Rodiani and Lorenzo Mattei serving as co-consecrators. He served as the papal legate for the opening of the holy door of the Lateran Basilica in the 1825 Holy Year. Odescalchi resigned as Archbishop of Ferrara on 2 July 1826. He was then named the Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars on 5 February 1828. He was later appointed to two cardinal's posts on 15 April 1833: Cardinal Bishop of Sabina (which he resigned on 30 November 1838, along with the post of Prefect of Bishops and Regulars) and Cardinal Priest of San Lorenzo in Damaso (which he resigned on 19 December 1834). In 1837 he ordained to the priesthood Gioacchino Pecci, the future Pope Leo XIII). As a Cardinal, Odescalchi participated in the conclaves of 1823, 1829, and 1830-31. Jesuit In 1837, Odescalchi submitted to Pope Gregory XVI his resignation from all his offices to enter the Society of Jesus, but the Pope refused. Appointed Grand Prior of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in Rome, he again asked the Pope to accept his resignation, which Gregory did this time. After abdicating his cardinalate and episcopate in 1838, Odescalchi finally entered the Jesuit Order on 6 December and took the habit on the 8 December, professing his vows on 2 February 1840. For three years he was much in demand for spiritual retreats to the clergy and rural missions in the Northern part of Italy. The correspondence that followed his death suggests that many considered him a saint. Death He died at the age of 56, on 17 August 1841 at 10:30 a.m., in the San Bartolomeo Jesuit school in Modena, then an independent state, and was buried in the adjoining church of San Bartolomeo. As part of the beatification process, the canonical recognition of the body took place on 31 March 1927; and the beatification process remains open. References Further reading Antonio Angelini, Storia della vita del padre Carlo Odescalchi della Compagnia di Gesu scritta da Antonio Angelini della medesima Compagnia, Perrotti, Napoli, 1855. Théophile Bérengier, Vita del cardinale Carlo Odescalchi morto religioso della Compagnia di Gesù: (1785-1841), Tipografia Emiliana, Venezia, 1888. 1785 births 1841 deaths Clergy from Rome 19th-century Italian Jesuits 19th-century Italian cardinals Roman Catholic archbishops in Italy Bishops of Ferrara Cardinal-bishops of Sabina Cardinal Vicars Italian Servants of God Resigned cardinals Jesuit archbishops Jesuit cardinals 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Cardinals created by Pope