PLACE, CHARLES-PHILIPPE. - Cardinal, b. 14 February 1814 in Paris, d. 5 March 1893 in Rennes.
(phot. Geb. fot. una.)
PIZZOLO, NICCOLÒ
Madonna in throne among various saints. Terracotta bas-relief from the altar of the Eremitani - Padua.
He was first a lawyer at the Court of Appeal of Paris and a diplomat. Ordained a priest, he was director of the minor seminary of Orléans, then of that of Paris.
Bishop of Marseilles in 1866, on the eve of the Vatican Council, because of his Gallican leanings he showed himself opposed to the definition of papal infallibility, for which reason the clergy, who were favorable to it, addressed a letter to the Pontiff, complaining of the fact that « imperiore circostanze sembravano dover obbligare i sacerdoti della diocesi di Marsiglia a conservare un silenzio assai doloroso al loro cuore ». P., having learned of the letter, reproached its authors for having slandered him before the Holy See and for having addressed themselves, not through him, to the Pontiff. Once infallibility had been proclaimed in the Council, the bishop addressed his own diocesans on 4 Aug. 1870, declaring that in order to preserve the peace of the Church and not to fail in his own duty, it was necessary that « le costituzioni fossero accolte da tutti i suoi figli con docilità, rispetto e sottomissione ». On the death of Card. De Bonald, in 1870, the archbishopric of Lyons had been offered to P., but he refused it, and equally vain were the attempts of the archbishop of Paris, Guibert, to have him as coadjutor. On 15 July 1878 Leo XIII appointed him archbishop of Rennes. The new archbishop reorganized his diocese ab imis, but his authoritarian character brought him into conflict with part of the clergy and of his diocesans in the so-called "Oratory affair". In the Consistory of 7 June 1886 he was created cardinal. In Apr. 1890 P. was in Rome, summoned by Leo XIII, who intended with his help to contribute to a clarification of the attitude of French Catholics toward the Third Republic.