FRANCESCO RICCI-PARACCIANI. — Cardinal, born in Rome on 8 June 1830, died there on 9 March 1894. Of noble family, he devoted himself to the ecclesiastical ministry, especially in evening schools and in service to youth.
He was also one of the most assiduous comforters in the Archconfraternity of S. Giovanni Decollato, assisting those condemned to death. Pius IX, who held him in high esteem, called him to serve in the Papal Antichamber as a secret chamberlain participant, until he appointed him majordomo (1875). Governor of the Conclave of 1878, Leo XIII created him cardinal *in pectore* on 13 December 1880 and published the appointment on 27 March 1882. He succeeded Cardinal Carlo Laurenzi as Secretary of Memorials and became (1892) archpriest of the Vatican Basilica. He was also Grand Prior in Rome of the Order of Malta and protector of the Conferences of S. Vincenzo de’ Paoli. He earned notable merits on behalf of Roman Catholic associations and greatly encouraged Filippo Tolli, already his pupil in the evening schools, in the founding of the Società anticattolicista italiana.