The Cardinals of the Holy Roman urch - Biographical Dictionary (original) (raw)

The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church Biographical Dictionary Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846) Consistory of January 27, 1843 (XX)

(59) 1. VILLADECANI, Francesco di Paola (1780-1861)

Birth. February 22, 1780, Messina, Sicily. Son of Mariano Villadicani (ca.1740-1802), prince of Mola, senator of Messina (in 1787) and Lucrezia Porco. His last name is also listed as Villadicani. His family, of Catalan origin, settled in Sicily in the early fifteenth century, and it seems that it came from the town of Viladecans, and hence the last name. His father, who was not the firstborn, succeeded in the title his brother, Giovanni, who died without male succession in 1783.

Education. Studied at the Piarist School, Messina; and at the Seminary of Messina.

Priesthood. Ordained, September 18, 1802. Canon of the cathedral chapter of Messina.

Episcopate. Elected titular bishop of Ortosia, October 2, 1820. Consecrated, October 28, 1820, Messina, by Silvestro Todaro, bishop of Patti. Promoted to metropolitan see of Messina, November 17, 1823. President for life of Accademia Peloritana.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of January 27, 1843; received the red hat, June 1, 1843; and the title of S. Alessio, June 22, 1843. Did not participate in the conclave of 1846, which elected Pope Pius IX. In December 1857, an apostolic administrator sede plena, Giuseppe Maria Papardo, titular bishop of Sinope, later archbishop of Monreale (1871-1883), was appointed for the archdiocese of messina, assuming his duties, according to some by the chaotic administration of the cardinal archbishop and according to others for him being affected by senile dementia.

Death. June 13 (or 14), 1861, Messina. Exposed and buried in the metropolitan cathedral of Messina.

Bibliography. Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi. Volumen VII (1800-1846). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 33, 44, 262 and 293.

Webgraphy. Biography, in Italian, Biblioteca Villadicanense; biography, in Italian, Wikipedia; his engraving, BeWeB - Beni Ecclesiastici in web; his engraving, Araldica Vaticana; his tomb in the cathedral of Messina, The Australian Naional University.

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(60) 2. CADOLINI, Ignazio Giovanni (1794-1850)

Birth. November 4, 1794, Cremona. Son of Giovanni Cadolini and Rosa Germani.

Education. Initial studies in Cremona; later, he studied law at the University of Bologna; there, in 1815, he met Pontifical Delegate Giacomo Giustiniani who made him his secretary and took him to Rome; and also studied at La Sapienza University, Rome, where he earned a doctorate in utrqoue iuris, both civil and canon law, on January 9, 1817. He went to Spain with Archbishop Giustiniani when the latter was named nuncio in Madrid; received the subdiaconate on April 26, 1818; and the diaconate on May 11, 1818, both in Madrid.

Priesthood. Ordained, May 30, 1818, Madrid. Privy chamberlain supernumerary of His Holiness. Secretary of the nunciature in Spain, where he remained until May 17, 1827.

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Cervia, July 3, 1826. Assistant at the Pontifical Throne, August 29, 1826. Consecrated, October 29, 1826, Royal Chapel, Madrid, by Cardinal Giacomo Giustiniani, archbishop-bishop of Imola, assisted by Joaquín Abarca Blaque, bishop of León, and by Antonio Sánchez Matas, bishop of La Paz. Transferred to the see of Foligno, September 30, 1831. Promoted to the archiepsicopal see of Spoleto, December 17, 1832. Apostolic administrator of Foligno, January 5, 1833 until September 30, 1834. Transferred to the titular see of Edessa di Osroene and appointed secretary of the S.C. of Propaganda Fide, February 12, 1838. Transferred to the archiepiscopal see of Ferrara, January 30, 1843.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of January 27, 1843; received the red hat and the title of S. Susanna, January 30, 1843. Did not participate in the conclave of 1846, which elected Pope Pius IX.

Death. April 11, 1850, Ferrara. Exposed and buried in the archiepiscopal cathedral of Ferrara.

Webgraphy.Biography, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 16 (1973), Treccani; his engraving, Araldica Vaticana.

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(61) 3. MANGELLI ORSI, Paolo (1762-1846)

Birth. October 30, 1762, Forlì. From an old and illustrious family. Son of Francesco Mangelli Orsi (+ 1779), who was made Lateran count by Pope Clement XIII on March 10, 1761, and Countess Antonia Severoli (+ 1767), from Faenza, who was a cousin of Cardinal Antonio Gabriele Severoli(1816). He had a brother, Vincenzo, who was knight of grace of the Equestrian Order of Saint John of Jerusalem; and three sisters who entered the Franciscan Order. His last name is also listed as Orsi Mangelli.

Education. First studies in Forlì; after the death of his parents, he went to Rome with his brother and resided at the monastery of S. Stefano del Cacco to continue his studies in law and philosophy at the Archigymnasium of La Sapienza; successively, he went to Venice.

