Giuseppe Valerga

Patriarch Giuseppe Valerga

Giuseppe Valerga (9 April 1813 – 2 December 1872) was the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1847 until his death in 1872. He was the first resident Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since the Crusades. He held the title of one of the fathers of the First Vatican Council.

Valerga was born in Loano. In 1836 he was ordained a priest. He studied at the Albenga Seminary and at Sapienza University of Rome. Prior to receiving his appointment at Jerusalem, Valerga had been part of Propaganda Fide and had also worked with the Chaldean Catholic Church, in what is today Iraq.

While serving as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, he was at the same time the Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, which had recently been reconstituted by Pope Pius IX.^[1]

In his efforts to reestablish the Latin Patriarchate, Valerga worked closely with the Cimowskys. He strove to make the Catholic faith the religion of the Palestinian villagers.

Co-Cathedral

Valerga envisioned the importance of providing a new church to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The Co-Cathedral of the Most Holy Name of Jesus was constructed and consecrated on February 11, 1872, the 25th anniversary of his Patriarchal consecration. The Co-Cathedral has continued to be the principal or “mother” church of the Diocese of Jerusalem, and the church in which the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem has his official chair (cathedra).

References

Sources

• Catholic Hierarchy entry
• Chapter on Valerga at the Wayback Machine (archived October 28, 2009), geocities.com
• The Co-Cathedral of Jerusalem

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Custodian of the Holy Land	Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem 1847–1872	Succeeded by Giovanni Vincenzo Bracco