Birth. January 20, 1882, Espirito Santo do Pinhal, diocese of Ribeirão Preto (now diocese of São João da Boa Vista), Brazil. Son of Professor Francisco Furquim de Leme and Ana Pio da Silveira Cintra.

Education. Studied at the Episcopal Seminary of São Paulo from September 1, 1894; received the ecclesiastical tonsure on August 28, 1895; sent to Rome, he resided at Pontificio Colegio Pio Latino-Americano and studied humanities from October 3, 1896; and studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University from November 4, 1897; he earned doctorates in philosophy and theology.

Priesthood. Ordained, October 28, 1904, Rome, by Francisco do Rêgo Maia, bishop of Belém do Pará. Returned to Brazil immediately after his priestly ordination. Celebrated his first Mass in Brazil on December 15, 1904, in the Mother Church of Espírito Santo do Pinhal, where he had been baptized and had received the first communion. Pastoral ministry in the archdiocese of São Paulo; on March 7, 1905, he was named coadjutor of the parish of Santa Cecilia; professor of philosophy of its seminary, fiscal promoter of the diocese; director of the archdiocesan newspaper A Gazeta do Povo; cathedral canon, February 11, 1907; and president of the Confederation of Catholic Associations. Named pro-vicar general of São Paulo with ordinary powers of vicar general in January 1910.

Episcopate. Elected titular bishop of Ortosia di Fenicia and appointed auxiliary of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, March 24, 1911. Consecrated, June 24, 1911, chapel of the Pontificio Colegio Pio Latino Americano, Rome, by Cardinal Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti, archbishop of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, assisted by Francisco do Rego Maia, titular archbishop of Nicopoli al Nesto, and by Juan Nepomuceno Terrero y Escalada, bishop of La Plata. His episcopal motto was Cor unum et anima una. Took possession of his post the following November 4. Promoted to the metropolitan see of Olinda, April 29, 1916. Took possession of the see the following August 16. He received the pallium from Archbishop Adauto Aurélio de Miranda Henriques of Paraíba on June 22, 1917, at the church do Carmo in Paraíba. Became also archbishop of Recife when the see was united to Olinda, April 29, 1918. During his episcopate, he rebuilt the cathedral and purchased the Palace of São José de Manguinhos; suported and promoted the weekly A Tribuna; founded a Curso Superior de Religião to improved the religious formation of the academic youth of Recife; promoted the priestly vocations and the Catholic confederations as well as the Eucharistic Weeks. Named titular archbishop of Farsala and appointed coadjutor of Rio de Janeiro, with right of succession, March 15, 1921. Succeeded to the metropolitan see of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, April 18, 1930.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 30, 1930; received the red hat and the title of Ss. Bonifacio ed Alesio, July 3, 1930. Returned to Brazil the following October 19, just a few days before the Revolution of 1930 led by Getúlio Vargas, during which he was a conciliatory figure, convincing President Washington Luís to leave the government to avoid a possible bloodshed. Papal legate to the dedication of the monument of Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, September 14, 1931; to the National Eucharistic Congress, Bahia, June 15, 1933; to the National Eucharistic Congress, Belo Horizonte, July 27, 1936. Participated in the conclave of 1939, which elected Pope Pius XII. Papal legate to the Plenary Council of Brazil and the National Eucharistic Congress, Recife, July 21, 1939. Founder of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in 1941. The university dedicated its first building in the campus of Gávea to the cardinal. During the Vargas government, the cardinal sought to remain neutral in the political field, although he cooperated with the leaders and sought their support for his religious works. He created the Catholic Electoral League (LEC), the Brazilian Catholic Action (CBA) and implemented the teaching of religion in the then Federal District; he also promoted the opening of the Faculties of Law and Philosophy established officially in 1941, and that would be the embryo of the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC) in Rio de Janeiro.

Death. October 17, 1942, at 5:10 p,m,, in his room in Palácio São Joaquim, Rio de Janeiro, of angina pectoris, after suffering two other attacks in the previous two months. Buried in the Shrine of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, Rio de Janeiro.

