"Here lies
Juan Francisco Marco y Catalán, son of Joaquín. He was a most remarkable man. He was born in Bello, Spain, in the diocese of Zaragoza. He was sent to Rome by Ferdinand VII, Catholic King of Spain, on behalf of the Celtiberian people, to be a judge on the Roman Rota. Then he was made Prefect of Rome by Pope Leo XII. Thereafter he was appointed Cardinal Deacon of the Roman Church, assigned the Titulus of Saint Agatha in the Suburra district. He was highly esteemed by four popes and by his king for his virtues as a priest, his knowledge of canon and civil law, the erudition of his scholarship, and the strength and uprightness of his character. He discharged all his offices in an exemplary manner. He died on the day after the Ides of March, 1841, in the 70th year of his life. By his last will and testament, all his property was given over for the worship of God and the atonement for sins. Shedding tears, Stephen Azpeitia and Nicholas Salvatorius, the guardians of his estate, set up this monument for their well-deserving patron." |