Mariano Rampolla

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Styles of Mariano Cardinal Rampolla del Tindaro
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Eraclea (titular)

Mariano Cardinal Rampolla del Tindaro (Polizzi Generosa, Sicily, August 17, 1843 – December 17, 1913, Rome) was a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church.

Rampolla was the son of Ignazio Rampolla, Count of Tindaro, and of his wife, Orsola Errante. He is often referred to with the title of marquess, but this appears to be inaccurate.

Rampolla was educated at the Collegio Capranica and the Pontifical Gregorian University. Having displayed a considerable ability in Oriental languages, he was sent to the Pontifical Academy of Ecclesiastical Nobles as preparation for service in the Roman Curia.

In 1866 Rampolla was ordained a priest. In 1874 he was named a Canon of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. In 1875 he was sent to Spain as Auditor of the papal nunciature. In 1877 he returned to Rome and was named Secretary for Oriental Affairs of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. The following year he was made a Protonotary apostolic de numero participantium. In 1880 he was named Secretary of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, and then also Secretary of the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs.

In December 1882 Rampolla was made titular archbishop of Eraclea, and consecrated bishop by Cardinal Edward Henry Howard. This was in preparation for his nomination as papal nuncio to Spain several weeks later.

On March 14, 1887 Pope Leo XIII created Rampolla a Cardinal-Priest of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. On June 2 he was appointed Secretary of State. In this office (as previously in Spain), Rampolla employed Giacomo della Chiesa, the future Benedict XV, as his secretary.

When Leo XIII died in 1903, it was widely expected that Rampolla would be elected pope. His candidacy gained momentum until the last moment, but the Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph I (one of the three Catholic powers with pretensions to such a capacity) imposed a veto, the "Jus Exclusivæ", right in the middle of the Conclave, through the agency of Cardinal Jan Puzyna de Kosielsko, Prince-Archbishop of Kraków, who was subsequently awarded the highest Austro-Hungarian decoration, the Grand Cross of State.

Austria's opposition was a result of the pro-French positions adopted by Rampolla, positions which reflected, of course, the moderate policies of Leo XIII. Part of the Holy See's policy involving France was the attempted reconciliation of French Catholics with their nation's republican government. It is also thought that Franz Josef's opposition was personal, based on Rampolla's decision while Papal Legate in Austria to exclude from burial in sacred ground the body of the emperor's son, Rudolf, who committed suicide.

While formally protesting this intrusion, the Cardinals would not specifically offend such a prominent Catholic power, and support for Rampolla dissipated, leading to the election of Giuseppe Sarto as Pope Pius X. Explicitly abolishing any veto "rights" was one of the new Pope's first official acts.

Pius X chose the secretary of the conclave that had elected him, Rafael Merry del Val, to succeed Rampolla as Secretary of State. Already in poor health, Rampolla spent his remaining years in less demanding positions, serving in his last year as Librarian of the Holy Roman Church.

[edit] See also

• Papal conclave, 1903
• Luigi Tripepi

[edit] References

• Francis A. Burkle-Young, Papal Elections in the Age of Transition 1878-1922 published 2000 by Lexington Books, Lanham, MD, ISBN 0-7391-0114-5
• Graf Karoly Lonyay, Rudolf; the tragedy of Mayerling published 1950 by H. Hamilton, London, England.
• The World Book Encyclopaedia:Q-R (Volume 16) published in 1967.