Bibliography. Andrade Ramos, Mario de. S. Eminencia Cardeal Arcebispo D. Sebastião Leme da Silveira Cintra. Rio : [s.n.], 1943; Gabaglia, Laurita Pessõa Raja. O cardeal Leme (1882-1942). Rio de Janeiro, J. Olympio, 1962. (Coleção Documentos brasileiros, 113). Responsibility: [por] Irmã Maria Regina do Santo Rosário (Laurita Pessõa Raja Gabaglia). Prefácio de Manoel Pedro da Cunha Cintra; Lima, Alceu Amoroso. O cardeal Leme, um depoimento. Rio de Janeiro, J. Olympio, 1943. Responsibility: [por] Alceu Amoroso Lima (Tristão de Athayde); Mendes, Raymundo Teixeira. A attitude do Revm. Sr. D. Sebastião Leme, arcebispo metropolitano de Olinda em relação à religão da humanidade : a proposito da carta pastoral de D. Sebastião Leme, arcebispo metropolitano de Olinda saudando aos seus diocesanos. Rio de Janeiro : Igreja e Apostolado Positivista do Brasil, 1916. (Igreja e Apostolado Positivista do Brasil, n. 403); "Sebastião Leme da Silveira Cintra" in "Terceira parte, Bispos do Brasil-Republica, II, A" in "Diocesis e bispos do Brasil" by Apolônio Nóbrega, Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro, volume 222 (Janeiro-Março 1954), 202-204.

Webgraphy. His photograph and biography, in Portuguese, Wikipedia; his photograph and biography, in English, Wikipedia; photographs and arms, Araldica Vaticana; Série de Arcebispos de Olina e Recife: 2º Arcebispo - Dom Sebastião Leme da Silveira Cintra, Opinion, organizador Washington Vieira; his genealogy, in Portuguese, GeneAll; his bust in the Monument of Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Wikimedia.

Birth. October 1, 1871, Rome, Italy. Son of Vincenzo Marchetti-Selvaggiani and Valeria Caretti.

Education. Studied at Almo Collegio Capranica, Rome (philosophy and theology); and at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, where he was a classmate of Eugenio Pacelli, future cardinal and Pope Pius XII.

Priesthood. Ordained, April 4, 1896, Rome, by Francesco di Paola Cassetta, titular Latin patriarch of Antioch, vice gerent of Rome. Minutante in the S.C. of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, 1896-1900 (1). Auditor of the apostolic delegation in the United States of America, 1900-1906. Attached to the secretariat of the S.C. for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, 1906-1907. Auditor of the nunciature in Bavaria, 1907. Privy chamberlain of His Holiness, December 25, 1914. Domestic prelate of His Holiness, July 7, 1915. He engaged in conversations with Bernhard, prince von Bulow, former German imperial chancellor, in Lucerne, in November 1915, in order to draw peace proposals for the pope to present to the Entente Powers. Confidential representative of the Holy See in Berne, Switzerland, 1915-1918, for the assistance to the wounded and the prisoners of war during the First World War. Protonotary apostolic, September 26, 1917.

Episcopate. Elected titular archbishop of Seleucia di Isauria and appointed internuncio in Venezuela, February 16, 1918. Consecrated, April 14, 1918, chapel of Pontificio Collegio Pio Latino Americano, Rome, by Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, secretary of State, assisted by Carlo Pietropaoli, titular archbishop of Calcide, and by Bonaventura Cerretti, titular archbishop of Corinto, secretary of the S.C. of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs. Named nuncio to Venezuela, May 21, 1920. Nuncio in Austria, December 4, 1920. Secretary of the S.C. for the Propagation of the Faith, December 15, 1922. President of the Pontifical Work for the Propagation of the Faith, February 5, 1923. In 1925, he was charged with the organization of the Vatican Missionary Exposition, planned as a special event to celebrate the Holy Year. Extraordinary papal envoy to the coronation of the Negus of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, 1929.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 30, 1930; received the red hat and the title of S. Maria Nuova, July 3, 1930. President of the Pontifical Commission of the Work for the Propagation of the Faith, 1930-1931. Vicar general of Rome and its district, May 9, 1931. Archpriest of the patriarchal Lateran basilica, Rome, May 26, 1931. Opted for the order of cardinal bishops and the suburbicarian see of Frascati, June 15, 1936. Papal legate for the opening of the Holy Door at the patriarchal Lateran basilica, April 1, 1933. Participated in the conclave of 1939, which elected Pope Pius XII. Secretary of the Supreme S.C. of the Holy Office, April 30, 1939 until his death. Opted for the suburbicarian see of Ostia, proper of the dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, retaining the suburbicarian see of Frascati; and prefect of the S.C. Ceremonial, February 16, 1948.

