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 largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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 ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

. 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

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. He became a canon of the

Lateran Basilica The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...

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 The 1878 papal conclave, which resulted from the death of Pope Pius IX on 7 February 1878, met from 18 to 20 February. The conclave followed the longest reign of any other pope since Saint Peter. It was the first election of a pope who would not ...

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, in Prato – 29 April 1914, in Siena) was an Italian painter. He ...

promoted the candidacy of

Vincenzo Pecci Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

–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

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in 1883 and an

Apostolic Protonotary In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic (PA; Latin: ''protonotarius apostolicus'') is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pop ...

. On 28 June 1886,

appointed him secretary of the

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

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. The resulting reconciliation between the

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

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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 Bo ...

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 ...

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and Apostolic Nuncio to Austria-Hungary. He received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal Cölestin Josef Ganglbauer, Archbishop of Vienna, on 5 June. He was credited with the appointed of a candidate the Holy See favored as Primate of Hungary 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. It is situated on the Schwechat river, in the Wienerwald (''Vienna woods''), southwest of Vienna. From 1550, it was in the ...

, 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 church in Rome, Italy, located in via delle Terme di Caracalla in the rione Celio facing the main entrance to the Baths of Caracalla. It has been the titular church of Cardinal Celestino Aós ...

. 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 A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...

in Rome's

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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