Gregorio Panzani

He was a secular priest of Arezzo , having left the Congregation Of The Oratory on account of ill-health, when in 1634 he was chosen by Cardinal Barberini for the important and delicate task of a secret agency in London. He is described by the writer of his memoirs as a man

:"of experienced virtue, of singular address, of polite learning and in all respects well qualified for the business".

His commission was to gain first-hand information as to the state of English Catholics, then much divided on the question of the oath of allegiance and the appointment of a Vicar Apostolic , to settle the differences that had arisen on these points between the seculars and regulars, and to establish informal relations with the Government.

Panzani himself realized that the appointment of a bishop was necessary, and he resented the efforts of the Jesuit s to hinder this. Though he was successful in reconciling the seculars with the Benedictine s and other religious, the Jesuits were left out of the settlement, and Panzani's subsequent efforts to bring them in were fruitless.

He had repeated interviews with Windebank and Lord Cottington , the secretaries of state, enjoyed the confidence of the queen, and was admitted to secret audience with the king. He was also in communication with Richard Montagu , the Anglican Bishop Of Chichester on the subject of corporate reunion.

He was recalled in 1634 when a scheme of reciprocal agency was established between the pope and the king. Returning to Rome he was made a canon of S. Lorenzo In Damaso , and obtained a judicial position in the civil courts. On 13 Aug., 1640, he was elected Bishop of Mileto , in the Province of Catanzaro .

An account of his English mission was written in Italian by someone who had access to his papers, and a copy of this was used by Charles Dodd , who, however, thought it imprudent to publish these memoirs in full. But in 1793 the Rev. Joseph Berington published a translation of them with an historical introduction and supplement. Their authenticity was immediately called in question by Father Charles Plowden , S.J., who regarded them as a forgery by Dodd. The subsequent researches by M. A. Tierney , however, conclusively proved that the ''Memoirs'' were genuine. The original manuscript, then in the possession of Cardinal Gualterio , was purchased by the British Museum in 1854 (Add. Manuscripts 15389).

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Gregorio Panzani