CAVAGNIS, FELICE. - Distinguished jurist, b. at Bordogna (Bergamo) on 13 Jan. 1841, d. at Rome on 29 Dec. 1906. He began his studies in his native land and completed them at the Roman Seminary, obtaining degrees in philosophy, theology, and law. Ordained priest in 1883, he first taught philosophy at the same Roman Seminary and then, following the new wholly Thomistic orientation desired by Leo XIII, turned to the teaching of canon law and later of the institutions of ecclesiastical public law.
The fruit of this latter teaching was C.'s masterpiece: Institutiones iuris publici ecclesiastici (Rome 1883, various subsequent editions), in three volumes, a precise and complete institutional exposition of Catholic doctrine concerning the relations between Church and State. Rector of the Roman Seminary from 1888, in 1893 he was appointed pro-secretary and in 1896 secretary of the S. C. of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs; on 15 Apr. 1901 he was created cardinal.
Besides the aforementioned Institutiones, he wrote: Nozioni di diritto pubblico naturale ed ecclesiastico (Rome 1886); Della natura di società giuridica e pubblica competente alla Chiesa (ibid. 1887); De concordato Napoleonomo pro Gallia (ibid. 1906).