GIOVANNI LUIGI TREVISAN. — Cardinal. Born in Venice on 15 Feb. 1801, died there on 28 Apr. 1877.
Ordained priest in 1824, he became professor of Sacred Scripture at the Patriarchal Seminary and devoted himself diligently to biblical exegesis and the study of Oriental languages. After honorably holding the offices of theological canon of St Mark’s Basilica, personal examiner, and patriarchal censor, and distinguishing himself as a preacher, he was elected by Pius IX on 15 March 1852 as bishop of Verona. However, before he could take possession of that see, he was summoned by the same Pontiff to succeed Zaccaria Bricito in the archiepiscopal see of Udine (27 Sept. 1852).
In the seminary he revitalized ecclesiastical studies, taking up the teaching of Oriental languages himself. During his episcopate there occurred (1854) the solemn translation to Fagagna of the bodies of SS. Fabius and Vincent, relics extracted from the cemetery of St Hermetius and donated ten years earlier by Gregory XVI to Cardinal Asquini.
Pius IX, on 7 Apr. 1862, promoted him Patriarch of Venice and in the Consistory of 16 March 1863 created him cardinal with the title of SS. Nereus and Achilleus. In the difficult circumstances that marked the final period of Austrian rule, he worked tirelessly to assist patriots and to obtain numerous favors for political prisoners. In the transition of regime he once again demonstrated marked prudence and ardent charity. He quickly grasped the importance of the new Catholic Action movements: he was generous with advice and assistance to Giovanni Battista Paganuzzi and in 1874 presided over the great assembly of the Opera dei Congressi in Venice.