Rafael Merry del Val
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| Cardinal | ||
|---|---|---|
| See | {{{See}}} | |
| Title | Cardinal-Priest of S.Pressede | |
| Period in office | 1903-1930 | |
| Predecessor | Gaetano Aloisi Masella | |
| Successor | Rafaelle Carlo Rossi, O.C.D. | |
| Created cardinal | 1903 | |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest | |
| Personal | ||
| Date of birth | October 10, 1865 | |
| Place of birth |  London, England, UK |
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| Date of death | February 26, 1930 (aged 64) | |
| Place of death |  Spain |
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Servant of God Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val y Zulueta (October 10, 1865 – February 26, 1930) was a Roman Catholic Cardinal from 1903 until his death. Before becoming a Cardinal, he served as Secretary of the Conclave that elected Saint Pius X, who is said to have accepted his election as Pope through Merry del Val's encouragement; the same pope later appointed Merry del Val as the Cardinal Secretary of State. Cardinal Merry del Val composed the Litany of Humility, which continues to be a prayer popularly featured in prayerbooks.
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[edit] Early life
He was born as Rafael María José Pedro Francisco Borja Domingo Gerardo de la Santísma Trinidad Merry del Val y Zulueta in London, England, the second of four sons. His mother was Sofia Josefa de Zulueta (d. 1925), elder daughter of Pedro José de Zulueta, count of Torre Díaz, of the London bank of Zulueta & Co., and his wife, Sophia Ann Wilcox, who was of Scottish and Dutch ancestry. The Zuluetas were an old Basque family ennobled as counts de Torre Díaz in the nineteenth century. His father was Rafael Merry del Val (1831–1917), Marquis of Merry del Val, secretary to the Spanish legation in London, a monarchist supporter of Alfonso XII and nobleman. The del Vals were an Aragonese family originally from Saragossa claiming descent from a twelfth-century Breton crusader; the name of Merry came from a line of Irish merchants from County Waterford, Ireland, who settled in the late eighteenth century in Seville. Merry del Val's elder brother Alfonso, marquess of Merry del Val (b. 1864), was Spanish ambassador to Great Britain between 1913 and 1931.
[edit] Education
Del Val lived in the United Kingdom until 1878. He was ordained a priest on October 30, 1888, after achieving a doctorate in philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University, which he later followed up with a doctorate in theology, philosophy and later a licentiate in Canon law.
[edit] Archbishop and Cardinal
In 1891 he became a privy chamberlain and member of the Pontifical Family, having served as a secretary in nunciatures. His continued service in diplomatic posts and in the Roman Curia saw him named Apostolic Delegate to Canada and domestic prelate in 1897, and President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (an institution connected to the Roman Curia, in charge of the formation of priests who are to serve in the Diplomatic Corps of the Holy See) in 1899.
| Styles of Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val y Zulueta |
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Nicaea (titular) |
He was appointed Titular Archbishop of Nicaea on April 19, 1900 and consecrated a bishop by Cardinal Mariano Rampolla, secretary of State of Pope Leo XIII.
In 1902 he was the Papal representative to the coronation of King Edward VII.
He served as secretary of the conclave of 1903 that elected Pope Pius X, and almost immediately thereafter was named pro-Secretary of State by the new Pope. That November he became the first Cardinal elevated by the Pope (a traditional reward to the secretary of a conclave) and full Cardinal Secretary of State, replacing Rampolla, who was moved to the post of Secretary of the Holy Office.
From 1907's Pascendi Dominici Gregis until 1914 Merry del Val also was active in combatting modernism among the clergy, especially among the university professors who spread this immanentist collection of heresies.
He remained Secretary of State throughout the pontificate of Pius X, and when Pope Benedict XV, an old associate of Rampolla, was elected in the conclave of 1914 he was not reappointed. However, Benedict XV appointed him Secretary of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office on October 14, 1914 in succession to his replacement as Secretary of State, Domenico Cardinal Ferrata, who had in turn replaced Rampolla in the Holy Office on Rampolla's death.
The post of Secretary was then the highest ranking office of the Congregation after the Pope, who held the title of Prefect himself. The secretary was responsible for running the daily affairs of the Holy Office.
Merry del Val was confirmed in the position of Secretary of the Holy Office upon the election of Pope Pius XI in 1922, and remained in this position for the rest of his life.
He died on February 26, 1930 of appendicitis. He is buried in the Vatican Grottoes under St. Peter's Basilica.
[edit] External links and references
- Entry at Catholic-Hierarchy.org site
- Biography at The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church site
- Cardinal Merry del Val
| Preceded by Mariano Rampolla |
Cardinal Secretary of State 1903-1914 |
Succeeded by Domenico Cardinal Ferrata |
| Preceded by Domenico Cardinal Ferrata |
Secretary of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office 14 October 1914 - 26 February 1930 |
Succeeded by Donato Cardinal Sbarretti |
