RICCI-PARACCIANI, FRANCESCO. - Cardinal, b. in Roma on 8 June 1830, d. there on 9 March 1894. Of a noble family, he devoted himself to the ecclesiastical ministry, especially in evening schools and on behalf of youth.
He was also one of the most assiduous comforters in the archconfraternity of S. Giovanni Decollato, assisting those condemned to death. Pio IX, who held him in high esteem, called him to serve in the Pontifical Antechamber, as participating secret chamberlain, until he appointed him majordomo (1875). Governor of the Conclave of 1878, Leone XIII,
on 13 Dec. 1880, created him cardinal, reserving him in pectore, and published his appointment on 27 March 1882. He succeeded Card. Carlo Laurenzi as secretary of memorials and became (1892) archpriest of the Vatican Basilica. He was also grand prior in Roma of the Order of Malta and protector of the Conferences of S. Vincenzo de' Paoli. He acquired outstanding merits toward Roman Catholic associations and greatly encouraged Filippo Tolli, formerly his pupil in the evening schools, in the establishment of the Italian Anti-Slavery Society.