Biography:

Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci was born on March 2, 1810 in Carpineto, a town near Rome.  He was ordained on December 31, 1837.  In February 1838, he was appointed legate to Benevento, a small papal province with widespread corruption and poverty.  Three years later he was appointed to serve as legate of Spoleto, but at the last minute was sent to Perugia where he worked to help the poor and to end corruption.  In 1846 he was appointed Archbishop of Perugia where he served until 1877.  In 1878, following the death of Pope Pius IX, he was elected to the papacy.  He died at the age of 93 in Rome on July 20, 1903.