PIAZZA, GIUSEPPE. – Priest, one of the finest of 19th-century Rome, born at Velletri on 18 March 1815, died in Rome on 23 April 1893. Ordained in 1837, in 1839 he became parish priest of S. Maria in Trivio at Velletri, secretary to Cardinal Ludovico Micara, in 1847 vicar general of Subiaco and then, for a brief period, professor, spiritual director, and rector of the Vatican Seminary, later rector of the Seminary of Sutri.
Finally, he was given the benefice of S. Maria Maggiore and became an official of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide for Oriental affairs, where he worked for thirty years: numerous manuscripts attest to his industry and uncommon expertise in Eastern liturgy and law. From 1875 until his death he was spiritual director of the Roman Seminary; thirsting for God, he created around himself an atmosphere of fervor that left a deep mark on the ecclesiastical life of Rome under Leo XIII.
He compiled a manual of Meditations for clerics (2 vols., Rome 1898; 2nd ed., 4 vols., ibid. 1938), widely circulated in Italian seminaries.