Cardinal Secretary of State

Pietro Cardinal Parolin (February 22, 2014)

Coat of arms of Pietro Cardinal Parolin

The Cardinal Secretary of State , officially State Secretary of His Holiness , heads the State Secretariat of the Holy See , which is the most important dicastery of the Roman Curia and is therefore principally headed by a cardinal , which is why the term Cardinal Secretary of State has become established in German. If the post of cardinal secretary of state becomes vacant, a pro-state secretary (who is not yet a cardinal) is occasionally appointed by the Pope .

The Cardinal Secretary of State is largely responsible for the political and diplomatic activities of the Holy See, which is why he is informally referred to as number two in the Vatican.

The term of office ends either with the dismissal by the Pope, the acceptance of the resignation or automatically with the occurrence of a vacancy . After the end of this period, the newly elected Pope is free to reaffirm the former cardinal state secretary in his office. In three cases so far ( 1655 , 1667 and 1939 ) a cardinal secretary of state has been elected Pope.

The current incumbent is the Vatican diplomat Pietro Parolin .

List of Cardinal Secretaries of State

Silvio Valenti (until 1605)
Scipione Borghese as cardinal depository (1605–1621)
Ludovico Ludovisi as cardinal depository (1621–1623)
Lorenzo Magalotti first Secretary of State alongside a Cardinal Nepot (1624–1628)
Giovanni Giacomo Panciroli (1644-1651)
Fabio Chigi , who later became Pope Alexander VII (1651–1655)
Giulio Rospigliosi , later Pope Clement IX. (1655-1667)
Decio Azzolini the Younger (1667–1669)
Federico Borromeo the Younger (1670–1673)
Francesco Nerli the Younger (1673–1676)
Alderano Cibo (1676–1689)
Giambattista Rubini (1689–1691), nephew of Pope Alexander VIII.
Fabrizio Spada (1691-1700)
Fabrizio Paolucci (1700–1721)
Giorgio Spinola (1721-1724)
Fabrizio Paolucci (1724–1726) (2nd term)
Niccola Maria Lercari (1726-1730)
Antonio Banchieri (1730-1733)
Giuseppe Firrao (1733-1740)
Silvio Valenti Gonzaga (1740–1756)
Alberico Archinto (1756-1758)
Ludovico Maria Torriggiani (1758–1769)
Lazzaro Opizio Pallavicini (1769–1785)
Ignazio Gaetano Boncompagni-Ludovisi (1785–1789)
Francesco Saverio de Zelada (1789–1796)
Ignazio Busca (1796–1797)
Giuseppe Doria Pamphilj (1797–1799)
Ercole Consalvi , Pro-Secretary of State (1800); Cardinal Secretary of State (1800–1806)
Filippo Casoni (1806-1808)
Giulio Gabrielli (1808-1814)
- Giuseppe Doria Pamphilj , Pro-Secretary (1808)
- Bartolomeo Pacca , Pro-State Secretary (1808–1814)
Ercole Consalvi (1814-1823)
Giulio Maria della Somaglia (1823–1828)
Tommaso Bernetti (1828–1829)
Giuseppe Albani (1829-1830)
Tommaso Bernetti , Pro-State Secretary (1831); Cardinal Secretary of State (1831–1836)
Luigi Lambruschini (1836–1846)
Tommaso Pasquale Gizzi (1846–1847)
Gabriele Ferretti (1847-1848)
Giuseppe Bofondi (1848)
Giacomo Antonelli (1848)
Antonio Francesco Orioli (1848) (ad interim)
Giovanni Soglia Ceroni (1848)
Giacomo Antonelli (1848–1876)
Giovanni Simeoni (1876-1878)
Alessandro Franchi (1878)
Lorenzo Nina (1878-1880)
Lodovico Jacobini (1880-1887)
Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro (1887–1903)
Rafael Merry del Val y Zulueta (1903-1914)
Domenico Ferrata (1914)
Pietro Gasparri (1914-1930)
Eugenio Pacelli , later Pope Pius XII. (1930–1939) (also cardinal chamberlain )
Luigi Maglione (1939-1944)
Office not occupied (1944–1952), Pius XII. took over the agendas himself
- Domenico Tardini , Pro-State Secretary for Extraordinary Church Affairs (1952–1958)
- Giovanni Battista Montini , who later became Pope Paul VI, Pro-State Secretary for Ordinary Affairs (1952–1954)
Domenico Tardini (1958–1961)
Amleto Giovanni Cicognani (1961–1969)
Jean-Marie Villot (May 2, 1969 - March 9, 1979)
Agostino Casaroli , Pro-State Secretary (April 28 - June 30, 1979); Cardinal Secretary of State (July 1, 1979 - December 1, 1990)
Angelo Sodano , Pro-State Secretary (December 1, 1990 - June 28, 1991); Cardinal Secretary of State (June 29, 1991 - September 15, 2006)
Tarcisio Bertone (September 15, 2006 - October 15, 2013) (also Cardinal Chamberlain)
Pietro Parolin , Pro-State Secretary (October 15, 2013 - February 21, 2014); Cardinal Secretary of State (since February 22, 2014)

Web links

State Secretariat. In: Vaticanhistory.de.

Individual evidence

↑ Martin Klingst, Patrik Schwarz, Miguel Zamorano: The cardinal question. In: The time. No. 15/2010, April 8, 2010, p. 4.
↑ ^a ^b Pietro Parolin appointed as the new State Secretary. In: Vatican Radio. August 31, 2013, accessed August 31, 2013.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Philippe Bountry: Secrétariats de Curie . In: Souverain et pontife. Recherches prosopographiques sur la Curie Romaine à l'âge de la Restoration (1814–1846) . Publications de l'École française de Rome, Rome 2002, ISBN 978-2-7283-0666-4 , V.1 - Secrétairerie d'État, p. 221–236 , doi : 10.4000 / books.efr.1860 (French).

[1] Martin Klingst, Patrik Schwarz, Miguel Zamorano: The cardinal question. In: The time. No. 15/2010, April 8, 2010, p. 4.

[ppa-2] Pietro Parolin appointed as the new State Secretary. In: Vatican Radio. August 31, 2013, accessed August 31, 2013.

[Bountry-3] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Philippe Bountry: Secrétariats de Curie . In: Souverain et pontife. Recherches prosopographiques sur la Curie Romaine à l'âge de la Restoration (1814–1846) . Publications de l'École française de Rome, Rome 2002, ISBN 978-2-7283-0666-4 , V.1 - Secrétairerie d'État, p. 221–236 , doi : 10.4000 / books.efr.1860 (French).