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encyclical

(Encyclopedia)encyclical, originally, a pastoral letter sent out by a bishop, now a solemn papal letter, meant to inform the whole church on some particular matter of importance. Benedict XIV circulated the first k...

Faustina

(Encyclopedia)Faustina fôstīˈnə [key], name of two women, wives of Roman emperors. 1 The elder (c.104–141) was the wife of Antoninus Pius, who founded a school for orphan girls in her honor. 2 The younger (c....

Philip, Saint, one of the seven deacons chosen by the Twelve Apostles

(Encyclopedia)Philip, Saint, one of the seven deacons chosen by the Twelve Apostles. He is also called St. Philip the Evangelist and St. Philip the Deacon. He evangelized Samaria and later converted an important eu...

Bruno, Saint, c.1030–1101, German monk, founder of the Carthusians

(Encyclopedia)Bruno, Saint, c.1030–1101, German monk, founder of the Carthusians, b. Cologne. He studied and taught at Reims. In 1084 he took six companions and founded a little monastery in the Alps, which becam...

Lateran Treaty

(Encyclopedia)Lateran Treaty, concordat between the Holy See and the kingdom of Italy signed in 1929 in the Lateran Palace, Rome, by Cardinal Gasparri for Pius XI and by Benito Mussolini for Victor Emmanuel III. On...

Leo XIII, pope

(Encyclopedia)Leo XIII, 1810–1903, pope (1878–1903), an Italian (b. Carpineto, E of Rome) named Gioacchino Pecci; successor of Pius IX. Ordained in 1837, he earned an excellent reputation as archbishop of Perug...

Amboise, Georges d'

(Encyclopedia)Amboise, Georges d' zhôrzh däNbwäzˈ [key], 1460–1510, French statesman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He became archbishop of Rouen in 1493. In 1498, as an intimate friend of the new ki...

Rossi, Pellegrino Luigi Edoardo, Conte

(Encyclopedia)Rossi, Pellegrino Luigi Edoardo, Conte rôsˈsē [key], 1787–1848, Italian political leader and jurist. As a supporter of Joachim Murat, Rossi was obliged to flee Italy (1815) when Murat fell. He w...

Mary, the mother of Jesus

(Encyclopedia)Mary, in the Bible, mother of Jesus. Christian tradition reckons her the principal saint, naming her variously the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady, and Mother of God (Gr., theotokos). Her name is the He...

More, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)More, Sir Thomas (Saint Thomas More), 1478–1535, English statesman and author of Utopia, celebrated as a martyr in the Roman Catholic Church. He received a Latin education in the household of Cardin...