Church Roman Catholic Church Name Pietro Fontaine Ordination December 22, 1883 Term ended 9 July 1935 Consecration December 23, 1906 | Installed 5 March 1915 Predecessor Aristide Cavallari See Venice | |
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Other posts Cardinal-Priest of Santi XII Apostoli Created Cardinal 4 December 1916
by Pope Benedict XV Died July 9, 1935, Venice, Italy Metropolis Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice | ||
Successor Adeodato Giovanni Piazza | ||
The Servant of God Pietro La Fontaine (29 November 1860 – 9 July 1935) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the Patriarch of Venice. He was also a member of the Roman Curia.
Contents
His cause of canonization commenced and he has the title of Servant of God.
Early life and ordination
Pietro La Fontaine was born in 1860 in Viterbo as the son of Francesco La Fontaine and Maria Bianchini.
He studied for the priesthood in Viterbo and was ordained as a priest on 22 December 1883. He served as a parish priest until he was made a professor of literature and sacred scripture from 1882 to 1905. He also served as the spiritual director from 1893 until his appointment as rector in 1896. Pope Pius X appointed him as the Bishop of Cassano all'Jonio and he received episcopal consecration on 23 December 1906 in Rome.
Episcopate and cardinalate
He was made the vicar of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran in 1908 and was later appointed as the Apostolic Administrator of San Marco e Brisignano in 1909. He was transferred to the titular see of Caristo on 1 April 1910.
In 1910 he was named as the Secretary of the Congregation of Rites (now called the Congregation for the Causes of Saints) by Pope Pius X.
In 1915 he was appointed and installed as Patriarch of Venice and was elevated to the cardinalate in the consistory of 16 December 1916 by Pope Benedict XV as the Cardinal-Priest of Santi Nereo ed Achilleo. La Fontaine's title was later changed to Cardinal-Priest of Ss. XII Apostoli in 1921. As a cardinal he participated in the Papal conclave that elected Pope Pius XI.
La Fontaine also served as a member of the Congregation for Oriental Churches and served as a papal legate to the centennial celebrations of Dante Alighieri in 1921. He was also the papal legate to the Eucharistic Congress of Chioggia in 1923.
Death
Pietro La Fontaine died on 9 July 1935 after having served as Patriarch of Venice for over two decades. His funeral took place on the following 12 July and he was buried in Venice. He was transferred in 1959 into the Basilica of Saint Mark in the sarcophagus that was once intended for the Cardinal Patriarch of Venice Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli - who became Pope John XXIII.
Beatification cause
The cause for beatification was opened under his third successor - the Cardinal Patriarch of Venice Giovanni Urbani (1958–1969) on 10 November 1971 with the permission of Pope Paul VI. The local process that followed was completed and validated on 11 March 1988.