ALIMONDA, GAETANO. - Cardinal, born in Genoa on 23 October 1818, died there on 31 May 1891. He studied at the seminary of Genoa and, ordained a priest on 10 June 1843, was appointed vice-rector and bursar of that same seminary. The vicar capitular, Msgr. Ferrari, appointed him rector, an office he held until 1854. A course of apologetic conferences given in Genoa in 1864 revealed him as one of the greatest orators of the time. Pius IX, on 21 September 1877, elected him bishop of Albenga. Leo XIII, in the consistory of 12 May 1879, created him cardinal of the title of S. Maria in Traspontina and summoned him to Rome, where he remained until 1883, when, upon the death of Msgr. Gastaldi, he elected him archbishop of Turin. His Turin episcopate was distinguished by a vast apostolic work. He was a friend and supporter of St. John Bosco and had the consolation of the return to God of Carlo Passaglia (v.) and of Ausonio Franchi (v.). One of the most qualified precursors of conciliation, in 1887, in full agreement with Leo XIII, he gave to the press the study: I voti degli italiani per la pace religiosa. Its cornerstones were the following: Italians must will that the Pope be free, that Rome preserve its historical destiny, and that their life as a nation unfold in friendship with the Pope. The Roman question - he wrote - and by very special traits it can be called the question of the Italian family.
Of his works, besides 12 collections of homilies, the following should be remembered: Il dogma dell'Immacolata - Ragionamenti, Genoa 1856; L'uomo sotto la legge del sovranaturale, ibid. 1864-67; I problemi del sec. XIX, ibid. 1876; Il mio episcopato, ibid. 1880; Il sovranaturale nell'uomo, ibid. 1881; Panegirici, Turin 1886; Lutero e l'Italia, ibid. 1888; Lettere al canonico Vinelli, Genoa 1892.
Bibliography6 works
Mario De Camilis