Francesco Segna
Cardinal
Honorific prefixHis Eminence
TitlePrefect of the Congregation of the Index
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
Appointed13 January 1908
Term end4 January 1911
PredecessorAndreas Steinhuber
SuccessorFrancesco Salesio Della Volpe
Other post
Ordination20 December 1860
Cardinal18 May 1894
Created cardinal byPope Leo XIII
RankCardinal-Deacon
Birth nameFrancesco Segna
Birth date31 August 1836
Birth placePoggio Cinolfo, Papal States
Death date4 January 1911 (aged 74)
Death placeRome, Kingdom of Italy
BuriedCampo Verano
ParentsAngelo Segna
Faustina Bencivenga
Previous post
Alma materRoman Seminary
La Sapienza
Francesco Segna
Cardinal nameFrancesco Segna
DipstyleHis Eminence
OffstyleYour Eminence
SeeNone

Francesco Segna S.T.D. (31 August 1836 - 4 January 1911) was a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archivist of the Holy Roman Church.

Francesco Segna was born in Poggio Ginolfo, Italy. He was of a noble and rich family. He was educated at the Jesuit school, Tivoli and later at the Roman Seminary in Rome where he earned a doctorate in theology and at the La Sapienza University where he received a doctorate in law.[1]

Priesthood

He was ordained to the priesthood on 20 December 1860. He was appointed as professor of dogma at the Pontifical Roman Athenaeum of S. Apollinare in 1869. He served as a canonist of the Apostolic Penitentiary. While in Rome he was also undersecretary of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs from 1881. He was created Domestic prelate of His Holiness in 1884.[1] He left Rome to become the Auditor of the nunciature in Spain in 1884 and was promoted to be the chargé d'affaires in 1887. After his service in Spain he returned to Rome to become an auditor of the Roman Rota in 1888. He returned to the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs to become its secretary (in effect its chief official as the Pope held the title of Prefect) on 13 July 1891.

Cardinalate

He was created and Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Portico[2] by Pope Leo XIII in the consistory of 18 May 1894. He resigned his post at the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs the same day and was appointed Archivist of the Holy Roman Church[1] on 4 July 1896. He was a cardinal elector in the conclave of 1903 that elected Pope Pius X.[2] He was Cardinal protodeacon (that is the longest serving Cardinal-Deacon). He was appointed as Prefect of the Congregation of the Index on 13 January 1908[1] holding the post until his death in 1911.

Publications

  • Francisci Card: Segna Libellus Retractationum[3]
  • De ecclesiae Christi; constitutione et regimine ...[4]

References

  1. ^ Florida International University website, Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church website, Biographical Dictionary of Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903), Consistory of May 18, 1894 (XX)
  2. ^ California State University Northbridge website, Sede Vacante 1903
  3. ^ Amazon website, Francisci Card: Segna Libellus Retractationum, retrieved 2024-01-16
  4. ^ HathiTrust website, De ecclesiae Christi; constitutione et regimine ... (1900)

Lumen Association website Il Cardinale Francesco Segna by Terenzio Flamini (online copy in Italian)