Roman Catholic Cardinal. A native of Soriano nel Cimino, Serafino Cretoni studied at the Pontifical Roman Athenaeum of S. Apollinare, from where he earned his doctorate in theology. Fluent in English, French, Greek and Spanish, he was ordained priest in 1857 and in the years which followed he served as professor of philosophy at the Pontifical Roman Urban Athenaeum of the Propaganda Fide, vice-substitute of the Secretariat of State and secretary of the Commission for Oriental Affairs of the First Vatican Council. Appointed canon of the chapters of the Patriarchal Liberian Basilica and of St. Peter's, he also served as archivist of the Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda Fide. In 1877, he was sent by Pope Pius IX, to attend the General Chapter of the Armenian Mekhitariats, which was held in Venice. Named under-secretary of State on September 19, 1879, secretary of the Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda Fide for the Section of Oriental Rites on November 16, 1880, and assessor of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office on March 20, 1889, at the age of fifty nine, he was elected archbishop of the titular see of Damascus, receiving his episcopal consecration on February 5, 1893. Appointed Apostolic Nuncio in Spain on the following May 9, Pope Leo XIII created him a cardinal priest in the consistory of June 22, 1896, with the title of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals between April 19, 1900, and April 15, 1901, the Cardinal was assigned as prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Relics on October 23, 1900, and as prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Rites on January 7, 1903. Upon his death, his body was exposed in the church of San Carlo ai Catinari followed by interment at the Campo Verano Cemetery.