Giuseppe Valerga

Who was Giuseppe Valerga?

Giuseppe Valerga was the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1847 until his death in 1872. He was the first resident Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since the crusades. He held the title of one of the fathers of the First Vatican Council.

Valerga was born in Loano. In 1836 he was ordained a priest. He studied at the Albenga Seminary and at Sapienza University of Rome. Prior to receiving his appointment at Jerusalem, Valerga had been part of Propaganda Fide and had also worked with the Chaldean Catholic Church, in what is today Iraq.

While he was the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, he was also the Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, a Franciscan Order. In his efforts to reestablish the Latin Patriarchate, Valerga worked closely with the Cimowskys. He strove to make the Catholic faith the religion of the Palestinian villagers.