Soglia Ceroni, Giovanni
SOGLIA CERONI, GIOVANNI
Cardinal, secretary of state; b. Casola Valsenio near Imola (Bologna), Italy, Oct. 11, 1779; d. Osimo (Ancona), Aug. 12, 1856. He became secretary of the Congregation of Studies early, and as a member of the papal household of pius vii was imprisoned at Fenestrelle when that pontiff was dispossessed by Napoleon. He also followed Pius VII to Savona. Leo XII made him titular archbishop of Ephesus and privy almoner. Gregory XVI made him Latin patriarch of Constantinople, secretary of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, and cardinal (1839). Meanwhile he governed the See of Osimo and Cingoli very capably. Pius IX appointed him secretary of state (June 4, 1848) and president of the Council of Ministers. The latter post normally had merely nominal authority, but Soglia, following the pope's wishes, often acted independently of the lay ministers and came into conflict with them. After Pius IX's flight to Gaeta (Nov. 24, 1848), Soglia resigned as secretary of state (November 29) and spent the remainder of his life directing the Diocese of Osimo.
Bibliography: w. sandfuchs, Die Aussenminister der Päpste (Münich 1962).
[a. randall]