Giuseppe Firrao (clergyman, 1670)

Giuseppe Firrao (born July 12, 1670 in Luzzi , † October 24, 1744 in Rome ) was an Italian clergyman, diplomat of the Holy See , Bishop of Aversa and cardinal secretary of state .

Life

Firrao came from a noble Neapolitan family and was the second of the four children of Pietro Firrao, Prince of Sant'Agata , and his wife Isabella Caracciolo. His great-nephew of the same name, Giuseppe Firrao (1736-1830), later also became a cardinal. At a young age he moved to Rome and attended the Seminario Romano , later he studied at the University of La Sapienza and received his doctorate there on January 22, 1695 as Doctor iuris utriusque . On March 3, 1695, he entered the service of the Roman Curia as a trainee lawyer at the courts of the Apostolic Signature . 1697 he became a prolegate in Urbino , on February 22, 1698 governor of Loreto , on May 31, 1701 governor of Ancona , on December 17, 1702 governor of the area of Civitavecchia and Tolfa . From July 12, 1706 to June 16, 1709 he was governor of Perugia and Umbria . On April 18, 1709 he became a relator of the Consulta .

The ordination received Giuseppe Firrao on 2 September 1714. On the same day he was appointed Titular Archbishop of Nicaea appointed. He was ordained bishop on April 11th of the same year in the Jesuit college in Basel by the Bishop of Basel Johann Konrad von Reinach-Hirtzbach ; Co-consecrators were Johann Christoph Haus , auxiliary bishop in Basel, and Konrad Ferdinand Geist von Wildegg , auxiliary bishop in Constance . Giuseppe Firrao worked as Nuncio in Switzerland from October 23, 1716 . From September 28, 1720 he was nuncio in Portugal. He was transferred to the bishopric of Aversa on December 11, 1730 with the personal title of archbishop , but gave up on this diocese on September 26, 1734.

Pope Clement XII. created him in the consistory of September 24, 1731 as cardinal priest and awarded him the red hat on November 19 of the same year and San Tommaso in Parione as the titular church . On October 4, 1733, he was appointed Cardinal Secretary of State in place of the late Cardinal Antonio Banchieri and remained so until February 6, 1740. From 1738 until his death he was Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and Regulars . He was a participant in the 1740 conclave , which Pope Benedict XIV elected. On August 29, 1740 he opted for the titular church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme . From January 2, 1741 to January 22, 1742 he was chamberlain of the Holy College of Cardinals .

Giuseppe Firrao died on October 24, 1744 at around 6 a.m. He was buried in front of the main altar of his titular church Santa Croce in Gerusalemme .

literature

• Dario Busolini:  FIRRAO, Giuseppe. In: Fiorella Bartoccini (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 48:  Filoni-Forghieri. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1997.

Web links

• Firrao, Giuseppe. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed February 15, 2019.
• Entry on Giuseppe Firrao on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on February 15, 2019.
• Roger Liggenstorfer: Firrao, Giuseppe. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

predecessor	Office	successor
Antonio Banchieri	Cardinal Secretary of State 1733–1740	Silvio Valenti Gonzaga
Innico Caracciolo	Bishop of Aversa 1730–1735	Ercole Michele d'Aragona