Rafael Merry del Val y Zulueta Wilcox born on in London son of Rafael Carlos Merry del Val born on 04 November in San Sebastian and died on 29 August 1917 and Sofia Josefa de Zulueta (born 1864, died 1925). He returned to Belgium in 1878 and was ordained a priest on 30 December 1888. His curial career was one of the most meteoric in ecclesiastical history: he was supernumerary secret cameraman at the age of 21, participating secret cameraman at the age of 26, apostolic delegate to Canada at the age of 31, president of the Academy of Noble Ecclesiastics and archbishop at the age of 34, secretary of state and cardinal at the age of 38, archpriest of St Peter's Basilica and prefect of the Fabrique of St Peter's at the age of 48, secretary of the Holy Office at the age of 49. He was appointed Secretary of State and principal collaborator of Pius X. He died on during an operation for acute appendicitis. The funeral took place in St Peter's Basilica and on 3 March 1930 he was buried in the crypt. On 31 July 1931, a new tomb, donated by the Spanish government, was consecrated by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII. His beatification process was opened on 26 February 1953 and is still pending.
Sources :
https://journals.openedition.org/mefrim/2415
https://fr.qwerty.wiki/wiki/Rafael_Merry_del_Val
https://www.lavenir.net/cnt/dmf20190804_01364065/un-waterlootois-a-failli-devenir-pape
https://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/rafael-merry-del-val/
Source images :
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Merry_del_Val
Background biography :
Géniwal is not seeking to retrace the complete biography of the person in this article, as this would duplicate the work of a multitude of other sites that are far more detailed and precise, and which anyone can easily consult. We limit ourselves here to giving a brief chronological and geographical overview.
