FERRATA, Domenico. — Cardinal, born at Gradoli (Viterbo) on 4 March 1847, died in Rome on 10 October 1914. He studied with the Jesuits at Orvieto, then at the Seminary of Montefiascone, and earned degrees in Rome in theology, philosophy, and canon law. In 1879 he was sent as auditor of the nunciature to Paris; in 1883 he was appointed Undersecretary for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs. From 1883 to 1888 he traveled four times to Switzerland to resolve issues concerning the dioceses of Basel and the Canton of Ticino.
Consecrated Archbishop of Thessalonica, he became nuncio to Brussels in 1883 to restore diplomatic relations between Belgium and the Holy See. Appointed Secretary for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs in 1889, two years later he was transferred to Paris as nuncio, executing and partly shaping the policy of the “ralliement” promoted by Leo XIII to reconcile the Republic with the Church. He played an important role in the drafting of the Code of Canon Law. Benedict XV, upon his election, chose him as Secretary of State, but Ferrata died a few days later.
He left a volume of *Discorsi* (Rome 1910) and three substantial volumes of *Mémoires* covering his diplomatic career up to his elevation to the cardinalate, published posthumously (ibid. 1920), which Benedict XV recommended as “a guide and example to ecclesiastics called to diplomacy.”