Cagliero was born in
Castelnuovo d'Asti on 11 January 1838 and studied at its
seminary and later the
University of Turin. He entered the
Pious Society of St. Francis de Sales, more commonly known as the Salesians, in 1851. He received the
clerical habit from
St. John Bosco himself and was reputed to be his favorite pupil. Cagliero was also a classmate of St
Dominic Savio and Bl.
Michael Rua. He was
ordained to the
priesthood on 14 June 1862, and then taught at the Salesian House of Studies in
Turin until 1875. Cagliero led the first ten Salesians to
America and established five houses in
Uruguay and
Argentina between 1875 and 1877, after which he became
spiritual director of his society and the first General Director of
Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Turin. He was made
Pro-
Apostolic Vicar of new vicariate in Northern
Patagonia, in Argentina, on 20 November 1883. On 30 October 1884, Cagliero was appointed
Titular Bishop of Magydus by
Pope Leo XIII, receiving his
episcopal consecration on the following December 7 from Cardinal
Gaetano Alimonda. After being promoted to Titular Archbishop of Sebastea on 24 March 1904, he served as
Apostolic Visitor to the
dioceses of
Bobbio,
Piacenza,
Savona, and
Tortona in 1904. Cagliero was named
Apostolic Delegate to
Costa Rica on 10 June 1908, to
Honduras on 19 December, and to
Nicaragua on 26 December.
Pope Benedict XV made him
Cardinal-Priest of
San Bernardo alle Terme in the
consistory of 6 December 1915. Cagliero opted for the order of
Cardinal-Bishop and assumed the
suburbicarian see of Frascati on 16 December 1920. He was one of the
cardinal electors who participated in the
1922 papal conclave, which elected
Pope Pius XI.
Death and memory Cardinal Cagliero died in
Rome on 28 February 1926 at the age of 88. He was initially buried in the
sepulchre of the
Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in
Campo Verano cemetery, but his remains were transferred in 1964 to Mater Misericordiae Cathedral in
Viedma. ==References==