Who he was
A doctor of theology and of both laws at nineteen, he spent years as Promoter of the Faith in saints' causes and in the Roman congregations, then was Bishop of Ancona, cardinal and Archbishop of Bologna. Learned, witty and hard-working, he was elected after a conclave of six months, having told the cardinals that if they wanted an honest man they should choose him. He is often called the most learned of the popes.
What he is remembered for
His treatise on the beatification of the servants of God and the canonisation of the blessed long governed how the Church raises saints to the altars. He settled the Chinese and Malabar rites questions, laid down rules on mixed marriages, wrote against usury in Vix pervenit (1745), and made peace with the Catholic powers through generous agreements. He founded academies for history and antiquities and enriched the Vatican Library, and was respected even by Protestant rulers.
Sources
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