Early life. On October 22, 1804, he married Countess Elisabetta Valmarana, and they had eight children (1); she died on October 31, 1817. He attended the coronation of Emperor Napoléon I in Milan oon June 8, 1805. From July 23, 1805, he was president of the departmental administration of Rubicon for the Italian Republic. When the Napoleonic troops arrived to Forlì on December 26, 1813, he guaranteed the trasnfer of powers to Marshal Luigi Paulucci de’ Calboli. He was a member of the council of the Prefecture of Rubicon until the fall of the Napoleonic Empire; then by appointment of General Laval Nugent, representative of the Austrian provisional government, from July 14, 1814 to July 19, 1815, he was a member of the governmental commission presided by General Stefanini for the three provinces of Bologna, Ferrara and Romagna. When that commission ended and started the provisional papal government, he was part of the Governmental Congregation of Romagna under the presidency of the Monsignor Tiberio Pacca until September 1816, when the a stable papal government was installed following the motu proprio of Pope Pius VII Quando per ammirabile disposizione of July 6, 1816 with which the pontiff reformed the administrative division of the papal state. After the death of his wife, he went to Rome, where in 1820, due to the request of Cardinal Ercole Consalvi, secretary of State, entered the prelature and wa named by Pope Pius VII privy chamberlain supernumerary on December 18, 1820; domestic prelate on January 4, 1821; and referendary of the Signatures of Justice and of Grace on January 25, 1821. On March 24, 1821 he was named delegate in Benevento, to try to reeestablish order in the province. Before leaving, he received the ecclesiatical tonsure from Cardinal Giulio Maria Della Somaglia. In that same year, he was named auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota, due to the death of Auditor Luigi Zinanni, but he declined the appointment, preferring a governmental and administrative career. In 1823, he was transferred to Civitavecchia; in 1824, to Ancona; and in 1826, to Perugia. On April 3, Pope Leo XII named him cleric of the Apostolic Chamber and president of the Grascia; in 1828, he became also president of the Annona; and in 1829, he was named member of the Congregation of Revision. On December 12, 1830, he was named pro-legate in Ferrara, during the sede vacante after the death of Pope Pius VIII, but he had to leave the city two months later because of the insurrection of February 1831, when, after the French uprisings of the previous year, the legations of Bologna, Ferrara, Forlì and Ravenna declared the cessation from the Papal State. He returned to Rome and on April 6, 1835, he became pro-president of the Congregation of the Census, maintaining these functions until the replacement of Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Falzacappa; and president of the Comarca of Rome. On February 8, 1838, he was named protonotary apostolic partecipant.

Sacred orders. On December 2, 1838 he received the four minor order from Antonio Piatti, titular archbishop of Trebisonda, vice-gerent of Rome. On March 1, 1840, he received the subdiaconate; and on March 15, 1840, the diaconate.

Priesthood. Ordained, March 29, 1840. Auditor general of the Apostolic Chamber, January 24, 1842. Abbot commendatario of the abbey of Ss. Clemente e Pancrazio.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of January 27, 1843; received the red hat and the deaconry of S. Maria della Scala, January 30, 1843. Opted for the deaconry of S. Maria in Cosmedin, February 22, 1844. He was member of the Congregations Lauretana; of the Good Government; of Waters; and of the Census.

Death. The night between March 3 and 4, 1846, in Rome. Exposed in the church of S. Carlo ai Catinari, Rome, where the funeral took place celebrated by Cardinal Giacomo Luigi Brignole; and buried in the church of S. Maria della Vittoria, Rome.

Webgraphy. Biography by Carlotta Benedetti, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 79 (2013), Treccani; his engraving, Araldica Vaticana.

(1) Four of the children died in infancy; another one, Giuseppe, died at 22; of the other three, Francesco was named privy chamberlain supernumerary of Popes Gregory XVI and Pius IX; Antonio was counselor of the general direction of public debt; and Chiara married Bonaventura Manni of Gerano.

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(62) 4. SERAFINI, Giovanni (1786-1855)

Birth. October 15, 1786, Magliano, diocese of Sabina. Son of Domenico Serafini and Vittoria Colangeli, of the small local nobility. Uncle of Cardinal Luigi Serafini (1877).

Education. Studied at Collegio of Perugia; at the Pontifical Academy of Ecclesiastical Nobles, Rome, from 1815; and at Collegio of Apostolic Protonotaries, where he earned a doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law, in 1817.

Sacred orders. Ordained (no information found). Referendary of the Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature (December 1817). Domestic Prelate of His Holiness (January 1818). Ponens of the Congregation of Good Government (January 1818). Vice-legate in Ravenna (August 1818). Apostolic delegate in Ascoli Piceno (May 1821) and in Spoleto (April 1823). Ponens of the Sacred Consulta (July 1824). Apostolic legate in Frosinone (December 1828). Secretary of the Congregation of Good Government (March 1830). Canon of the Patriarchal Vatican Basilica (February 1832). Cleric of the Apostolic Chamber (February 1833). President of the Congregation delle Acque e delle Strade (July 1833). Vice-president of the criminal court of first instance of the Auditor General of the Apostolic Chamber (1836). Prelate of the Reverend Fabric of Saint Peter's basilica (February 1835). Prelate of the Sacred Congregation of Ecclesiastical Immunity (January 1837). President of the Annona and of the Grascia (June 1837). Prelate of the Congregation of Loreto (August 1837). Dean of the clerics of the Apostolic Chamber (July 1838).

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of January 27, 1843; received the red hat and the deaconry of Ss. Vito e Modesto, January 30, 1843. Pro-prefect of the S.C. of Waters and Roads, April 3, 1843; prefect, April 18, 1843. Opted for the deaconry of S. Maria in Cosmedin, April 16, 1846. Participated in the conclave of 1846, which elected Pope Pius IX.

Death. February 1, 1855, at night, following a short illness, in Rome. Exposed in the church of S. Marcello, Rome, where his funeral took place on February 4, 1855; buried in his deaconry of S. Maria in Cosmedin.

Webgraphy. His engraving and biography, in Italian, Wikipedia; his engraving and arms, Araldica Vaticana.