soon after, the letter was sealed and delivered to Francesco
Brioschi.
In this letter, the Jesuit astronomer wrote (Castellani 1944: 175):
However, I must inform you that when I accepted this prestigious position, before the official decree [of appointment] was published, the circumstances were very different from the
present ones. The favorable disposition that V. S. [Your Lordship] assured me towards our
schools of the Roman College was such that it induced me to accept, and my superiors not
to oppose, hoping that a mutual agreement could be beneficial to our youth. Now things
3 Between Science and Religion: Angelo Secchi and his Time