Giuseppe Valerga (9 April 1813 – 2 December 1872) was the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1847 until his death in 1872; the first resident such since the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

. He held the title of one of the fathers of the First Vatican Council. In addition, he was Grand Master of the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic order of knighthood under ...

Biography

Valerga was born in

Loano Loano ( lij, Leua) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about southwest of Savona. Loano borders the following municipalities: Bardineto, Boissano, Borgh ...

. In 1836 he was ordained a priest. He studied at the Albenga Seminary and at

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

. Prior to receiving his appointment at Jerusalem, Valerga had been part of the ''

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'' and had also worked with the Chaldean Catholic Church, in what is today

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. In his efforts to reestablish the Latin Patriarchate, Valerga strove to make the Catholic faith the religion of the Palestinian villagers. The new patriarch "established Latin missions in Palestinian towns and villages where Christian communities resided, such as Bayt Jala (1853), Jifna and Lidda (1856), Ramallah (1857), Bir Zayt and Tayba (1859) and Nablus (1862)". While serving as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, he was the last individual to have been dubbed as a

Knight of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic order of knighthood under ...

by the

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

Custody of the Holy Land , native_name_lang = Latin , named_after= , image = Coat_of_arms_of_the_Custodian_of_the_Holy_Land.jpg , image_size = 200px , alt= , caption = Coat of arms of the Custody of the Holy Land , map ...

, on 16 January 1848. He was subsequently appointed Grand Master of the

at its reconstitution by Pope Pius IX in 1868. Shalit notes that "when the patriarch ceremoniously entered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the French and Sardinian consuls both marched beside him - the French on the right, and the Sardinian on the left. This clearly indicated the special position of the Sardinian at the expense of the Frenchman. The patriarch's patriotism made him supportive of the Sardinian policy, which aimed at an independent Sardinian protectorate to parallel the French protectorate."Shalit, p. 50

Co-Cathedral

Valerga envisioned the importance of providing a new church to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The Co-Cathedral of the Most Holy Name of Jesus was constructed and consecrated on 11 February 1872, the 25th anniversary of his Patriarchal consecration. The Co-Cathedral has continued to be the principal or “mother” church of the Diocese of Jerusalem, and the church in which the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem has his official chair (cathedra).

Distinctions

* : Grand Master of the

(Knighted 16 January 1848 by the

)

References

Sources

Catholic Hierarchy entry
*, geocities.com *, lpj.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Valerga, Giuseppe 1813 births 1872 deaths People from the Province of Savona 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem Sapienza University of Rome alumni Grand Masters of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre