Giacomo Radini-Tedeschi Explained

Type:Bishop
Honorific Prefix:The Most Reverend
Giacomo Radini-Tedeschi
Church:Roman Catholic Church
Diocese:Bergamo
See:Bergamo
Appointed:20 January 1905
Term End:22 August 1914
Predecessor:Gaetano Guindani
Successor:Luigi Maria Marelli
Ordination:2 November 1879
Ordained By:Giovanni Battista Scalabrini
Consecration:29 January 1905
Consecrated By:Pope Pius X
Birth Name:Giacomo Maria Radini-Tedeschi
Birth Date:12 July 1857
Birth Place:Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Kingdom of Italy
Death Place:Bergamo, Kingdom of Italy
Giacomo Radini-Tedeschi
Deathstyle:None

Giacomo Maria Radini-Tedeschi (12 July 1857 - 22 August 1914) was the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bergamo. Today he is famous for his strong involvement in social issues at the beginning of 20th century.

Biography

Radini-Tedeschi was born in Piacenza, the son of a wealthy and noble family. Ordained as a priest in 1879, he became professor of Church law in the diocesan seminary of Piacenza. In 1890 he joined the Secretariat of State of the Holy See and was involved in many diplomatic missions. On 5 January 1905 he was named Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bergamo by Pope Pius X and consecrated by him in the Sistine Chapel. A strong supporter of Catholic trade unions, he strongly backed the workers of a textile plant in Ranica during a labor dispute.

Radini-Tedeschi fell ill with cancer and died in the early days of the World War I. During his episcopal ministry in Bergamo, Radini-Tedeschi had as his secretary a young priest named Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, who later became Pope John XXIII. The bishop's last words were, "Angelo, pray for peace". For the late Pope John XXIII, Radini-Tedeschi was a teacher who was never forgotten by his one time follower.

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