Tommaso Maria Martinelli (4 February 1827 30 March 1888) was a

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

of the

Roman 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 served as Prefect of the Congregation of Rites. Tommaso Martinelli was born in the parish of Sant'Anna,

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

as the son of Cosma Martinelli and Maddalena Pardini. He was the brother of Cardinal

Sebastiano Martinelli Sebastiano Martinelli (20 August 1848 – 4 July 1918) was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Prefect of the Congregation of Rites. Early life Sebastiano Martinelli was born in Borgo Sant'Anna within the Archdiocese of Lucca ...

Education

He entered the Order of Hermits of Saint Augustine (

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

) in Lucca in 1842 and was professed on 19 April 1844.

Priesthood

He was ordained on 22 December 1849 in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He was lecturer in the monastery and college of St Augustine, Rome and served as regent of studies of the school in September 1855. He became assistant

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

La Sapienza University The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

in 1856. He was full professor from 1862 to 1870. He visited

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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and

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with the superior general of the order in 1862. He was consultor of the

Congregation of the Index The (English: ''Index of Forbidden Books'') was a changing list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former dicastery of the Roman Curia); Catholics were forbidden to print or r ...

in 1864. He was a theologian at the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...

from 1869 to 1870.

Cardinalate

He was created Cardinal-Deacon of '' S. Giorgio in Velabro'' by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

in the consistory of 22 December 1873. He was appointed as Prefect of the

Congregation of Studies Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...

on 12 March 1874. He opted for the order of cardinal priests and the title of ''

Santa Prisca Santa Prisca is a titular church of Rome, on the Aventine Hill, for Cardinal-priests. It is recorded as the ''Titulus Priscae'' in the acts of the 499 synod. Church It is devoted to Saint Prisca, a 1st-century martyr, whose relics are containe ...

'' on 17 September 1875. He was appointed as Prefect of the Congregation of Rites on 18 October 1877. He participated in 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 ...

that elected

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 remained at the Congregation for Rites until he was appointed as Prefect of the

on 15 July 1878. He served as

Camerlengo Camerlengo (plural: , Italian for " chamberlain") is an Italian title of medieval origin. It derives from the late Latin , in turn coming through the Frankish , from the Latin which meant "chamber officer" (generally meaning "treasure chamber"). ...

of the Sacred

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals (), also called the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. there are cardinals, of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Appointed by the pope, ...

from 15 March 1883 until 24 March 1884.

Episcopate

He opted for the order of cardinal bishops, taking the

suburbicarian see The seven suburbicarian dioceses (, ) are Catholic dioceses located in the vicinity of Rome, whose ( titular) bishops are the (now six) ordinary members of the highest-ranking order of cardinals, the cardinal bishops (to which the cardinal patriar ...

of Sabina on 24 March 1884.

Death

He died in 1888, at 6:45 a.m. in

, after a brief illness;Florida International University Libraries website, Tommaso Martinelli page
/ref> his body was exposed in the church of S. Agostino, Rome, where the funeral took place on 4 April at 10 a.m. The final absolution was imparted by Cardinal

Carlo Sacconi Carlo Sacconi J.U.D. (9 May 1808 – 25 February 1889)) was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Dean of the College of Cardinals. He is in the episcopal lineage of Pope Francis. Carlo Sacconi was born in Montalto. He was educate ...

Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals The dean of the College of Cardinals () presides over the College of Cardinals in the Catholic Church, serving as ('first among equals'). The position was established in the 12th century. He always holds the rank of a cardinal bishop and is as ...

; eighteen cardinals were also in attendance; the remains were buried in the chapel of his order in the

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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinelli, Tommaso 1827 births 1888 deaths 19th-century Italian cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Pius IX Cardinal-bishops of Sabina Augustinian cardinals