NICCOLÒ MARINI. — Born in Rome on 20 Aug. 1843, died there on 27 July 1923. Having earned degrees in philosophy and theology and in both canon and civil law, he was ordained a priest in 1866. He devoted himself zealously to preaching and engaged in intense journalistic activity, founding, shortly after 1870, a Catholic daily newspaper, *Il buon senso*. At the same time, he dedicated himself to Catholic Action, establishing the women’s circle “Gaetana Agnesi.”
Marini carried out fervent activity in favor of the Christian East and for the union of dissident Churches. To this end, in 1896 he founded the journal *Il Besseriano*, and four years later *Il Crisostomo*, undertaking numerous journeys to the Holy Land, Egypt, Greece, and North Africa. Benedict XV, in the Consistory of 4 Dec. 1916, created him cardinal of S. Maria in Domnica. In 1918, when the new Congregation “for the Eastern Church” was established, he chose Marini as its secretary. In 1922, worn down by advanced age and failing health, he resigned his high office into the hands of Pius XI. He was a learned and brilliant writer, addressing diverse topics with clarity, especially those concerning the Christian East.