Giovanni Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano

Giovanni Battista Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano (27 August 1872 – 13 March 1952) was an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of Bologna from 1921 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1923.

His Eminence Giovanni Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano
Archbishop of Bologna
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Archdiocese	Bologna
See	Bologna
Appointed	21 November 1921
Term ended	13 March 1952
Predecessor	Giorgio Gusmini
Successor	Giacomo Lercaro
Other posts	Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Traspontina (1923-52)
Orders
Ordination	8 June 1895 by Giovanni Battista Scalabrini
Consecration	10 February 1907 by Vincenzo Vannutelli
Created cardinal	23 May 1923 by Pope Pius XI
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Birth name	Giovanni Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano
Born	27 August 1872 Piacenza, Kingdom of Italy
Died	13 March 1952 (aged 79) Bologna, Italy
Previous post	Bishop of Gubbio (1907-16) Titular Archbishop of Thebae (1916-21) Almoner of Papal Charities (1916-21)
Alma mater	Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy
Motto	Ut turres

Styles of Giovanni Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Bologna

Biography

Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano was born in Piacenza to a family of nobility; his nephew was Mario Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano, who became a cardinal as well in 1969. He received the Sacrament of Confirmation in 1880, and his first Communion in 1881, while he was a student at Collegio Vida in Cremona. After being given the clerical tonsure in 1888 by Bishop Giovanni Scalabrini, Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano entered the seminary in Piacenza, where he studied philosophy, theology, canon law, scuola tomista, and moral theology.

He continued his education at the Collegio dei Ss. Ambrogio e Carlo at Rome in October 1891, and the Collegio Lombardo, where he studied with Carlo Perosi and Luigi Sincero. Nasalli Rocca was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Scalabrini on 8 June 1895, and then did pastoral work in Piacenza until 1896. He then went to Rome to attend the Pontifical Gregorian University, from where he obtained his doctorate in theology in 1895, and Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, earning a doctorate in canon law in 1898.

The young priest collaborated with Bishop Giacomo Radini-Tedeschi in organising Catholic Action in Rome and the rest of Italy, and, in 1899, he entered the service of the Roman Curia, upon his nomination as an apprendista in the Sacred Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs with its secretary, Felice Cavagnis. He became canon coadjutor of the Liberian Basilica in 1899, rising to become full canon in 1902. Nasalli Rocca was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate of His Holiness on 5 May 1902, and protonotary apostolic on the following 31 May. From 1904 to 1906, he served as Apostolic Visitor for the Sacred Visit of Rome, the dioceses of Ancona, Penne ed Atri, Recanati e Loreto, Teramo e Fermo, Bojano e Campobasso, and for many Italian seminaries.

On 25 January 1907, Nasalli Rocca was appointed Bishop of Gubbio by Pope Pius X. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 10 February from Cardinal Vincenzo Vannutelli, with Archbishop Paolo Barone and Bishop Raffaele Virili serving as co-consecrators, in the Liberian Basilica. He was later named Titular Archbishop of Thebae and Privy Almoner of His Holiness on 6 December 1916, and an Assistant at the Pontifical Throne on 9 December of that same year. After becoming an ecclesiastical assistant to the Italian Catholic Youth in June 1921, Nasalli Rocca was appointed Archbishop of Bologna on 21 November 1921.

Pope Pius XI created him Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria in Traspontina in the consistory of 23 May 1923. He served as papal legate to several religious ceremonies and events between 1923 and 1946, and was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 1939 papal conclave, which selected Pope Pius XII.

Cardinal Nasalli Rocca died in Bologna, at the age of 79. He is buried in the basilica of Madonna di S. Luca.

References

External links

• Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
• Catholic-Hierarchy ^{[self-published]}