Giuseppe Benedetto DUSMET. — Cardinal. Born in Palermo on 15 August 1818 into a noble family originally from Belgium, died in Catania on 4 April 1894. Educated by the Benedictine monks of St Martin, he professed their Rule.
Ordained a priest in 1842, in 1867 he was appointed Archbishop of Catania and in 1888 a cardinal. Humble yet energetic, he harmonised monastic rigour with the splendour of the purple, worked intensively for the reform of morals among clergy and people, and strove greatly for the confederation of Benedictine Congregations. His charity was outstanding in the various calamities that struck the archdiocese.
His cause for beatification has been introduced at the Sacred Congregation of Rites.
Bibl.: G. Amadio, Il card. D., Catania 1926; anon., Un angelo delle anime, il servo di Dio G. B. D., Montecassino 1935; Silverio Mattei