SALVIATI, SCIPIONE. - One of the most representative men of the Catholic laity, b. in Paris on 23 June 1823, d. in Rome on 15 June 1892.
Son of Prince Francesco Borghese and Princess Adele de la Rochefoucauld, nephew of Cardinal Gregorio Salviati, the last of this family. By the will of Cardinal Salviati, Scipione inherited his surname and ducal title; and he replaced his own surname with that of S. He pursued his studies in Rome, where the family had moved, demonstrating a high intelligence. In 1848 he enlisted in the civic guard; but in 1849, when Mazzini's triumvirate came to power, he took refuge in France and returned to Rome as soon as the pontifical government was restored. In 1860 he was among the principal promoters of a movement in Rome and proposed to the Pope that a body of armed Catholics from every region be constituted to confront the Piedmontese invasion. When instead, in 1867, Garibaldi attempted the conquest of Rome, a battalion of Roman volunteers was formed, and S., with the rank of captain, distinguished himself in military operations.
After Sept. 1870 he founded the «Roman Primary Society for Catholic Interests»; he occupied himself even more with the work of the Congresses and Catholic Committees (v.). He held the effective presidency of the First Congress at Venice in June 1874; of the Second at Florence in Sept. 1875, at which the Opera was stably constituted; of the Third at Bologna in Oct. 1876. In May 1878 he succeeded Count Acquaderni (v.) as president of the Permanent General Committee and also held the effective presidency of the Fifth Congress at Modena in Oct. 1879. But his shaken health prevented him from presiding over the Sixth at Naples in 1883, and forced him to renounce the presidency of the General Committee in 1885. Leo XIII confirmed him as moral head of Italian Catholic Action with the title of honorary president. Besides the Opera dei Congressi, Duke S. devoted his zealous activity to the many initiatives of the Italian Catholic Youth, to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and to other charitable institutions in Rome.
Bibliography3 works
Agostino Vian