Valerio Valeri (7 November 1883 – 22 July 1963) was an Italian Cardinal of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He served as

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

of the Sacred Congregation for Religious in the Roman Curia from 1953 until his death, and was elevated to the

cardinalate The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are appoi ...

in 1953 by Pope Pius XII. President Charles de Gaulle insisted that Valeri be removed as Apostolic Nuncio to France (1936-1944) for collaborating with the

Vichy regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

Biography

Valerio Valeri was born in Santa Fiora, and studied at the Roman-Pio Seminary and the Pontifical Roman Athenaeum ''S. Apollinare'', where he was made a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in 1904.

Ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood on 21 December 1907, he then taught at the Pontifical Regional

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the '' Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by po ...

until 1909. After serving as a military chaplain during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Valeri entered the Roman Curia, as a staff member of the Secretariat of State, in 1920. From 1921 to 1927, he was

auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting and a ...

of the French nunciature. He was raised to the rank of Privy Chamberlain of His Holiness on 6 July 1921, and later Domestic Prelate of His Holiness on 22 July 1923. On 18 October 1927, Valeri was appointed

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Ephesus and

Apostolic Delegate An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international o ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

on the following 28 October from Cardinal

Donato Sbarretti Donato Raffaele Sbarretti Tazza (NovemberSources differ as to whether he was born on 10 or 12 November. 1856 – 1 April 1939)(2 April 1939)Donato Sbaretti, Cardinal, 82, Dead ''The New York Times'' was an Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal w ...

, with Archbishop Pietro Benedetti, MSC, and Bishop Giuseppe Angelucci serving as co-consecrators. Valeri was later named Nuncio to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

on 1 July 1933, and finally Apostolic Nuncio to France on 11 July 1936. In August 1942, the nuncio disputed Marshal Pétain's claim that Pope Pius XII understood and approved of France's increased hostility towards the

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

.EWTN
The Good Samaritan: Jewish Praise for Pope Pius XII
/ref> He was awarded the

Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

of the ''

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

'' upon leaving France in 1944 to again work in the Secretariat of State, specifically the

Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs The Section for Relations with States or Second Section of the Secretariat of State is the body within the Roman Curia charged with dealing with matters that involve relations with civil governments. It has been part of the Vatican Secretariat o ...

. After becoming

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the Central Committee for the

Holy Year A jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon. In '' Leviticus'', a jubilee year ( he, יובל ''yūḇāl'') is mentioned to occur every 50th year; during which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgi ...

on 28 June 1948, Archbishop Valeri was made assessor of the Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Churches on 1 September of that same year. He was created

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

of '' S. Silvestro in Capite'' by Pius XII in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church * Consistor ...

of 12 January 1953. Pope Pius advanced him to

of the Sacred Congregation for Religious five days later, on 17 January. Cardinal Valeri was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 1958 papal conclave that selected

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

, who had earlier succeeded him as the French nuncio. Cardinal Valeri lived long enough to only attend the first session of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

in 1962, and to participate in the conclave of 1963, which resulted in the election of

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

. Valeri died in Rome, at age 79. He is buried in his family's

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

in Santa Fiora.

References

External links

Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valeri, Valerio 1883 births 1963 deaths 20th-century Italian cardinals Apostolic Nuncios to Egypt Apostolic Nuncios to France Apostolic Nuncios to Romania Apostolic Nuncios to Ethiopia Cardinals created by Pope Pius XII Participants in the Second Vatican Council Members of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life Italian military chaplains World War I chaplains Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic People from Santa Fiora