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

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

of the

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

Lucca 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 has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one o ...

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 Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD 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 , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. 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 post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

La Sapienza University 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 ...

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

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

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and

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

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

Congregation of the Index The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbidde ...

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 convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...

from 1869 to 1870.

Cardinalate

He was created Cardinal-Deacon of ''

S. Giorgio in Velabro San Giorgio in Velabro is a churches of Rome, church in Rome, Italy, dedicated to St. George. The church is located next to the Arch of Janus in the rione of ripa (rione of Rome), Ripa in the ancient Roman Velabrum. According to the Founding of ...

'' by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

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

Congregation of Studies In the Roman Curia, a congregation ( lat, Sacræ Cardinalium Congregationes) is a type of department of the Curia. They are second-highest-ranking departments, ranking below the two Secretariats, and above the pontifical councils, pontifical co ...

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 contai ...

'' 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 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 ...

that elected

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

on 15 July 1878. He served as Camerlengo of the Sacred

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are appoi ...

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 Roman 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-patriarc ...

of Sabina on 24 March 1884.

Death

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

, after a brief illness. 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. Carlo Sacconi was born in Montalto. He was educated at the seminary of Fermo and later at La Sapienza ...

Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals The dean of the College of Cardinals ( la, Decanus Collegii Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalium) presides over the College of Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church, serving as ''primus inter pares'' (first among equals). The position was establi ...

; 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 is currently divided into sections: the Jewish cemetery, the Catholic cemetery, and the monument to the ...

cemetery.

References

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