Filippo Mocenigo

Filippo Mocenigo was born on 11 April 1524 in Venice in the noble Mocenigo family.^[1] His father, Pietro, belonged to the San Samuele branch of the family, his uncle Tommaso was Procurator of Saint Mark (the second office in Venice after the doge),^[2] and his cousin, Alvise, was Ambassador of Venice at Rome and later doge from 1570 to 1577. Filippo's mother was Chiara of the noble House of Contarini. Filippo studied philosophy at the University of Padua and he took up a career in the administration of the Republic of Venice: Savio agli Ordini in 1552, extraordinary ambassador in Poland the year after, Magistrato alle pompe in 1554 and ambassador in Savoy in 1559.^[1]

Still a layman, he was proposed by the government of the Republic of Venice as Latin Archbishop of Nicosia, capital of the island of Cyprus. The appointment by Pope Pius IV followed on 13 March 1560,^[3] He received the pallium on 26 April and he was consecrated bishop in Rome on 1 May 1560 by Cardinal Gianbernardino Scotti.^[2]

Cyprus was a Venetian possession since 1473, and two different ecclesiastical hierarchies were present: the Latin, with three bishoprics under the episcopal see of Nicosia: Famagusta, Limassol and Paphos, and the Greek Orthodox, four bishops formally subordinated to the Latin Archbishop of Nicosia and followed by most of the population. The Latin bishops usually did not resided in Cyprus, and this helped the pacific coexistence of the two different hierarchies.^[2] Filippo left Italy for Cyprus on 10 August 1560^[4] and entered in Nicosia on 17 September along many followers, including two Jesuits. His first target in Cyprus was to raise the instruction of the youngs teaching them a correct Latin doctrine.

In 1561 Filippo returned in Italy to participate to the last period of the Council of Trent, where he entered on 9 September 1562. At the council Filippo spoke in favour of the obligation of bishops to reside in their diocese as a divine commandment, and against bishops having plurality of benefices. After the end of the council, Filippo went to Rome where he collaborated with the Holy Office,^[1] and where on 19 May 1564 he was also appointed as General Commissioner of the Inquisition in Cyprus.^[2] He was again in Cyprus on 21 September 1564.^[4]

In Cyprus Filippo Mocenigo, who however was respectful about the Orthodox rite and practices, planned to reestablish the subordination of the Orthodox bishops to the Latin ones, and to eliminate the corruption that was widespread both among the Orthodox and Latin hierarchies. This last goal put him at odds with the local Venetian government who had a good relationship with the Orthodox clergy. On 21 April 1566 the Council of Ten, to keep harmony with the local population, ordered him to maintain the existing ecclesiastical order, to postpone the publication of the decrees of the Council of Trent in the Orthodox rite churches and not to inform the Roman Curia of the disputes with the local Orthodox clergy.^[2] Filippo agreed to postpone the publication of the decrees of the Council of Trent, but he remained determined to pursue the other objectives. On 16 January 1567 he convened a synod in the cathedral of Nicosia where participated all leaders of all Christian rites present in the island. In that synod, Filippo tried to establish a committee of six people in charge of examining the candidates for all ecclesiastical appointments, but the Greek bishop of Solià, Neofitus Logaràs, who ruled over the Orthodox population of Nicosia, fiercely opposed and the two bishops argued heavily in public.^[2] As a result of this dispute, Filippo sent Logaras to trial before the Roman Curia, but the Venetian government brought the trial before the Council of Ten, which in February 1568 admonished Logaras but gave him 200 ducats as an act of friendship. The Pope learned of the affair, and protested harshly towards Venice. To ensure that Filippo Mocenigo was more loyal to the Republic of Venice than to the Pope, Filippo was summoned to Venice before the Senate and the Doge, where he arrived in May 1568.^[2] Filippo never returned to Cyprus.

In 1570, a full-scale Ottoman assault brought the island under Ottoman control. Ottoman forces capturing Cyprus massacred many Greek and Armenian Christian inhabitants.^[5] On 1 July 1570, Nicosia came under the rule of the Ottomans, and the previous Latin elite were destroyed. Filippo Mocenigo, who was in Italy during this war, lost his archbishopric as well as most of his incomes but saved his life.