SPÍNOLA Y MAESTRE, MARCELO, BL.

Also known as Marcello of Seville, cardinal archbishop, founder of the Conceptionist Handmaids of the Divine Heart; b. Jan. 14, 1835, Isla de Spinola, San Fernando (near Cádiz), Spain; d. Jan. 19, 1906, Seville. Marcelo, the son of the Marquis Juan de Spinola and his wife Antonia Maestre, was a lawyer prior to his ordination as a diocesan priest (Mar. 21, 1864). On Mar. 21, 1871, he was appointed parish priest of San Lorenzo in Seville, where he engaged in pastoral work and instituted programs

for the sick and abandoned until Cardinal Archbishop de la Lastra y Cuesta named him cathedral canon (1879). Upon his consecration as auxiliary bishop of Seville (1881), he adopted the motto: "Either sanctity or death." Three years later (1884) he was named bishop of Caria in Cáceres, then transferred to the see of Málaga (1886) until his appointment as archbishop of Seville (1896). As archbishop, Spínola concerned himself especially with educational reforms. To further this goal, he founded the Handmaids of the Divine Heart for the education of girls, an order that combines the active and contemplative life. This bishop, known for his devotion to duty, defense of the interests of the Church, and his concern for the poor, was named cardinal in 1905, but died before receiving the red hat. He was beatified by John Paul II, March 29, 1987.

Bibliography: j. m. javierre, El arzobispo mendigo: biografía de Marcelo Spínola (Madrid 1974); Don Marcelo de Sevilla (Barcelona 1963). Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1987): 598. L'Osservatore Romano, English ed. 14 (1987): 1–2.

[k. i. rabenstein]