Death. January 13, 1951, he had just celebrated Mass in the private chapel of his apartment in the Palace of the Holy Office, Rome, and was entering his study when he collapsed with a cerebral thrombosis. Monsignor Alfredo Ottaviani, assessor of the Holy Office, reached him in time to administer the extreme unction. He then went to the Vatican to inform the pope. Buried in the chapel of the Society of Jesus, of which he was an ardent supporter, in Campo Verano cemetery, Rome.

Bibliography. Code, Bernard. Dictionary of the American Hierarchy (1789-1964). New York : Joseph F. Wagner, 1964, p. 436; Finn, Nrendan A. Twenty-four American cardinals. Biographical sketches of those princes of the Catholic Church who either were born in America or served there at some time. With a foreword by Francis Cardinal Spellman. Boston : Bruce Humphires, 1947, p. 353-365; Squicciarini, Donato. Nunzi apostolici a Vienna. Città del Vaticano : Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1998, p. 251-253.

Webgraphy. Biography, in Italian, diocese of Frascati; photographs and arms, Araldica Vaticana; I Decani del Sacro Collegio: il Cardinale Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani by Marco Mancini, ACI Stampa, Città del Vaticano, 20 agosto, 2021 / 2:00 PM.

(1) During the summer of 1896, he was appointed private chaplain of the wealthy Santovetta family for the vacation season and went with them to their villa outside of Rome. Besides his simple duties as chaplain of the family, he taught the Christian doctrine to the children of the poor families of the nearby district. He met a young student from the North American College, Peter E. Blessing from Providence, Rhode Island, who was to soon receive the priesthood. They became friends and Father Blessing gave Father Marchetti his first lessons in English, unknowingly grooming him for the post of auditor at the Apostolic Delegation in Washington that he would occupy four years later. Father Blessing later became vicar general of the diocese of Providence.

Birth. October 28, 1876, Pisa, Italy. Son of Francesco Rossi and Maria Palamidessi, both members of Pisa's late nineteenth century bourgeois families. His first name is also listed as Raffaello.

Education. Joined the Order of Carmelites Discalced, October 3, 1887; professed, December 19, 1899. Carmelite International College, Rome; Carmelite Scholasticate, Rome.

Priesthood. Ordained, December 21, 1901, Rome. Faculty member of Carmelite houses of studies, 1902-1920.

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Volterra, April 22, 1920. Consecrated, May 25, 1920, in the church of S. Teresa al Corso d'Italia, Rome, by Cardinal Gaetano de Lai, bishop of Sabina e Poggio Mirteto, assisted by Rinaldo Rousset, archbishop of Reggio Calabria, and by Pio Bagnoli, bishop of Marsi. His episcopal motto was Ivstitia in Carmelo. Assessor of the S.C. Consistorial and secretary of the Sacred College of Cardinals, June 7, 1923. Promoted to titular archbishop of Tessalonica, December 20, 1923. Assistant at the Pontifical Throne, March 11, 1930.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 30, 1930; received the red hat and the title of S. Prassede, July 3, 1930. Secretary of the S.C. Consistorial, July 4, 1930. Participated in the conclave of 1939, which elected Pope Pius XII. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, December 11, 1939 to May 12, 1941. Due to his continuous failing health, in August 1948, he moved to Crespano del Grappa, Bassano, where he was received by the Scalabrini Fathers, to whom he was very close.

Death. September 17, 1948, during the early hours of the night, Crespano del Grappa. In the morning, he was discovered lying in his bed with three books by his side: the Holy Scriptures, The Imitation of Christ, and L'Arte di Ben Morire, of the renowned Jesuit Father Giuseppe Maria Petazzi. He was buried in the church of S. Teresa al Corso d'Italia, Rome.

