Domenico Ferrata JUD (4 March 1847 – 10 October 1914) was an Italian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Cardinal who spent most of his career in the diplomatic service of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

and in the Roman Curia.

Life

Ferrata was born in

Gradoli Gradoli (Central Italian: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Viterbo in the Italian region Latium, located about northwest of Rome and about northwest of Viterbo. Gradoli sits on a tuff hill in the Monti Volsini area, a few kilo ...

, near

Viterbo Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history ...

to Giovan Battista and Maria Antonuzzi Ferrata, who had a small farm. He had a brother, Angelo, who later became procurator general of the Augustinians.Miranda, Salvador. "Ferrata, Domenico", Cardinals of the HOly Roman Church, Florida International University
/ref> He first attended a local municipal school run by canon D. Collarini. Then he went to the Jesuit School of Orvieto. With the expulsion of the Jesuits from Orvieto, he spent the year 1860-61 in Gradoli, continuing however to study privately with Don GB Polverini. He then attended the Seminary of Montefiascone. Ferrata was appointed canon of the college of Gradoli. He took his degree in theology at

La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

in Rome, where he studied scripture under

Tommaso Martinelli Tommaso Maria Martinelli (4 February 1827 - 30 March 1888) was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Prefect of the Congregation of Rites. Tommaso Martinelli was born in the parish of Sant'Anna, Lucca as the son of Cosma Mart ...

. Ferrata was

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 ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

in 1869.Vercellone, Guido Fagioli. "Ferrata,, Domenico", Treccani
/ref>

Career

After ordination, Ferrata studied canon law at S. Apollinare. He earned doctorates in both theology and civil and canon law. He then apprenticed at the

Congregation of the Council The Dicastery for the Clergy, formerly named Congregation for the Clergy (; formerly the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy and Sacred Congregation of the Council), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regardin ...

. When Martelli became a cardinal in 1873, he made his former student his secretary. In January 1874 Ferrata was appointed procurator at the

Sacred Congregation of Rites The Sacred Congregation of Rites was a congregation of the Roman Curia, erected on 22 January 1588 by Pope Sixtus V by '' Immensa Aeterni Dei''; it had its functions reassigned by Pope Paul VI on 8 May 1969. The Congregation was charged with the ...

. In 1876, he taught canon law at the

Pontifical Roman Major Seminary , type = Major seminary , established = , founder = Pope Pius IV , parent = Diocese of Rome , religious_affiliation = Catholic Church , rector = Gabriele Fara ...

, and the following year was made deputy chair of ecclesiastical history at

Propaganda Fide Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

."Ferrata, Domenico", ''Gente di Tuscia'', Dizionario Storico Biografico della Tuscia
/ref> In April 1877, he was appointed to 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 ...

, which handled diplomatic relations between the Holy See and foreign governments. When in 1879 the secretary of the congregation, Włodzimierz Czacki was appointed nuncio to France, he took Ferrata along as auditor. He returned to Rome in 1883 and was sent to Switzerland to resolve problems with the diocese of Basel. In 1884 he was made president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the training school for the diplomatic corps. Consecrated a

bishop 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 c ...

in 1885, he served as nuncio to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He served as Secretary of the

from 20 April 1889 to 23 June 1891, when he was named nuncio to France. He was elevated to Cardinal by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

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 22 June 1896 with the titular of Santa Prisca, Rome. He spent the early part of his cardinalate in positions such as Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Indulgences and Sacred Relics. He was named Prefect of the

Congregation for Divine Worship it, Dicastero per il Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti , type = Dicastery , seal = Coat of arms Holy See.svg , seal_size = 100px , seal_caption = Coat of arms of the Holy See , logo = , p ...

. In 1900, he was named prefect of the

which handled the process for canonizations. In that capacity he oversaw much of the procedure regarding the cause of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

. He participated in the conclave of 1903, which elected Pope Pius X. In 1901 he was sent as nuncio to Paris by

with the mission to work for the reconciliation with the third French Republic. As papal legate, he presided over the 1905

Canonical coronation A canonical coronation ( la, Coronatio Canonica) is a pious institutional act of the pope, duly expressed in a bull, in which the pope bestows the right to impose an ornamental crown, a diadem or an aureole to an image of Christ, Mary or J ...

of the image of the Immaculate Conception of Cospicua in Malta. Ferrata played an important part in the preparation of ''

Quam singulari ''Quam singulari'' was a decree released by Pope Pius X in 1910, concerning the admittance of children to the Eucharist. This followed a decree by the Sacred Congregation of the Council, five years before on frequent Communion. Background There ...

'' the 1910 decree concerning the admittance of children to communion. In 1913 he was named Archpriest of the patriarchal Lateran basilica. In January 1914 Pope Pius X named him to succeed Mariano Cardinal Rampolla, who had died on 13 December 1913, as Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office. Pope Pius X died on 20 August 1914. Ferrata opened the conclave opened on August 31, 1914, celebrating the Mass of the Holy Spirit in the Pauline Chapel. The newly elected

Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His ...

appointed Ferrata Secretary of State, in place of

Rafael Merry del Val Rafael Merry del Val y Zulueta, (10 October 1865 – 26 February 1930) was a Spanish Roman Catholic cardinal. Before becoming a cardinal, he served as the secretary of the papal conclave of 1903 that elected Pope Pius X, who is said to have ac ...

. However, Ferrata was already in ill health and died the month after his appointment at age seventy. He was buried in Gradoli.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrata, Domenico Cardinal Ferrata Ferrata Ferrata Ferrata Pope Benedict XV Pope Leo XIII Apostolic Nuncios to Belgium Cardinal Secretaries of State Cardinals created by Pope Leo XIII Members of the Holy Office Members of the Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments Presidents of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy