RIARIO SFORZA, SISTO. - Cardinal, b. in Naples on 5 Nov. 1810, d. there on 29 Sept. 1877. At only thirty-five years of age he was appointed by Gregory XVI first bishop of Aversa, then archbishop of Naples and then created cardinal, with the title of St. Sabina, on 19 Jan. 1846.
A most zealous pastor, of severe morals, he governed the archdiocese with a very firm hand, aiming above all at the discipline and integrity of life of his clergy. He was equally firm in his political convictions, of absolute loyalty toward the reigning dynasty, so that, in Sept. 1860, he was induced to leave Naples, as a protest against the Garibaldian occupation. Having returned to his see after a brief absence, he sustained numerous conflicts with the new government in defense of the rights of the Church: the harshest, due to the prohibition he issued against celebrating the feast of the Statute with religious functions, earned him, on 31 July 1861, expulsion from the city. From Civitavecchia he continued, by means of vicars and through pastoral documents, to govern the Neapolitan Church, until, in 1866, he was able to resume its governance in person, welcomed in Naples by indescribable demonstrations of popular affection.
His episcopal virtues shone forth brilliantly during the cholera epidemics of 1854-55 and of 1873, as he devoted himself to assisting the infected. He founded a library and a lyceum and promoted the construction of the new facade of the Cathedral. Particularly interesting is the judgment that Bonghi gave of him, in his book Pio IX e il Papa futuro: although depicting him as « mediocre of mind and scant of studies », which is not accurate, and counting him among the « intransigents », the liberal historian is forced to acknowledge in Card. R. S. the merit of having effectively prevented the de-Christianization of Naples and of having saved « the principal parts of the religious edifice » (that is, the imprescriptible rights of the Church) with a « daring » superior to that of other princes of the church and prelates of the time.
Bibliography4 works
Renzo U. Montini