Teodolfo Mertel

Teodolfo Mertel (February 9, 1806 - July 11, 1899) was a lawyer and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was one of the last known "lay cardinals".
Pope Pius IX made him a cardinal-deacon with the title of S. Eustachio on March 15, 1858. Later that year on May 16, Pope Piux IX ordained him as a deacon. Cardinal Mertel was never ordained a priest, and was the last surviving non-priest cardinal. During the papal coronation of Pope Leo XIIi, Cardinal Mertel crowned the new popehttp://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moajrnl;cc=moajrnl;q1=Coronation;rgn=full%20text;idno=bac8387.0027.158;view=image;seq=0286 since the protodeacon Cardinal Prospero Caterini was unable to do so due to illnesshttp://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1853.htm#Caterini.
==References==
==External links==
*Biography of Cardinal Mertel (in Italian)
*Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church section on Teodolfo Mertel
*Catholic Hierarchy Page on Cardinal Teodolfo Mertel
Category:Cardinals