Frediano Giannini OFM (16 June 1861 – 25 October 1939) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as an archbishop and Apostolic Delegate to Syria from 1936 to 1947.

Biography

Frediano Giannini was born on 16 June 1861 in Bozzano, a town in

Massarosa Massarosa is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. The city is near Lucca and Pisa. The city hosts Massarosa International Piano Competition. Sister cities Massarosa is town twinning, twinned with: * Gmina Łużna, Po ...

, Italy. He joined the Franciscans on 8 August 1876, took his final vows on 22 November 1881, and was ordained a priest of the

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; Post-nominal letters, postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a Mendicant orders, mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis ...

on 21 December 1883. From March 1900 to February 1995, he headed the Franciscan guardianship of shrines in the Holy Land, the priory known as the

Custody of the Holy Land The Custody of the Holy Land (Latin: ''Custodia Terræ Sanctæ'') is a Custos (Franciscans), custodian priory of the Order of Friars Minor in Jerusalem, founded as the ''Province of the Holy Land'' in 1217 by Saint Francis of Assisi, who had als ...

. On 20 January 1905,

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

appointed him titular archbishop of Serrae, Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo, and Apostolic Delegate to Syria. He received his episcopal consecration on 5 March 1905 from Archbishop Aurelio Briante, Apostolic Delegate to Egypt. With the changing political jurisdictions occurring during the First World War, Giannini, along with his colleague

Angelo Dolci Angelo Maria Dolci (12 July 1867 – 13 September 1939) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was made a Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal in 1933. He was Bishop of Gubbio from 1900 to 1906, Archbishop of Amalfi from 1911 to 191 ...

, Apostolic Delegate to Constantinople, disputed Ottoman attempts to confiscate Church properties as if they were French-owned and contended that the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

was the owner of the properties in the care of the Custody of the Holy Land. On 12 February 1936,

named him Vice Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church. On 30 May he was appointed a consultor to the

Congregation for the Oriental Churches The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named the Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches (), is a dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible f ...

. He assisted the Camerlengo

Eugenio Pacelli Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

, the future Pope Pius XII, upon the death of Pius XI in February 1939. He died on 25 October 1939 at the age of 78.

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy: Archbishop Frediano Giannini, O.F.M.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giannini, Frediano 1861 births 1939 deaths Clergy from the Province of Lucca Apostolic nuncios to Syria Franciscan bishops 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops Franciscan missionaries Officials of the Roman Curia Roman Catholic bishops in Syria