MERRY DEL VAL, Rafael, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church: b. London, 10 Oct. 1865. His father, Don Marquis Merry del Val, was partly of Irish ancestry, being descended from the Irish family Merry established in Spain; and his mother, daughter of Don Pedro Jose de Zulueta, Count de Torre Diaz. although of Spanish origin, was English by education. At the time of Rafael's birth his father was secre tary to the Spanish embassy, London, the boys early studies being pursued in the English metropolis. Later he attended the Jesuit Col lege of Saint Michael, Brussels, afterward taking a course at Ushaw, and was subsequently chosen private tutor to Alfonso XIII. When his father was appointed Spanish Ambassador to the Vatican young Rafael accompanied him to Rome and entered the Gregorian University where, in preparation for the priesthood, he studied philosophy and theology, receiving the degree of doctor of philosophy and theology conferred by this institution. At the age of 24 he was ordained a priest and, although intended for the diocese of Westminster,. was retained in Rome and soon became cameriere participante to Pope Leo XIII. Four years later he was appointed master of the robes and privy cham berlain to Leo XIII, taking up his residence in the Vatican. Despite Monsignor Merry del Val's youth his linguistic knowledge, which in cluded a fine command of English, French, Spanish and Italian, and his cosmopolitan train ing qualified him admirably for the fulfilment of various important missions. In 1887 he accom
panied the papal envoy, Monsignor Scala, to Queen Victoria's jubilee and in 1896 went as papal delegate to Canada to investigate the question of separate Catholic schools in Mani toba, his report to the Holy See calling forth the Affari vos, Leo XIII's famous letter to the Catholics of Canada. It was likewise in 1896 that Monsignor Merry del Val was made secre tary to the commission appointed to determine the validity of Anglican orders. In 1899-1901 he was president of the College for Noble Ecclesiastics, in 1900 was consecrated titular bishop of Nicxa and in 1902 made titular arch bishop of Nicocia. The same year he was appointed papal envoy to the coronation of King Edward VII and his book on the 'Truths of the Papal Claims' was given to the public. In the interregnum following the death of Leo XIII, Cardinal Oreglia, dean of the College of Cardinals, named Archbishop Merry del Val secretary to the conclave of cardinals that elected Pius X. This pontiff appointed the young archbishop Papal Secretary of State'and on 9 Nov. 1903, elevated him to the cardinalate. Cardinal Merry del Val is secretary of the Congregation of the Venerable Fabric of Saint Peter's; archpriest of the Vatican Basilica and also a member of the Commission for the Codification of Canon Law. His term of office as Papal Secretary of State expired at the death of Pius X.