Augusto Silj J.U.D. (9 July 1846 – 27 February 1926) was a

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who served as Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. He was the cousin of Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri (1852-1934).

Early life and priesthood

Augusto Silj was born in Calcara di Visso,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He entered the

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

of Norcia and continued his education at the Pontifical Roman Seminary where he earned

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

s in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and a doctorate in both

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

and civil

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

. He was ordained on 4 April 1874. He did pastoral work in the

diocese of Rome The Diocese of Rome (; ), also called the Vicariate of Rome, is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church under the direct jurisdiction of the pope, who is Bishop of Rome and hence the supreme pontiff and head of the worldwide Catholic Church. As ...

and was at the same time rector of the hospice "dei Convertendi". He worked as a consultor for the Congregation for Bishops and Regulars and the Pontifical Commission for the Codification of Canon Law. He was created Domestic prelate of His Holiness on 7 July 1906.

Episcopate

He was appointed as

titular archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Caesarea in Mauretania by

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

on 26 December 1906.Florida International University website, ''The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church'', Biographical Dictionary of Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922), Consistory of December 15, 1919 (III)
/ref> He was consecrated on 13 January 1907, by Cardinal Secretary of State Rafael Merry del Val, assisted by Pietro Gasparri, Secretary of the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, and by Ercolano Marini, Bishop of Norcia. He was appointed a consultor of the Congregation of the Council on 4 November 1908.

Cardinalate

He was created Cardinal-Priest of Santa Cecilia in TrastevereCalifornia State University Northridge website, ''Sede Vacante 1922''
/ref> by

Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (; ; born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, ; 21 November 1854 – 22 January 1922) was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His pontificate was largely overshadowed by World War I a ...

in the consistory of 15 December 1919. Pope Benedict appointed him Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura on 20 March 1920, a post he held until his death. He participated in conclave of 1922 that elected

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

. He died in 1926 and is buried at the Campo Verano cemetery. He wished to be buried in Ussita, next to the baptismal font of the church of Sant'Andrea.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silj, Augusto 1846 births 1926 deaths 20th-century Italian cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XV Prefects of the Apostolic Signatura Pontifical Roman Seminary alumni 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops Bishops appointed by Pope Pius X