Luigi Galimberti (26 April 1836 – 7 May 1896) was an Italian prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who had a varied career as an academic and theologian, journalist, diplomat, and Vatican official. He became an archbishop in 1887 and a cardinal in 1893. He was considered a candidate for the papacy when he died at the age of 60.

Biography

Luigi Galimberti was born in Rome on 26 April 1836, the son of a family of lawyers; his mother was the second cousin of

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

. He attended the

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, where he earned degrees in philosophy in 1854 and theology in 1858. He was ordained a priest on 18 December 1858 and then earned a degree in civil and canon law in 1861. From 1861 to 1878 he was professor of theology at the

Pontifical Urban University The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian, is a pontifical university that was under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The university's mission is to ...

. He became a canon of the

Lateran Basilica The Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran (officially the ''Major Papal, Patriarchal and Roman Archbasilica, Metropolitan and Primatial Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of A ...

in 1868. He launched his career as a journalist and polemicist in 1870, working with Catholic magazines. In the run-up to the

conclave of 1878 A papal conclave was held from 18 to 20 February 1878 to elect a new pope to succeed Pius IX, who had died on 7 February. Of the 64 eligible cardinal electors, all but three attended. On the third ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Gioacchino ...

he and Cardinal

Alessandro Franchi Alessandro Franchi may refer to: * Alessandro Franchi (cardinal) (1819–1878), Italian cardinal and archbishop * Alessandro Franchi (painter) Alessandro Franchi (15 March 1838 – 29 April 1914) was an Italian painter. He worked in a combinatio ...

promoted the candidacy of

Vincenzo Pecci Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

–who proved to be the successful candidate–to other journalists. He was promoted to director of the ''Journal de Rome'' at the end of 1881, but he fell out with its management and in October 1882 he founded the ''Moniteur de Rome'' to serve as a vehicle for his politically moderate views. His moderate views on Italian nationalism and relations between the Holy See and Italy had been out of favor while Pius IX was pope; he gained favor under Leo XIII. He was named a canon of

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...

in 1883 and an Apostolic Protonotary. On 28 June 1886,

appointed him secretary of 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 of ...

. In 1887 he took part in the difficult negotiations in Berlin to end the

Kulturkampf In the history of Germany, the ''Kulturkampf'' (Cultural Struggle) was the seven-year political conflict (1871–1878) between the Catholic Church in Germany led by Pope Pius IX and the Kingdom of Prussia led by chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Th ...

. The resulting reconciliation between 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 ...

and the German Empire, and Galimberti's apparent sympathy for the

Triple Alliance Triple Alliance may refer to: * Aztec Triple Alliance (1428–1521), Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan and in central Mexico * Triple Alliance (1596), England, France, and the Dutch Republic to counter Spain * Triple Alliance (1668), England, the ...

of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, earned him the distrust of the French, which may have prevented his appointment as Secretary of State following the death of Cardinal

Luigi Jacobini Luigi Jacobini (6 January 1832 – 28 February 1887) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Vatican Secretary of State from 1880 until his death; he was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1879. Biography Bor ...

in February 1887, though Galimberti had taken on the role of Secretary of State from October 1886 to May 1887, during Jacobini's illness and immediately after his death. On 23 May 1887, he 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 ...

Nicaea Nicaea (also spelled Nicæa or Nicea, ; ), also known as Nikaia (, Attic: , Koine: ), was an ancient Greek city in the north-western Anatolian region of Bithynia. It was the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

and Apostolic Nuncio to Austria-Hungary. He received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal

Cölestin Josef Ganglbauer Cölestin Josef Ganglbauer, O.S.B (20 August 1817 in Thanstetten – 14 December 1889 in Vienna) was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Vienna. Early life and education Josef Ganglbauer was born in Schiedlberg, Austr ...

, Archbishop of Vienna, on 5 June. He was credited with the appointed of a candidate the Holy See favored as

Primate of Hungary Prince-primate (German: ''Fürstprimas'', Hungarian: ''hercegprímás'') is a rare princely title held by individual (prince-) archbishops of specific sees in a presiding capacity in an august assembly of mainly secular princes, notably the foll ...

and of a Pole rather than a German as archbishop of Gniezno-Posen. In Vienna, Galimberti proved a ready conduit of information to his German counterpart there. In 1889, following the double suicide of the Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf and his mistress at

Mayerling Mayerling is a small village (pop. 200) in Lower Austria belonging to the municipality of Alland in the district of Baden (district of Austria), Baden. It is situated on the Schwechat river, in the Vienna Woods, Wienerwald (''Vienna woods''), so ...

, Galimberti kept the German ambassador apprised of the latest information on the case, what one historian calls "highly placed gossip", and he continued to answer related inquiries about the Vatican's rumored denial of Rudolf's request for an annulment of his marriage. Galimberti's name figures in the many investigations of the case, usually in a minor role, though one early account said that Galimberti had received Rudolf's annulment request and rather than forward it to Rome had it delivered to the Emperor, provoking a family quarrel and the deaths that followed. On 16 January 1893, Pope Leo made him a cardinal and on 15 June gave him the title cardinal priest of

Santi Nereo e Achilleo Santi Nereo ed Achilleo is a fourth-century basilica churches of Rome, church in Rome, Italy, located in via delle Terme di Caracalla in the rione Celio (rione of Rome), Celio facing the main entrance to the Baths of Caracalla. It has been the tit ...

. On 25 June 1894, Galimberti was named head of the

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. He was considered a possible future pope. He died from a throat ailment in Rome on 7 May 1896 at the age of 60. He was interred in the chapel of the

Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation (Roman Curia), congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for Catholic missions, missionary work and related activities. It is also kn ...

in Rome's

Campo Verano The Campo Verano (Italian: ''Cimitero del Verano'') is a cemetery in Rome, Italy, founded in the early 19th century. The monumental cemetery covers a surface area of 83 hectares which is currently divided into several sections: the main Catholic ...

cemetery.

Writings

*''Apologia pro Marcellino Romano pontefice'' (1876) *''Introductio philosophica ad historiam universam'' (1877) *''Lutero e il socialismo'' (1879) *''Leone XIII e la storia. Risposta a R. Bonghi d'un prelato romano'' (1883)

Notes

References

;Additional sources *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Galimberti, Luigi 1836 births 1896 deaths Clergy from Rome Officials of the Roman Curia Cardinals created by Pope Leo XIII Apostolic nuncios to Austria