Mariano Rampolla

Mariano Rampolla (Full name Count Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro) was born on August 17, 1843 in Poizzi, Sicily, and died on December 17, 1913, in Rome. Rampolla was appointed Papal Secretary of State by Pope Leo XIII in 1887, having been Papal Nuncio to Spain. In both offices he employed Giacomo della Chiesa, the future Benedict XV, as his secretary. He was widely expected to succeed to the Papacy on Leo XIII's death in 1903, but Austria (one of the three Catholic countries with such a capacity) imposed the veto through Cardinal Pyzyna, Bishop of Krakow (who was subsequently awarded the highest Austro-Hungarian medal, the Grand Cross of State). The Austrian opposition was a result of the pro-French position Rampolla had adopted (which had been promoted by Leo XIII). Rampolla withdrew from the election as a result. Cardinal Giuseppi Sarto was elected instead, taking the name Pius X, and abolished the veto shortly thereafter. Cardinal Rampolla resigned his office, his successor being Cardinal Merry del Val, and spent his remaining years doing research.

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