Giovanni Battista Cicala

Giovanni Battista Cicala was born in Genoa on 6 June 1510, the son of Edoardo Cicala.[1] His family was related to the Cybo and Doria families.[1] He studied under his relative Odoardo Cicala, who later became Bishop of Sagona.[1]

Cicala moved to Rome, where he was named Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura.[1] On 2 September 1535 he was appointed an abbreviator of apostolic letters.[1] From 8 March 1540 until 1551 he was an auditor of the Apostolic Camera.[1]

On 5 December 1543 he was named administrator of the see of Albenga, while retaining the office of auditor.[1] He was consecrated as a bishop on 21 December 1543 in the Sistine Chapel.[1] On 13 January 1547 he arrived at the Council of Trent.[1]

Pope Julius III made him a cardinal priest in the consistory of 20 November 1551.[1] He received the red hat and the titular church of San Clemente on 4 December 1551.[1] On 13 March 1553 he was named papal legate in Campagna.[1] He resigned the administration of Albenga on 30 March 1554, in favor of his nephew Carlo Cicala.[1] He was administrator of the see of Mariana from 30 March 1554 until 13 September 1560, when he resigned in favor of his nephew Nicola Cicala.[1]

He was a participant in the papal conclave of April 1555 that elected Pope Marcellus II; the papal conclave of May 1555 that elected Pope Paul IV; and the papal conclave of 1559 that elected Pope Pius IV.[1]

With Cardinals Giovanni Michele Saraceni and Gianbernardino Scotti, he was charged with resolving a dispute between the Canons Regular of the Lateran and the Benedictines of Monte Cassino, resolving the issue in favor of the former.[1] He was administrator of the see of Sagona from 1565 to 1567.[1] He opted for the titular church of Sant'Agata dei Goti on 7 November 1565.[1]

He participated in the papal conclave of 1565-66 that elected Pope Pius V.[1]

In 1567, he replaced Cardinal Michele Bonelli as the man in charge of examining the cause for the canonization of Diego di San Nicola.[1] On 30 April 1568 he opted for the order of cardinal bishops, receiving the suburbicarian see of Sabina.[1]

He died in Rome on 8 April 1570.[1] He was buried in Santa Maria del Popolo.[1]

• Fragnito, Gigliola (1981). "Cicala, Giambattista". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 25: Chinzer–Cirni (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.