BENEDICT XV

(GIACOMO DELLA CHIESA) (1854-1922), a Pope b. in Genoa, Italy. He was descended from an old noble family. His education was obtained at the University of Genoa, from which he took his degree in Philosophy, in 1875, after which he entered the Collegio Capranica, a school for the training of those aiming to achieve higher ranks of the Catholic priesthood. Here he specialized in the diplomatic course, hi desire being to enter the diplomatic service of the Vatican. Very early in his caieer he made the friendship of Cardinal Rampolla, and when the latter was sent to Madrid, as Papal Nuncio, in 1883, the youthful Della Chiesa accompanied him as his private secretary. In Madrid he remained for four years, returning with his master when he was recalled, after which he became a secretarial official in the Holy See, having special charge of the diplomatic correspondence and the archives. In 1907 he was appointed Archbishop of Bologna, and in 1914, he was raised to rank of Cardinal. On Sept. 3, 1914, he was elected, after the ballots had been cast, to succeed Pope Pius X., the vote being almost unanimous. As the Pope of the period of the World War, he deserves special mention for the many and almost continuous efforts he initiated to bring about peace.