Mario Giardini (4 December 1877 – 30 August 1947) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who served in the diplomatic service of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

from 1918 to 1933.

Biography

Mario Giardini was born on 4 December 1877 in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

. He was ordained a priest on 24 September 1904. He was a member of the

Barnabites The Barnabites ( la, Barnabitum), officially named as the Clerics Regular of Saint Paul ( la, Clerici Regulares Sancti Pauli), are a religious order of clerics regular founded in 1530 in the Catholic Church. They are associated with the Angelic ...

and early in his career worked as a parish priest and master of novices for his order. On 21 November 1921,

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

named him

titular archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In ...

Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city ('' polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Os ...

and Apostolic Delegate to Japan. He received his episcopal consecration on 8 December 1921 from Cardinal Andrea Carlo Ferrari. He called a provincial synod to address the question of Catholic participation in Shinto ceremonies and the first Japanese bishop,

Januarius Kyunosuke Hayasaka Januarius Kyunosuke Hayasaka (August 14, 1883 – October 26, 1976) was a bishop of the Catholic Church of Showa from Meiji. His baptismal name was "Yanuario". Hayasaka was the first Japanese-ethnicity bishop. He served as a diocesan bis ...

, was appointed in 1926. Both were steps in the local hierarchy gaining its independence from the

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons de ...

. Negotiations toward the establishment of diplomatic relations made progress but were blocked by Buddhist opposition in parliament. When his successor, Edward Mooney, was appointed on 30 March 1931, Giardino remained in Japan until Mooney arrived from India and then remained for ten days to share information. On 16 May 1931, Pope Pius XI appointed him Archbishop of Ancona-Osimo. He retired from this position on 5 February 1940. He continued to work reviewing clergy for the Vicariate of Rome. He died on 30 August 1947 at the age of 69.

Notes

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy: Archbishop Mario Giardini
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giardini, Mario 1877 births 1947 deaths Clergy from Milan Apostolic Nuncios to Japan Diplomats from Milan Bishops of Edessa