Enrico Sibilia

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Enrico Cardinal Sibilia (born March 17, 1861 in Anagni ; † August 4, 1948 there ) was a diplomat of the Holy See .

Photo taken before 1923

Life

priest

He came from an old noble family. When he was baptized, he was given the name Enrico Vincenzo Ulderico. In addition to his native Italian and Latin , Sibilia spoke fluent English , French , Portuguese and Spanish . He entered the seminary in Anagni and, after completing his undergraduate studies, entered the Pontifical Roman Seminary , where he studied from 1878 to 1890, and received a doctorate in philosophy , theology and iuris utriusque . Through his uncle Biagio Sibilia , Bishop of Segni , he received the sacrament of priestly ordination on March 8, 1884 and he was incardinated in the clergy of the Segni diocese .

Enrico Sibilia was made an Honorary Canon of the Cathedral Chapter of Anagni. He joined in April 1890 in the diplomatic service of the Holy See and served as auditor of the nunciature in Colombia from 1890 to 1895 and later to 1898 as charge d'affaires . Pope Leo XIII. appointed him chaplain to His Holiness on December 21, 1894 . From August 1898 to July 1901 he returned to the diplomatic service as auditor of the Nunciature in Brazil . He was transferred to the Nunciature in Belgium until 1902 and then to Spain until 1908.

Bishop and Nuncio

Pius X appointed him titular Archbishop of Side and Internuncio in Chile on July 30, 1908 , when he increased the Apostolic Delegation to this rank in 1908. The Cardinal Secretary of State , Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val y Zulueta , gave him on 11 October of the same year in the chapel of the Pontifical Latin American College "Pius" the episcopal ordination ; Co- consecrators were Enrique Almaraz y Santos , Archbishop of Seville , and Ramón Angel Jara Ruz , Bishop of San Carlos de Ancud . On April 22, 1914, he was appointed Papal Assistant to the Throne . Later, from December 16, 1922, Sibilia served as Apostolic Nuncio in Austria. During his tenure, the Concordat was signed with the Vatican in 1933.

Time in chile

In contrast to Catholic Spain at that time, strong anti-clerical movements of various groups arose in Chile , Freemasons , trade unionists , anarchists and lay people , along with a number of unsolved problems with the Vatican:

Sibilia incident

On May 23, 1913, when he returned to Chile, hundreds of students from the Universidad de Chile waited at the main train station in Santiago de Chile with shouting and throwing stones at the windows of the diplomat's car. They sang as a mocking song: "The bishop suddenly realizes that he was a disdainful thief ". One of the students managed to steal the Galero from him , which turned into a mocking trophy. In the days that followed, a student disguised as a priest appeared and hats were put on animals. Demonstrations and marches were repeated in the following days in which religious songs were sung, but these with different burlesque texts. Catholic groups in society supported the nuncio, creating a social and religious division that lasted for a long time. In September Archbishop Sibilia traveled back to Italy via Buenos Aires.

cardinal

Pope Pius XI took him on December 16, 1935 as a cardinal priest with the titular church Santa Maria Nuova in the college of cardinals . He received the red biretta , which his brother, Father Francesco Sibilia, had brought him to Vienna, from the Federal President of Austria , Wilhelm Miklas , in St. Stephen's Cathedral on December 21, 1935; he received the red hat from the Pope personally on June 18, 1936. He participated in the 1939 conclave that Pius XII. elected to the Pope. On December 11, 1939, he was raised to Cardinal Bishop of Sabina e Poggio Mirteto.

Enrico Sibilia died as the oldest cardinal in the world in Anagni. He was buried in the presence of several cardinals and members of noble families in the Church of Santa Chiara in Anagni.

literature

  • Andreas Gottsmann: Ludwig von Pastor and Enrico Sibilia - diplomacy in the service of Catholic Austria . In: Maddalena Guiotto, Wolfgang Wohnout: Italy and Austria in Central Europe of the Interwar Period / Italia e Austria nella Mitteleuropa tra le due guerre mondiali , Böhlau, Vienna 2018, pp. 281–306.

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Donato Raffaele Cardinal Sbarretti Tazza Cardinal Bishop of Sabina and Poggio Mirteto
1939–1948 		Adeodato Giovanni Cardinal Piazza OCD
personal data
SURNAME Sibilia, Enrico
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sibilia, Enrico Cardinal (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian clergyman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
DATE OF BIRTH March 17, 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH Anagni
DATE OF DEATH 4th August 1948
Place of death Anagni