Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro

Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro (Polizzi Generosa, Sicily, the August 17th 1843 - Rome, the December 16th 1913), ecclesiastical catholic and Cardinal Secretary of State of Leon XIII.

Resulting from an aristocratic family, it made her studies with the Capranica college of Rome. Ordered priest in 1866, it entered to the Académie of the noble ecclesiastics and made career in the Roman Curie. It was named titular archbishop of Héraclée on February 1st 1882 and became Apostolic nuncio in Spain the 19 of the same month. It had as assistant Giacomo della Chiesa, future pope Benoît XV.

The March 14th 1887, it was high with the crimson cardinalice as cardinal-priest of Holy-Cecile. The June 2nd of the same year, it was named Secretary of State by the pope Leon XIII. In 1902, it also accepted the load of secretary of the biblical pontifical Commission. When Leon XIII died in 1903, Rampolla seemed a good candidate. However, the August 2nd, the emperor of Austria, by the voice of the Puzyna cardinal, archbishop of Cracow, threw the Exclusive against Rampolla. Austria was one of the three catholic nations which had received this privilege, and the Puzyna cardinal was rewarded for it by attribution for highest Austrian decoration. French mediums of Extrême right-hand side, the first of which the French Action, protested at once that it was necessary to seek of it the reason in the maconnism of the cardinal. In fact, Austria held objection to Rampolla to have followed the anti-Austrian policy and pro-Frenchwoman of Leon XIII.

The Conclave protested in vain against this intrusion, which with the remainder was probably useless. The evening even, Rampolla obtained 30 votes against 21 for Giuseppe Sarto, candidate from now on supported by the Austrians. Its partisans did not arrive however, after this last-ditch struggle, to find a candidate close to the ideas of Rampolla. Finally, the August 4th, Sarto was elected by 50 votes against 10, and took the name of Pie X. The first gesture of the new elected official was, by the apostolic Constitution Commissum nobis , to abolish the right of exclusive.

In 1908, Rampolla was named secretary of the the Holy Office, as a consolation for the chancery of State which had been allocated to the young person Rafael Merry del Val. This same year, he resigned of his post office at the biblical Commission. He died in 1913.

After its death, a French prelate, Mgr Jouin, founder of the international Re-examined of the secret societies , produced papers proving, according to him, the membership of fire Rampolla to freemasonry. Who more is, the prelate would have been large Master of the Ordo Templi orientalis (OTO), a esoteric cabin. Mgr Jouin also stated to have begged itself Austria to use of its right of exclusive in order to barring the throne of Pierre to a freemason.

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