Gabriele Ferretti (;

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

, 31 January 1795 –

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, 13 September 1860)Florida International University
/ref> was an Italian

Catholic cardinal 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 ...

and Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals.

Personal life

He was born into nobility, the son of Palatine Count ''Liverotto Ferretti'' and ''Flavia Sperelli''. By birth he was ''Count of Castelferretti'', ''Palatine count'' and a noble of Rieti and

Fermo Fermo (ancient: Firmum Picenum) is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche, Italy, in the Province of Fermo. Fermo is on a hill, the Sabulo, elevation , on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway. History The oldest hu ...

. He was also a

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

and

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

. He was educated at the ''Collegio of Parma'' and the ''Collegio Tolomei'' in

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

, before entering the Seminary of Ancona and attending the

Collegio Romano The Roman College ( la, Collegium Romanum, it, Collegio Romano) was a school established by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1551, just 11 years after he founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). It quickly grew to include classes from elementary school t ...

, where he earned a doctorate in theology.

Ecclesiastical service

Ferretti was ordained to the priesthood on 1 June 1817. He was elected bishop of Rieti in 1827. In 1833, he was promoted to the titular see of Seleucia in Isauria and was appointed nuncio in Sicily in the same year. In 1837, he was transferred to the see of Montefiascone e Corneto and later that year was again transferred, this time to the

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a ...

Cardinalate

Ferretti was elevated to cardinal ('' in pectore'') in 1838 and was revealed as a cardinal in 1839. He resigned pastoral government of his archdiocese in 1842 and was appointed Prefect of the Sacred Consulta of Indulgences and Relics in 1843. Ferretti participated in the Papal Conclave of 1846, which elected Pope Pius IX and in the same year was appointed

legate Legate may refer to: *Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class :*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period *A member of a legation *A representative, ...

in the provinces of

Urbino Urbino ( ; ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of F ...

and Pesaro. In the years following, he was appointed to a number of senior positions in 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 ...

including: *

Vatican Secretary of State The Secretary of State of His Holiness (Latin: Secretarius Status Sanctitatis Suae, it, Segretario di Stato di Sua Santità), commonly known as the Cardinal Secretary of State, presides over the Holy See's Secretariat of State, which is the ...

- 1847 *Secretary of Memorials - 1847 *

Apostolic Penitentiary The Apostolic Penitentiary (), formerly called the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, is a dicastery of the Roman Curia and is one of the three ordinary tribunals of the Apostolic See. The Apostolic Penitentiary is chiefly a tri ...

- 1852 (a position he held until his death) * Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals - 1854 to 1855 *Grand prior of the Equestrian Order of St. John of Jerusalem - 1858

Death

Ferretti died on 13 September 1860 in Rome. His funeral was held on 17 September 1860. Pope Pius IX (whom he had helped to elect) participated in his funeral and he was buried, according to his will, in the Capuchin church of the ''Santissima Concezione'' in

Personal life

Ecclesiastical service

Cardinalate

Death

References

See also