Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani

His Eminence Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani
Prefect of the Congregation of Ceremonies
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Appointed	5 May 1948
Term ended	13 January 1951
Predecessor	Gennaro Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte
Successor	Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Tisserant
Other post(s)	Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati (1936–1951) Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia (1948–1951) Vicar General of Rome (1931–1951) Secretary of the Congregation of the Holy Office (1939–1951) Archpriest of the Arcibasilica di San Giovanni in Laterano (1931–1951) Dean of the College of Cardinals (1948–1951)
Previous post(s)	Titular Archbishop of Seleucia in Isauria (1918–1930) Apostolic Internuncio to Venezuela (1918–1920) Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela (1920) Apostolic Nuncio to Austria (1920–1922) Secretary of the Congregation for Propagation of the Faith (1922–1939) Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria Nuova (1930–1936)
Orders
Ordination	4 April 1896 by Francesco di Paola Cassetta
Consecration	14 April 1918 by Pietro Gasparri
Created cardinal	30 June 1930 by Pius XI
Rank	Cardinal-bishop
Personal details
Born	(1871-10-01)1 October 1871 Rome
Died	13 January 1951(1951-01-13) (aged 79) Rome
Nationality	Italian
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Coat of arms

Styles of Francesco Marchetti-Selvaggiani
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Frascati (suburbicarian), Ostia (suburbicarian)

Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani (1 October 1871 – 13 January 1951)^[1] was an Italian Catholic prelate who served as Secretary of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, Vicar General of His Holiness, Secretary of the Holy Office, and Dean of the College of Cardinals. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1930.

Marchetti Selvaggiani was born in Rome to Vincenzo and Valeria (née Caretti) Marchetti Selvaggiani. A boyhood friend of Eugenio Pacelli (the future Pope Pius XII),^[2] he studied at the Almo Collegio Capranica and Pontifical Gregorian University. Marchetti Selvaggiani was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Francesco di Paola Cassetta on 4 April 1896.^{[citation needed]}

He then served in the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, as a minutante, until 1900. From 1900 to 1906, he was auditor of the Apostolic Delegation to the United States in Washington, D.C. He was attached to the secretariat of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs for a year before becoming auditor of the Apostolic Nunciature to Germany in 1907. Marchetti Selvaggiani was named privy chamberlain of his holiness on 25 December 1914, domestic prelate of his holiness on 7 July 1915, and protonotary apostolic on 26 September 1917. From 1915 to 1918, he was a confidential representative of the Holy See in Bern, Switzerland.^{[citation needed]}

On 16 February 1918, he was appointed Internuncio to Venezuela and Titular Archbishop of Seleucia di Isauria. He received his episcopal consecration in the chapel of the Pontifical Latin American College on the following 14 April from Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, with Archbishops Carlo Pietropaoli and Bonaventura Cerretti serving as co-consecrators. With the raising in rank of the papal diplomatic mission to Venezuela and of the Venezuelan mission to the Holy See, he became nuncio on 21 May 1920. On 4 December of the same year, he became Apostolic Nuncio to Austria.^{[citation needed]}

He was made secretary of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith on 15 December 1922. As secretary, he served as the second-highest official of that dicastery under Cardinal Willem van Rossum, CSSR. In addition to his role as secretary, he served as an extraordinary papal envoy to Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia.^{[citation needed]}

Pope Pius XI created him Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria Nuova in the consistory of 30 June 1930. In late 1930, in response to a growing Protestant presence in Rome, he was also appointed to head the Pontifical Organization for Preservation of the Faith and for the Provision of New Churches in Rome.^[3] On 9 May 1931, Marchetti Selvaggiani was named the Vicar General of Rome; as vicar general, he governed the Diocese of Rome in the name of the pope, who is Bishop of Rome. He advised local priests to avoid theaters and sports games.^[2] He became Archpriest of the Lateran Basilica on 26 May 1931, and Cardinal Bishop of Frascati on 15 June 1936.^{[citation needed]}

Just after Pope Pius XII was elected in 1939, Cardinal Donato Sbarretti, head of the Holy Office, died, and Pius named Cardinal Marchetti-Selvaggiani to the position. On becoming the senior cardinal-bishop in 1948, Marchetti-Selvaggiani became dean of the Sacred College and Bishop of Ostia in addition to his first bishopric see. He also succeeded as prefect of the Sacred Congregation Ceremonial, and continued in all these positions until his death.^{[citation needed]}

Selvaggiani died from a cerebral thrombosis in Rome, at age 79. He is buried in Campo Verano.^{[citation needed]}

• Catholic Hierarchy
• Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church