Innocent IX, Pope

INNOCENT IX, Pope. - Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti de Nuce, born on July 20, 1519, into a Veronese family that had moved to Bologna. He was in the retinue of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, an abbreviator of apostolic letters and, having been appointed bishop of Nicastro (Reggio Calabria) on January 26, 1560, he took an active part in the Council of Trent.

In 1566 he was sent as nuncio to Venice and remained there until 1575, helping to conclude with the Signoria the famous league against the Turk that led to the naval victory of Lepanto. Having renounced Nicastro (1575), he was appointed patriarch of Jerusalem (November 12, 1576) and then created cardinal of the SS. Quattro Coronati by Gregory XIII on December 12, 1583. He was one of the inquisitors of the Holy Office and one of the most esteemed prelates of his age. Already considered "papabile" in the Conclave from which Gregory XIV emerged, upon the latter's death, thanks to the favor of the Spanish party, he was elected pontiff on October 29, 1591 and crowned on November 3. He died on December 30 of that same year, worn out by labors beyond his frail health. He remained favorable to Spanish policy, and therefore opposed to Henry IV of France, though he limited the Holy See's contributions in the war against the Huguenots. Some of his writings compiled before his pontificate remained unpublished.