Luigi Jacobini

infobox cardinalstyles
cardinal name=Luigi Cardinal Jacobini
dipstyle=His Eminence
offstyle=Your Eminence
relstyle=Cardinal
See=Thessalonica (titular) |

Luigi Cardinal Jacobi (January 6, 1832—February 28, 1887) was an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Vatican Secretary of State from 1880 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1879.

Biography

Born in Genzano, Luigi Jacobini studied at the seminary in Albano before being ordained to the priesthood in Rome on September 23, 1854. He then further his studies at the "Sapienza" University in Rome, from where he obtained his doctorate in theology (July 20, 1857) and his doctorate in civil and canon law (June 25, 1858). Jacobini then entered the Roman Curia, serving as a staff member in the Secretariat of Ecclesiastical Affairs. He was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate of His Holiness, and also became Secretary of both the Congregations of "Propaganda Fide" and of Oriental Rites.

In 1862, he was appointed secretary to the first commission for the preparation of the "Syllabus". Later named a canon of the Lateran Basilica, Jacobini served as a referendary on the Apostolic Signatura as well. In 1867, he was charged with the weighty task of gathering and publishing the answers of the world's bishops to the questionnaire for the preparation of the First Vatican Council. During the Council, Jacobini was secretary of the preparatory commission for Church discipline, also serving as Undersecretary of the Council from 1869 to 1870.

On March 20, 1874, Jacobini was appointed Titular Archbishop of "Thessalonica" by Pope Pius IX. He received his episcopal consecration on the following March 24 from Costantino Cardinal Patrizi. He was named Nuncio to Austria three days later, on March 27, 1874. Pope Leo XIII created Jacobini Cardinal Priest of "S. Maria della Vittoria" in the consistory of September 19, 1879. He was decorated with the Grand Cross of the Austrian Order of Sankt Stefan in 1880. On December 16 of that same year, Jacobini was appointed Vatican Secretary of State (essentially the Pope's prime minister) and Administrator of the Wealth of the Holy See.

The Cardinal died in Rome, at age 55, from an illness that had lasted nearly two years. Buried on March 6, 1887, he is buried in the Chapel of the Congregation of "Propaganda Fide" in the Campo di Verano cemetery.