page_title: Rafael Merry del Val
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Rafael Merry del Val / Early life
caption_attribution_description: English: Cardinal Merry del Val and Milenko Vesnić signing the Concordat between the Holy See and Serbia on June 24, 1914 (only a few days before the outbreak of the July Crisis). Left to right: Eugenio Pacelli (at this time Secretary of the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs and true designer of the agreement), Rafael Merry del Val (Vatican Secretary of State), Nicola Canali (his private secretary), Mons. Dionigi Cardon (1865-1928, Provost of Taggia, Liguria, Vatican's negotiator in Belgrade), Milenko Radomar Vesnić (Special Minister of Serbia). Missing on the right (cut off): Lujo Bakotić (Serbian diplomatic agent). The wall portrait shows Pope Pius X who died a few month later. Deutsch: Kardinal Merry del Val und Milenko Vesnić unterzeichnen am 24. Juni 1914 (wenige Tage vor Ausbruch der Julikrise) das Konkordat zwischen dem Heiligen Stuhl und Serbien. V.l.n.r.: Eugenio Pacelli (damals Sekretär der Kongregation für außerordentliche Aufgaben der Kirche und maßgeblicher vatikanischer Unterhändler), Rafael Merry del Val (Kardinalstaatssekretär des Vatikans), Nicola Canali (dessen Privatsekretär), Prälat Dionigi Cardon (1865-1928, Propst von Taggia, Ligurien, vatikanischer Geheimdiplomat in Belgrad), Milenko Radomar Vesnić (serbischer Botschafter in Paris und Sondergesandter Serbiens zum Konkordatsabschluss). Rechts im Bild fehlt (abgeschnitten): Lujo Bakotić (serbischer Diplomat und maßgeblicher Unterhändler). Auf dem Wandbild ist Papst Pius X. zu erkennen, der knapp zwei Monate später starb. Español: El 24 de junio de 1914 (pocos días antes del inicio de la crisis de julio de 1914), el Secretario de Estado, cardenal Merry del Val, y el Ministro especial serbio, Milenko Vesnić, firman el concordato entre la Santa Sede y Serbia. De izq. a derecha: Eugenio Pacelli (futuro Pío XII, en ese momento Secretario de la Congregación de Asuntos Eclesiásticos Extraordinarios y considerado el verdadero autor del acuerdo), Rafael Merry del Val (Secretario de Estado del Vaticano), Nicola Canali (secretario privado del anterior), Mons. Dionigi Cardon (1865-1928, prepósito eclesiástico de Taggia (Liguria), representante católico en Belgrado), Milenko Radomar Vesnić (Embajador de Serbia en París, enviado especial a la firma del concordato). A la derecha falta: Lujo Bakotić (agente diplomático serbio). El retrato en la pared muestra el papa Pío X quien a los dos meses ya estaría muerto. Italiano: Il Segretario di Stato Vaticano, cardinale Merry del Val, ed il ministro straordinario del Regno di Serbia, Milenko Vesnić, firmano il 24 giugno 1914 il concordato tra Santa Sede e Serbia, pochi giorni prima dello scoppio della crisi di luglio del 1914. Da destra a sinistra: Eugenio Pacelli (in quel momento segretario della Congregazione per gli affari ecclesiastici straordinari, principale negoziatore del Vaticano), il cardinale Rafael Merry del Val, Nicola Canali (segretario privato dello stesso cardinale), Mons. Dionigi Cardon (1865-1928, prevosto di Taggia, rappresentante vaticano a Belgrado), Milenko Radomar Vesnić (ambasciatore serbo a Parigi e delegato speciale per la firma dell'accordo). Al lato destro della foto manca: Lujo Bakotić (rappresentante diplomatico della Serbia e negoziatore effettivo dal lato serbo). Sulla parete si vede il ritratto del papa Pio X, che sarebbe morto due mesi più tardi.
context_page_description: Rafael Merry del Val y Zulueta, OL was a Spanish Roman Catholic cardinal.
  Before becoming a cardinal, he served as the secretary of the papal conclave of 1903 that elected Pope Pius X, who is said to have accepted his election through Merry del Val's encouragement. Pius X later appointed him as the
  Cardinal Secretary of State. Merry del Val's writings and example prompted greater popularity for the Litany of Humility, which was for some decades incorrectly attributed to him. He was greatly responsible to restoring the privileges to Hispanic countries, which honor him for the devotions and traditionalist practices he fostered by personally signing and executing their petitions to the Holy Office.
  A cause for his canonization was opened in 1953 at the behest of Pope Pius XII. He now has the title Servant of God.
context_section_description: He was born as Rafael María José Pedro Francisco Borja Domingo Gerardo de la Santíssima Trinidad Merry del Val y Zulueta at the Spanish Embassy in London, England, son of Rafael Carlos Merry del Val as the second of four sons. 
  His mother was Sofia Josefa de Zulueta (died 1925), elder daughter of Pedro José de Zulueta, count of Torre Díaz, of the London bank of Zulueta & Co., and his wife, Sophia Ann Wilcox, who was of Scottish and Dutch ancestry. The Zuluetas were an old Basque family ennobled as counts de Torre Díaz in the nineteenth century. 
  His father Rafael Carlos Merry del Val (1831–1917) was secretary to the Spanish legation in London, a monarchist supporter of Alfonso XII and nobleman. The del Vals were an Aragonese family originally from Zaragoza, claiming descent from a twelfth-century Breton crusader; the surname Merry came from a line of Irish merchants from County Waterford, Ireland, who settled in the late eighteenth century in Seville, Spain. His elder brother Alfonso, was the first Marquess of Merry del Val (b. 1864) and Spanish ambassador to the United Kingdom between 1913 and 1931.
caption: Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII), Merry del Val and Nicola Canali at the 1914 signing of the Serbian concordat underneath a portrait of Pope Pius X.
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