DUSMET, GIUSEPPE BENEDETTO. – Cardinal, born in Palermo on 15 August 1818 to a noble family originating in Belgium, died in Catania on 4 April 1894. Educated by the Benedictine monks of S. Martino, he professed their Rule.
Ordained a priest in 1842, in 1867 he was appointed archbishop of Catania and in 1888 cardinal. Humble and energetic, he harmonized monastic rigor with the splendor of the purple, worked intensely for the reform of morals among the clergy and people, and labored greatly for the confederation of the Benedictine Congregations. His charity was great during the various calamities that struck the archdiocese.
His cause of beatification has been introduced before the S. 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