Bibliography. Papàsogli, Maria Zalum. Il cardinale del silenzio : Raffaello Carlo Rossi. Roma : Postulazione Generale O.C.D., 1983; Rossi, Raffaello Carlo. Epistolario. 3 v. A cura di Valentino e Vito Bondani. Roma : Editrice Teresianum, 1973-1975. Contents: I. Carisma della paternità -- I. Testimonianza di servizio -- III. Pienezza di donazione. Other titles: Carisma della paternità Testimonianza di servizio; Pienezza di donazione.

Webgraphy. His photograph and arms, Araldica Vaticana.

Birth. October 12, 1867, Bolsena, diocese of Orvieto, Papal States. He had six brothers and a sister.

Education. Studied at the Minor Seminary of Orvieto; at the Roman-Pio Seminary, Rome, where he earned a doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law; and at Collegio Leonino, Rome.

Priesthood. Ordained, April 6, 1890. Further studies, Rome, 1890-1895. Faculty member of the Seminary of Orvieto, 1895-1901; rector, 1897-1901 Rector of the Roman-Pio Seminary, June 14, 1901. Faculty member of the Pontifical Roman Athenaeum S. Apollinare, 1901-1907. Privy chamberlain of His Holiness, January 7, 1904. Canon of the chapter of S. Maria ad Martyres, the Pantheon, Rome.

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Pescia, March 4, 1907. Consecrated, May 26, 1907, altar of the Chair of the patriarchal Vatican basilica, by Cardinal Pietro Respighi, vicar general of Rome, assisted by Salvatore Fratocchi, bishop of Orvieto, and by Giovanni Battista Scotti, bishop of Osimo e Cingoli. His episcopal motto was Gloriam Dei ut Seraphim Cantem. Remained as rector of Roman-Pio Seminary, which was united in 1913 to the Roman Lateran Seminary. Transferred to the titular see of Lampsaco before taking possession of the diocese of Pescia, December 16, 1907. Apostolic visitor to the seminaries of Marches, 1908; of Fano and Fermo, 1912. Prefect of studies of the Pontifical Roman Seminary, October 20, 1908. Canonist of the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary, December 21, 1915. Secretary of the S.C. of Council, October 28, 1923.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 30, 1930; received the red hat and the title of S. Maria sopra Minerva, July 3, 1930. Prefect of the S.C. of the Council, July 4, 1930 until his death. President of the Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of Code of Canon Law, 1930 until his death.

Death. July 16, 1938, of uremia, after suffering a heart attack in his Vatican apartment five days before his death, in Rome. Buried, basilica of S. Maria sopra Minerva, Rome (1).

Bibliography. Curotte, A. Le cardinale Serafini. Montréal, 1938; Franciolini, G. Il cardinale Giulio Serafini. Cortona, 1939; Re, Niccolò del. "I cardinali prefetti della Sacra Congregazione del Concilio dalle origini ad oggi (1564-1964)." Apollinaris, XXXVII (1964), pp. 144-145.

Webgraphy. Photograph and biography, in Italian, Wikipedia; His portrait and arms, in Araldica Vaticana.

(1) This is the text of the inscription on his tomb, kindly provided by Mr. Eman Bonnici, from Malta:

Birth. February 7, 1884, Lille, France. From a bourgeois family of cloth merchants. Second of the four children of Achille Philippe Hyacinthe Liénart and Louise Delesalle; the other siblings were Anna, Marie-Thérèse and Maurice. His baptismal name was Achille Gustave Louis Joseph.

Education. Initial studies at the school of the Dames de la Sainte-Union, Lille, 1889-1891; the studied at the Jesuit Collège Saint-Joseph, Lille, 1891-1901 (baccalaureate in philosophy, July 1901); and at the Seminary of Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris, 1901-1903; military service at the 43rd Infantry Regiment, October 1903-October 1904; continued his studies at the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, 1905-1907; at the Catholic Institute, Paris, 1907-1909; at the University of La Sorbonne, Paris; and at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome, 1909-1910. Received the diaconate on Saturday December 21, 1906, at the church of Saint-Maurice, Lille, from François-Marie-Joseph Delamaire, titular archbishop of Methymna, coadjutor, c.i.s., of Cambrai.

