Giuseppe Maria Doria Pamphili is part of the illustrious family of the
Counts of Melfi and the
Doria-Pamphilj family, which includes many cardinals. Giuseppe Pamphili was the brother of Cardinal
Antonio Maria Doria Pamphili and the uncle of Cardinal
Giorgio Doria Pamphili. He was appointed the
titualar archbishop of Seleucia in February 1773 at the age of 21, while not yet a priest. He was ordained bishop in July and August. In September, he was appointed
apostolic nuncio in
France, a position he held until 1785. He had an epistular exchange with
Benjamin Franklin. In some of those letters, Franklin declared his availability to accept a French priest, chosen by the Papacy, to be sent in America in order to manage all the spiritual affairs pertaining the Roman Catholics who wish to establish themselves within the United States. The French priest had the faculty to appoint a
suffragan American as his collaborator.
Pope Pius VI created him cardinal during the
Papal Consistory of 14 February 1785. He served as Cardinal Secretary of State of the
Holy See from 1797 to 1799. In 1799 he was arrested by the French and deported to Genoa. Cardinal Doria Pamphili was then appointed by
Napoleon in 1813 as an intermediary to negotiate the
Concordat of Fontainebleau. Giuseppe Doria Pamphili participated in the
conclave of 1799–1800 during which
Pius VII was elected pope. == Episcopal lineage ==