Flavio Chigi (Rome, 31 May 1810 – Rome, 15 February 1885) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal, Archbishop and Nuncio.

Biography

Son of Agostino Chigi and Amalia Carlotta Barberini Colonna di Sciarra, Flavio Chigi belonged to the noble Roman

Chigi family The House of Chigi () is an Italian princely family of Sienese origin descended from the counts of Ardenghesca, which possessed castles in the Maremma, southern Tuscany. Later, the family settled in Rome. The earliest authentic mention of them ...

originating from Siena, which included among its illustrious ancestors:

Pope Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII (; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death, in May 1667. He began his career as a vice- papal legate, and he held various d ...

, and several cardinals such as two of his namesakes

Flavio Chigi (1631–1693) Flavio Chigi (10 May 1631 – 13 September 1693) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal and Duke of Ariccia. He was Cardinal-Nephew to Pope Alexander VII and became a powerful political force inside the Roman Catholic Church during the latter half ...

Flavio Chigi (1711–1771) Cardinal Flavio Chigi Flavio Chigi (8 September 1711 – 12 July 1771), Prince of Farnese, Duke of Ariccia and Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal. He was a member of the noble Chigi family, nephew of Fab ...

and

Sigismondo Chigi ''Sigismondo'' is an operatic 'dramma' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa. The opera was not a success and Rossini later re-used some of its music in ''Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra'', ''The Barbe ...

.Treccani: CHIGI, Flavio by Concetta Maria Lipari
/ref> He studied with private tutors and later studied theology with the Jesuits in Tivoli.
Initially initiated into a military career, he was enrolled in the Papal

Noble Guard The Noble Guard () was one of the household guard units serving the Pope, and formed part of the military in Vatican City. It was formed by Pope Pius VII in 1801 as a regiment of heavy cavalry, and abolished in 1970 by Pope Paul VI following Vat ...

until 1848 and then ordained a priest on 17 December 1853 and became a canon of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, acquiring the title of Secret chamberlain of His Holiness. On 19 June 1856 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 ...

Myra Myra (; , ''Mýra'') was a city in Lycia. The city was probably founded by Lycians on the river Myros (; Turkish: ''Demre Çay''), in the fertile alluvial plain between, the Massikytos range (Turkish: ''Alaca Dağ'') and the Aegean Sea. By the ...

. He received episcopal consecration on 6 July of the same year from

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 Pauline Chapel of the Quirinal Palace in Rome, assisted by Alessandro Macioti, titular archbishop of

Colossae Colossae (; ) was an ancient city of Phrygia in southern Asia Minor (Anatolia), Turkey. The Epistle to the Colossians, an early Christian text which identifies its author as Paul the Apostle, is addressed to the church in Colossae. A significa ...

, assessor of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, and by Giuseppe Palermo, O.S.A., titular bishop of

Porphyreon Porphyreon was a town in the late Roman province of Phoenice Prima, and a bishopric that was a suffragan of the metropolitan see of that province, Tyre. It corresponds to present-day Jieh, Lebanon. History Porphyreon is described in the ''Notiti ...

, Papal

Sacristan A sacristan is an officer charged with care of the sacristy, the church, and their contents. In ancient times, many duties of the sacrist were performed by the doorkeepers ( ostiarii), and later by the treasurers and mansionarii. The Decretal ...

.Catholic Hierarchy
/ref> From 1856 to 1861 he was

Apostolic Nuncio to Bavaria The Apostolic Nunciature to Bavaria was an ecclesiastical office of the Roman Catholic Church in Bavaria. It was a diplomatic post of the Holy See, whose representative was called the Apostolic Nuncio to Bavaria, a state – consecutively during t ...

and from 1861 to 1873 he was

Apostolic Nuncio to France The Apostolic Nunciature to France is an ecclesiastical office of the Catholic Church in France. It is a diplomatic post of the Holy See, whose representative is called the Apostolic Nuncio with the rank of an ambassador. History of the Nunciat ...

. In the same year, on 12 November, he became assistant to the Papal Throne. During his nunciature in Bavaria he was also charged with administering the

Apostolic Vicariate of Anhalt Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

. It was he who organized the territory of this small Apostolic vicariate into four parishes.

elevated him to the rank of Cardinal in the consistory of 22 December 1873 and on 15 June 1874 he received the

Titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church () is a Churches in Rome, church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the Holy orders in the Catholic Church, clergy who is created a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal. These are Catholic churches in ...

Santa Maria del Popolo The Parish Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo () is a titular church and a minor basilica in Rome run by the Augustinian order. It stands on the north side of Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous squares in the city. The church is hemmed in b ...

. He became Grand Prior of Rome of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

from 21 December 1876 and shortly after, thanks to him, the association of Italian Knights of the

was founded in Rome, of which his nephew Mario Chigi Albani della Rovere, VII Prince of Farnese, was the first president from 1877 to 1914. In the same period he became

Archpriest The ecclesiastical title of archpriest or archpresbyter belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches and may be somewhat analogo ...

of the

Basilica of Saint John Lateran The Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran (officially the ''Major Papal, Patriarchal and Roman Archbasilica, Metropolitan and Primatial Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of A ...

. He took part in the Conclave of 1878 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 ...

and in 1881 he became

Camerlengo of the Sacred College The Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals was the treasurer of the College of Cardinals in the Catholic Church. The title is based on an Italian word for chamberlain, a word no longer used in secular contexts. The position existed from a ...

from 13 May 1881 to 27 March 1882. Secretary of the Memorials from 10 November 1881, he became Secretary of the Apostolic Briefs on 24 March 1884 and then Grand chancellor of the Pontifical Equestrian Orders. He died in Rome on 15 February 1885 and was laid to rest in his titular church of Santa Maria del Popolo in the capital. His body was temporarily buried in the Verano Cemetery, a burial which later became permanent.The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chigi, Flavio 1810 births 1885 deaths 19th-century Italian cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Pius IX 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Clergy from Rome Apostolic nuncios to France Apostolic Nuncios to Bavaria