RADINI TEDESCHI, GIACOMO. — Bishop, born in Piacenza on 12 July 1857 to Carlo and Luisa Fantini, died in Bergamo on 22 August 1914.
Having obtained degrees in theology and canon law at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was summoned by Leo XIII to the Secretariat of State in 1890; he remained there until 1896 as a minutante of briefs and was twice sent as an ablegate to Vienna and Paris. Appointed a canon of the Vatican Chapter, he carried out multifaceted activities in Rome in the priestly ministry and in preaching, in Catholic Action, in pilgrimages to Lourdes and Jerusalem (v. PELLEGRINAGGIO, III. Opere moderne dei p), in national and foreign events for the Jubilee of 1900 and for that of the Immaculate Conception in 1904. The following pamphlets still bear witness to these activities: Il problema scolastico odierno (Rome 1913); Jerusalem (there 1904); Lourdes: reminiscenze (Rocca S. Casciano 1891); Chiesa e Stato in ordine ai concordati (Milan 1887).
In January 1905 he was appointed bishop of Bergamo, where he required all parish priests to welcome the activity of the laity in accordance with the new papal norms. In economic policy he fully supported the studies of Toniolo and the work of Medolago, while in politics he followed conciliatory tendencies, advocating harmony among minds. He implemented excellent ecclesiastical reforms, beginning with the administration of the Seminary. He also introduced wise innovations in the culture and regulations governing the clergy engaged in the care of souls, promoted the advancement of the liturgy, the reform of sacred music, and missionary propaganda. In 1910 he convened the diocesan Synod, which had not been held in Bergamo since 1724 and from which highly praised constitutions emerged.