Editing Pope Clement XII (section)

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 1730 to 1740}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
|type             = Pope
|honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
|name             = Clement XII
|title            = [[Bishop of Rome]]
|image            = Agostino Masucci – Portrait of Pope Clement XII, seated.jpg
|caption          = Portrait by [[Agostino Masucci]], {{circa|1730–40}}
|birth_name       = Lorenzo Corsini
|church           = [[Catholic Church]]
|term_start       = 12 July 1730
|term_end         = 6 February 1740
|predecessor      = [[Pope Benedict XIII|Benedict XIII]]
|successor        = [[Benedict XIV]]
|consecration     = 18 June 1690
|consecrated_by   = [[Flavio Chigi (1631–1693)|Flavio Chigi]]
|cardinal         = 17 May 1706
|created_cardinal_by = [[Pope Clement XI|Clement XI]]
|birth_date       = {{birth date|1652|4|7|df=y}}
|birth_place      = [[Florence]], [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]]
|death_date       = {{death date and age|1740|2|6|1652|4|7|df=y}}
|death_place      = [[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
|previous_post   = {{Indented plainlist|
* [[Nicomedia|Titular Archbishop of Nicomedia]] (1690–1706)
* [[Santa Susanna|Cardinal-Priest of Santa Susanna]] (1706–1720)
* [[San Pietro in Vincoli|Cardinal-Priest of San Pietro in Vincoli]] (1720–1725)
* [[Roman Catholic Suburbicarian Diocese of Frascati|Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati]] (1725–1730)
}}
|motto            = Dabis discernere inter malum et bonum<br>(Distinguish between good and evil)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pope Clement XII (1730–1740) |url=http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/pope/C12.htm |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=www.gcatholic.org}}</ref>
|coat_of_arms     = C o a Clementem XII.svg
| signature       = Signature of Pope Clement XII.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert
|other            = Clement
}}

'''Pope Clement XII''' ({{langx|la|Clemens XII}}; {{langx|it|Clemente XII}}; 7 April 1652{{snd}}6 February 1740), born '''Lorenzo Corsini''', was head of the [[Catholic Church]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] from 12 July 1730 to his death in February 1740.

Clement presided over the growth of a surplus in the papal finances. He thus became known for building the new façade of the [[Basilica of Saint John Lateran]], beginning construction of the [[Trevi Fountain]],<ref>{{cite book | last =Gross | first =Hanns | title =Rome in the Age of Enlightenment: the Post-Tridentine syndrome and the ancient regime | publisher =Cambridge University Press | year =1990 | location =New York | page =28| isbn = 0-521-37211-9 }}</ref> and the purchase of Cardinal [[Alessandro Albani]]'s collection of antiquities for the papal gallery. In his 1738 bull {{lang|la|[[In eminenti apostolatus]]}}, he provides the first public papal condemnation of [[Freemasonry]].