CAGLIERO, GIOVANNI. - Cardinal, born at Castelnuovo d'Asti on 11 Jan. 1838, died at Rome on 28 Feb. 1926. Having met St. John Bosco for the first time in his native town (1850), he carried away from it an indelible impression and the desire to follow him in works of the apostolate. Having entered the following year, at Turin, the Salesian Oratory, he made rapid progress in the study of music, so much so that delicate compositions of his still remain, especially romances (Lo Spazzacamino, L'Exule, Il Marinaio, etc.). Ordained priest in 1862, he carried out his ministry at the side of the Saint, until, in 1875, he set out from Genoa with the first group of Salesian missionaries for Argentina, where he worked in Buenos Aires in the popular « Boca » district among Italian emigrants. In 1879 the Salesians penetrated into Patagonia, a wild land, where very few missionaries had previously managed to arrive. And there they carried out an apostolate rich in fruitful spiritual results, so much so that Leo XIII, in 1884, established the vicariate of northern and central Patagonia, appointing the C. as its first vicar, as titular bishop of Magido. He who held at Turin the office of spiritual director of the Pious Salesian Society and of first director general of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians set out, in Feb. 1885, for his new destination. St. John Bosco had said that Patagonia would be conquered with sweat and blood, and the C. became its apostle, solicitous for nothing else than to lead souls to Christ, so much so that under his government 47,000 baptisms were administered, of which 15,000 to natives.
Pius X, in 1904, appointed the C. apostolic visitor of the dioceses of Bobbio, Piacenza, Savona and Tortona, promoting him titular archbishop of Sebaste, and in 1909 entrusted him with the task of apostolic delegate and extraordinary envoy to Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras, where he again gave admirable proofs of prudence and fortitude, winning for himself the gratitude of the Holy See and the esteem of the governments of those countries, which admired his pastoral virtues, combined with marked diplomatic gifts. Benedict XV, in the Consistory of 6 Dec. 1915, created him cardinal of the title of St. Bernard at the Baths, and he was the first of the Salesian family to be decorated with the Roman purple. He labored tirelessly in the government of the Church, taking part in numerous religious events in various parts of Italy.
On 16 Dec. 1920 he became suburbicarian bishop of Frascati. Despite his advanced age he still carried out a youthful activity, going very frequently among his flock and, in 1923, although eighty-five years old, he celebrated there a highly successful Eucharistic Congress. He also dedicated, and with much fervor, his last, tireless energies to the development of Catholic Action.
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Mario De Camilla