Domenico Ferrata

His Eminence Domenico Ferrata
Secretary of State
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Appointed	4 September 1914
Term ended	10 October 1914
Predecessor	Rafael Merry del Val de Zulueta
Successor	Pietro Gasparri
Other post(s)	Cardinal-Priest of Santa Prisca (1896–1914) Cardinal-Protector of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (1902–14) Prefect of the Congregation of the Sacraments (1908–14) Archpriest of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran (1913–14) Secretary of the Congregation of the Holy Office (1914)
Orders
Ordination	18 September 1869
Consecration	19 April 1885 by Lodovico Jacobini
Created cardinal	22 June 1896 by Pope Leo XIII
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Birth name	Domenico Ferrata
Born	4 March 1847 Gradoli, Montefiascone, Viterbo, Papal States
Died	10 October 1914(1914-10-10) (aged 67) Rome, Kingdom of Italy
Parents	Giovanni Battista Ferrata Maria Antonuzzi
Previous post(s)	President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (1884–85) Titular Archbishop of Thessalonica (1885–96) Secretary of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (1889–91) Camerlengo of the College of Cardinals (1899–1900) Prefect of the Congregation of Indulgences and Sacred Relics (1899–1900) Prefect of the Congregation for Rites (1900–02) Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars (1902–08)
Coat of arms

Domenico Ferrata JUD (4 March 1847 – 10 October 1914) was an Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal who spent the bulk of his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See and in the Roman Curia.

Ferrata was born in Gradoli, near Viterbo. Ordained a priest in 1869 and consecrated a bishop in 1885, he served as nuncio to Belgium and then to France. He served as Secretary of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs from 20 April 1889 to 23 June 1891. He elevated to Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in the consistory of 22 June 1896.

He spent the early part of his cardinalate in now-abolished positions such as Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Indulgences and Sacred Relics. He was named Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship. 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 at the outbreak of World War I. His successor Pope Benedict XV, appointed him as Secretary of State, switching him with Rafael Merry del Val, who held this position during the pontification of Pius X and was now moved to be Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office. However, Ferrata died the month after his appointment as Secretary of State at age seventy. He was succeeded by Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, who kept the position until 1930, when he was succeeded by Eugenio Pacelli.

External links[]

• The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church - Biographical Dictionary - Consistory of 22 June 1896 at www.fiu.edu