Giulio Boschi was born in
Perugia, as the youngest of the eleven children of Francesco and Giusseppa (née Mancini) Boschi. His siblings included: Assunta (b. 1813), Gaspare (b. 1816), Piera (b. 1818), Flora (b. 1820), Giovanni (b. 1823), Alessandro (b. 1826), Ferdinando (b. 1828), Vincenzo (b. 1831), Cesare (b. 1832), and Nicola (b. 1835). He received both his
first Communion and the
Sacrament of Confirmation from
Archbishop Gioacchino Pecci. Boschi studied at the
seminary in Perugia before being
ordained to the
priesthood by Archbishop Pecci on 25 May 1861. He then went to
Rome to study at the
Pontifical Gregorian University, where he obtained a
doctorate in theology. Upon his return to
Perugia, Boschi did
pastoral work at
the Cathedral, and served as
episcopal master of ceremonies, apostolic
missionary, pro
synodal examiner, and
canon penitentiary. He was made
Archpriest of the
cathedral chapter in November 1878, and
Domestic Prelate of His Holiness in August 1880. On 1 June 1888, Boschi was appointed
Bishop of Todi by
Pope Leo XIII, formerly Archbishop Pecci. He received his
episcopal consecration on the following 11 June from Cardinal
Carlo Laurenzi at Rome. He was later named
Bishop of Senigallia on 29 November 1895, and promoted to
Archbishop of Ferrara on 19 April 1900. Pope Leo created him
Cardinal-Priest of
San Lorenzo in Panisperna in the
consistory of 15 April 1901. Boschi was one of the cardinal electors in the
1903 papal conclave, which selected
Pope Pius X, and was named
Bishop of Comacchio, in addition to his post in
Ferrara, on 7 January 1909. He later
participated in the
conclave of 1914, which resulted in the election of
Pope Benedict XV. In 1919, he resigned as Bishop of
Comacchio and as Archbishop of Ferrara (7 January). Boschi was made
Cardinal Bishop of Frascati on 3 July the same year, and
Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals on 8 March 1920, remaining in both posts until his death. Cardinal Boschi died in Rome at the age of 82. His funeral was held at the
church of
S. Ignazio four days later, on 19 May 1919, and he was then buried at the
chapel of
St. Peter's Basilica in the
Campo Verano cemetery. ==References==