SALVIATI, SCIPIONE. – One of the most representative men of the Catholic laity, born in Paris on 23 June 1823, died in Rome on 15 June 1892.
Son of Prince Francesco Borghese and Princess Adele de la Rochefoucauld, and nephew of Cardinal Gregorio Salviati, the last of this family. At Cardinal Salviati’s wish, Scipione inherited his surname and ducal title; and he replaced his own surname with that of S. Scipione pursued his studies in Rome, where the family had moved, displaying great 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 that the Pope establish an armed corps of Catholics from every region to confront the Piedmontese invasion. When, instead, Garibaldi attempted the conquest of Rome in 1867, a battalion of Roman volunteers was formed, and S., with the rank of captain, distinguished himself in military operations.
After September 1870 he founded the «Società primaria romana per gli interessi cattolici»; he devoted himself even more to the work of the Catholic Congresses and Committees (v.). He held the effective presidency of the First Congress in Venice in June 1874; of the Second in Florence in September 1875, at which the Work was permanently established; and of the Third in Bologna in October 1876. In May 1878 ACQUADERNI, GIOVANNI (v.) as president of the Permanent General Committee and also held the effective presidency of the Fifth Congress in Modena in October 1879. But his weakened health prevented him from presiding over the Sixth in Naples in 1883, and forced him to resign the presidency of the General Committee in 1885. Leo XIII confirmed him as the moral leader of Italian Catholic Action, with the title of honorary president. In addition to the Work of the Congresses, Duke S. devoted his zealous activity to the numerous initiatives of the Italian Catholic Youth, to the Society of St Vincent de Paul, and to other charitable institutions in Rome.