Benedetto Odescalchi was born on 16 May 1611 in Como., and died in Rome, on 11 August 1689.
He was educated by the Jesuits at Como and studied jurisprudence in Rome and Naples. Pope Urban VIII appointed him successively prothonotary, president of the Apostolic Camera, commissary at Ancona, administrator of Macerata, and Governor of Picena. Innocent X then made him Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Cosma e Damiano on 6 March 1645, and, somewhat later, Cardinal-Priest of Sant’ Onofrio.
As Cardinal, his deep piety, charity, and unselfish devotion to his duties made him beloved to all. In 1650 he became Bishop of Novara, a capacity in which he spent all the revenues of his see in order to relieve the poor and sick of his diocese. With the permission of the Pope, he resigned as Bishop of Novara in favor of his brother, Giulio, in 1656 and went to Rome, where he took a prominent part in the consultations of the various congregations in which he was a member.
Odescalchi was elected Pope on 21 September 1676. He took the name of Innocent XI. Immediately after his accession, he turned all his efforts towards reducing the expenses of the Curia. He passed strict ordinances against nepotism among the cardinals, and he himself lived very parsimoniously and exhorted the cardinals to do the same.
His pontificate was marked by the prolonged struggle with Louis XIV of France on the subject of the so-called “Gallican Liberties”, and also about certain immunities claimed by ambassadors to the papal court. He died after a long period of feeble health on August 12, 1689.
The cause for his canonization was first introduced in 1714, but the influence of France forced it to be suspended in 1744. In the 20th century, it was reintroduced, and Pius XII announced his beatification on October 7, 1956.