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Monsignor Valerio Anzino, (1832- March 5,1899), was an Italian cleric who played an important intermediary role between the Catholic Church and the Italian government during the mid to late 1800's. Starting as a Religion and Philosophy tutor for the House of Savoy princes in 1848 at the age of 16,  Monsignor Anzino  eventually became Chaplain to both Victor Emmanuel II and his son Umberto I, the first and second kings of a unified Italy. Monsignor Anzino was at the center of a conflict between secular and religious forces in Italy that accelerated with the Italian unification in 1861 and lasted until after the Monsignor's death in 1899.

Biography
Monsignor Valerio Anzino was born in 1832 in the small commune of Fubine, Italy in the northern province of Alessandria. While coming from an impoverished family, Valerio received a excellent education through the largess of a local affluent family who recognized his intelligence and ambition. Valerio's uncle, Monsignor Giuseppe Anzino, being employed by the House of Savoy as a tutor before 1848, was likely instrumental in helping his nephew Valerio secure a tutoring position for the princes of the House of Savoy in the Court of Turin. Monsignor Anzino quickly captured the attention of Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia and then leader of the House of Savoy. By the late 1850's, Victor Emmanuel II had appointed Monsignor Anzino to be his personal chaplain. Monsignor Anzino accompanied Victor Emmanuel II in military battles preceding and following the 1861 formation of a unified Italy. These battles included the Veneto campaign of 1866 against the Austrians.

Victor Emmanuel II, previously the King of Sardinia, became the first king of a unified Italy in 1861 and appointed Monsignor Anzino to be the Royal Chaplain. Upon Victor Emmanuel II's death in 1878, Monsignor Anzino was appointed the Royal Chaplain to Umberto I, the son of Victor Emmanuel, and his successor.

Monsignor Anzino successfully conducted several confidential and important missions between the Vatican and the Italian government. Monsignor Anzino also mediated between the Vatican and the Royal Court when the Prince of Naples, (Victor Emmanuel III, son of Victor Emmanuel II), was betrothed to Princess Helena of Montenegro. The mediation was necessary because prior to the marriage in 1896, Princess Helena belonged to the Eastern Orthodox Church, not the Catholic Church.

During the reign of both Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I, Monsignor Anzino acquired additional responsibilities and titles including: Monsignor Anzino kept these positions until his death in Rome at the age of 66 on March 5, 1899. After the funeral service for Monsignor Anzino was held at the parish church of San Carlo ai Catinari, Monsignor Anzino's body was brought to the station to be transported to the family vault in Mazze, Canevese. The London Monitor, (Catholic Organ for Great Britain), article of March 17, 1899, which provided many specifics of Monsignor Anzino's life and the funeral service itself, did not specify whose family vault Monsignor Anzino's body was destined for. Immediately after his death, all of Monsignor Anzino's papers from the prior 30 years were moved to the Royal Archives under the supervision of the House of Savoy.
 * Major Chaplain to the King of Italy
 * Protonotary Apostolic
 * Domestic Prelate of his Holiness
 * Count Palantine and Count of the Lateran Court
 * Abbot and Ordinary of the Royal Basilica of Santa Barbara at Mantua.

Controversy surrounding death of Victor Emmanuel II
One of the most written about and significant events involving Monsignor Anzino concerned his involvement in performing the last rights for Victor Emmanuel II on January 9, 1878. When Victor Emmanuel II was on his death bed in 1878, Pope Pius IX sent emissaries to ostensibly see to the kings spiritual health. Some historians claim that Pope Pius IX's real objective was to extract a written confession that Victor Emmanuel II had illegally appropriated the Papal States from Pope Pius IX. Monsignor Anzino kept the emissaries from visiting the King while he negotiated with a nearby Vicegerent to the Cardinal, ( Archbishop Guilio Lenti), to obtain the materials needed to administer the sacraments. On orders from the Vatican, Archbishop Lenti demanded a written confession from the king before he would provide Monsignor Anzino the materials he requested. Monsignor Anzino, an acknowledged skillful negotiator, was successful in obtaining the materials from the archbishop without a written confession from his king. Monsignor Anzino quoted Victor Emmanuel II's words to him from earlier that day that, "Tell the Pope that he, (the king), intended to die a Catholic, that in all the laws that he had promulgated he had never intended to offend the Holy Father, and that he apologized for any offense he had caused."

After Victor Emmanuel II died on January 9 1878, Pope Pius IX requested written reports from everyone involved in administering the sacraments to the dying king. The reports that the Pope received from his archbishops and emissaries were interpreted by the Pope to indicate that in fact the dying king had confessed and apologized for all of the evil deeds he had done to the Church. The report he received from Monsignor Anzino stated just what the Monsignor had shared with Archbishop Lenti on the day that Victor Emmanuel II died, which did not include an apology for evil deeds. The decades long controversy that ensued pitted the Papal authorities in the Vatican against both the government and secularists in Italy. The Papal authorities, (including Pope Pius IX), claimed that the King had confessed on his death bed to wrongly taking the Papal States from the Pope, while government officials and Monsignor Anzino vehemently and publicly denied this.

On February 15, 1884 a New York Herald correspondent interviewed Monsignor Anzino at his residence in Rome. They discussed a recent article in "Le Figaro", a French daily newspaper,  signed by "Superga", but generally attributed to Emile Ollivier, a former Prime Minister of France. Ollivier's article bitterly attacked Monsignor Anzino, accusing him of "snatching the Host from the hands of the priests sent by the Vatican to administer the sacraments to a dying Victor Emmanuel II". The "Le Figaro" article also insinuated that Monsignor Anzino had lied about what had happened in his report to Pope Pius IX. In the interview with the New York Herald correspondent, Monsignor Anzino was indignant and stated that "there was a set determination in certain quarters to hide the truth" >.

Literary Works

 * "S.A.R. Il Principe Odone Di Savoia, Duca Di Monferrato".  Originally published in 1887, the book was about one of the sons of Victor Emmanuel II, Prince Odone.