Priesthood. Ordained, June 29, 1907, in the church of Saint-Sulpice, in Paris. by Léon-Adolphe Amette, titular archbishop of Side, coadjutor of Paris. incardinated in the archdiocese of Cambrai, and very probably transferred to the diocese of Lille when it was established in 1913. Faculty member of the Seminary of Cambrai, October 1910-1914. Military chaplain (voluntary) in the 201st - 1st Infantry Division of the French Army, during the First World War, March 23, 1915-1919; decorated with the grand cross of the Order of Legion d'honneur, August 13, 1917; demobilized in March 1919. Professor of Holy Scriptures, Major Seminary of Lille, 1919-1926; pastoral ministry in the diocese of Lille, 1919-1928: pastor of Saint-Christophe de Tourcoing, 1926-1928. He strongly supported trade unions, social reform and worker priests.

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Lille, October 6, 1928. Consecrated, December 8, 1928, church of Saint-Christophe, Tourcoing, by Charles-Albert-Joseph Lecomte, bishop of Amiens, assisted by Palmyre Jasoone, titular bishop of Nilopoli, and by Maurice Feltin, bishop of Troyes. His episcopal motto was Miles Christi Jesu.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 30, 1930; received the red hat and the title of S. Sisto, July 3, 1930. Papal legate to the National Eucharistic Congress, Lille, July 15, 1931; and to the National Marian Congress, Boulogne-sur-Mer, July 11, 1938. Participated in the conclave of 1939, which elected Pope Pius XII. During the Second World War, he opposed Nazism and protested the round up of Jews at the Velodrome d'hiver in Paris. President of the French Episcopal Conference, 1948-1964. Prelate nullius of the Mission of France, November 13, 1954 until 1964. Participated in the conclave of 1958, which elected Pope John XXIII. Attended the Second Vatican Council, 1962-1965; member of the Board of Presidency, 1962-1965. Participated in the conclave of 1963, which elected Pope Paul VI. Resigned the pastoral government of the prelature of the Mission of France, November 1964. Resigned the pastoral government of the diocese of Lille, March 14, 1968. Lost the right to participate in the conclave by being older than eighty years, January 1, 1971. He and Cardinals Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira and Eugène Tisserant were the last cardinal electors created by Pope Pius XI.

Death. February 15, 1973, Lille. The funeral, concelebrated by Cardinals Paul Gouyon, archbishop of Rennes, and Alexander-Charles Renard, archbishop of Lyon, Nuncio Egano Righi Lambertini and several other French and Belgian bishops, took place on February 19 in the cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille, Lille; in attendance were 250 priests, the relatives of the late cardinal and over 3,000 faithful. The homily was delivered by Cardinal François Marty, archbishop of Paris. The French government was represented by M. Maurice Schumann, minister of Foreign Affairs. Also present were delegations of other Christian denominations and members of the 201st Infantry Division, to which the cardinal belonged during the First World War. After the funeral, the body was buried in the crypt of the cathedral.

Bibliography. Chapeau, O.S.B. André and Fernand Combaluzier, C.M. Épiscopologe français des temps modernes, 1592-1973. Paris : Letouzey et Ané, 1974, p. 391-392; Lessourd, Pal ; Ramiz, Jean-Marie. Achille Cardinal Lienart. Notre Dame, Indiana : University of Notre Dame Press, 1965. (The men who make the council, 14); Masson, Catherine ; Hilaire, Yves Marie. Le Cardinal Liènart, évêque de Lille, 1928-1968. Paris : Cerf, 2001. (Histoire); Vinatier. Jean. Le Cardinal Liénart et la Mission de France. Paris: Centurion, 1978; Vinatier, Jean. Les Prêtres ouvriers, le cardinal Liénart et Rome. Paris : Éd. ouvrièères, 1985.

Webgraphy. Photographs, arms and biography, in French, Wikipédia; his photograph and arms, Araldica Vaticana.

©1998-2023 Salvador Miranda.