Giovanni Battista Cicala
Biography
Giovanni Battista Cicala was born in Genoa on June 6, 1510, the son of Edoardo Cicala.[1] His family was related to the Cybo and Doria families.[1] He studied under his relative Odoardo Cicala, who later became Bishop of Sagona.[1]
Cicala moved to Rome, where he was named Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura.[1] On September 2, 1535, he was appointed an abbreviator of apostolic letters.[1] From March 8, 1540 until 1551, he was an auditor of the Apostolic Camera.[1]
On December 5, 1543, he was named administrator of the see of Albenga, while retaining the office of auditor.[1] He was consecrated as a bishop on December 21, 1543 in the Sistine Chapel.[1] On January 13, 1547, he arrived at the Council of Trent.[1]
Pope Julius III made him a cardinal priest in the consistory of November 20, 1551.[1] He received the red hat and the titular church of San Clemente on December 4, 1551.[1] On March 13, 1553, he was named papal legate in Campagna.[1] He resigned the administration of Albenga on March 30, 1554, in favor of his nephew Carlo Cicala.[1] He was administrator of the see of Mariana from March 30, 1554 until September 13, 1560, when he resigned in favor of his nephew Nicola Cicala.[1]
He was a participant in the papal conclave of April 1555 that elected Pope Marcellus II; the papal conclave of May 1555 that elected Pope Paul IV; and the papal conclave of 1559 that elected Pope Pius IV.[1]
With Cardinals Giovanni Michele Saraceni and Gianbernardino Scotti, he was charged with resolving a dispute between the Canons Regular of the Lateran and the Benedictines of Monte Cassino, resolving the issue in favor of the former.[1] He was administrator of the see of Sagona from 1565 to 1567.[1] He opted for the titular church of Sant'Agata dei Goti on November 7, 1565.[1]
He participated in the papal conclave of 1565-66 that elected Pope Pius V.[1]
In 1567, he replaced Cardinal Michele Bonelli as the man in charge of examining the cause for the canonization of Diego di San Nicola.[1] On April 30, 1568, he opted for the order of cardinal bishops, receiving the suburbicarian see of Sabina.[1]
He died in Rome on April 8, 1570.[1] He was buried in Santa Maria del Popolo.[1]
References
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