Sisto Riario Sforza

The long episcopate of Sisto Riario Sforza in Naples (which lasted nearly 32 years) took place in an extremely turbulent political context, marked by the Risorgimento and Italian unification. Faithful to Pope Pius IX, he welcomed and hosted him at the royal residence of Portici when the sovereign pontiff had to flee the Roman revolution in 1849-1850.

In September 1860, during the entry of Giuseppe Garibaldi into Naples and the annexation of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Cardinal Riario Sforza categorically refused to submit to the demands of the new power. He opposed the dissolution of the Papal States, suspended Garibaldian chaplains, and refused to bless the patriotic "crusade." This firmness led to his expulsion from Naples on September 21, 1860. He went into exile first in Genoa, then in Marseille and Hyères in France, before joining Rome. Although authorized to return at the end of November 1860, his constant friction with the ecclesiastical policy of the Italian government provoked a second expulsion by force on July 31, 1861. This exile lasted five years, spent mainly in Civitavecchia and Rome. From exile, he continued to govern his diocese by correspondence and set up a network of periodic publications to counter the anti-clerical press. He was not able to return permanently to Naples until December 6, 1866.

Despite these political trials, his pastoral action was immense. He devoted himself primarily to the training and selection of the diocesan clergy, reforming seminaries, founding libraries, and ecclesiastical academies. He actively supported the revival of Thomism (Neo-Thomism) by encouraging the philosopher Gaetano Sanseverino and the journal La scienza e la fede. He created new parishes to ensure better proximity to the faithful, promoted catechesis, popular missions, and encouraged the Catholic press. In 1874, he approved the founding of the Institute of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart (Ancelle del Sacro Cuore) by Saint Caterina Volpicelli.

He participated actively in the First Vatican Council (1869-1870) as a council father. A member of the commission on postulates, he adopted a moderate and prudent position regarding the definition of the dogma of papal infallibility, seeking to reconcile the different sensibilities of the assembly.

The reputation for holiness of Sisto Riario Sforza rests above all on his heroic Christian charity and his absolute devotion to the most destitute. During his episcopate, the region of Naples was severely tested by three eruptions of Vesuvius (notably that of 1861) and four cholera epidemics (in particular those of 1854-1855 and 1873).

During these catastrophes, the Cardinal spared no effort, personally visiting the sick in the poorest and most unsanitary neighborhoods of Naples (the "bassi"). To finance relief efforts and alleviate misery, he distributed his entire personal fortune. Having exhausted his own resources, he contracted a debt of 12,000 ducats from Baron Rothschild to continue helping the victims. Impressed by such self-denial, the banker subsequently renounced any claim to repayment of this sum.

His dedication and closeness to the poor earned him the nickname from his contemporaries of "Borromeo redivivo" (the new Charles Borromeo), in reference to the saintly Archbishop of Milan known for his charity during the plague. As a sign of admiration, the episcopate of Campania presented him on February 2, 1862, with a stole that had belonged to Saint Charles Borromeo.

Sisto Riario Sforza died prematurely in Naples on September 29, 1877, at the age of 66, after a brief illness. His death sparked immense and unanimous mourning throughout the city. He was initially buried in the church of the Santa Maria del Pianto cemetery. In 1927, his remains were transferred to the Chapel of the Holy Crucifix in the Church of the Holy Apostles (Santi Apostoli) in Naples, where they still rest. The cause for beatification was officially introduced in Rome on July 29, 1947, under the pontificate of Pius XII. After a long interruption, the diocesan process was relaunched in 1995. On June 28, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, thus conferring upon him the title of Venerable.

The spirituality of Sisto Riario Sforza is deeply rooted in the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to which he solemnly consecrated his archdiocese in 1875, and in a fervent Marian devotion, particularly towards the Immacolata (the Immaculate Conception). It was under his impetus and with his pastoral approval that important works of piety and charity developed in Naples, notably the Apostleship of Prayer and the foundations of Saint Caterina Volpicelli.

His legacy remains alive in Naples, where he has remained the symbol of the pastor who does not compromise on the rights of the Church while making himself the servant of the poorest. Today, several charitable institutions, such as the Casa famiglia Sisto Riario Sforza managed by the Daughters of Charity for AIDS patients, perpetuate his memory and his work of mercy.