INNOCENT IX

born July 20, 1519, Bologna, Papal States died Dec. 30, 1591, Rome original name Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti pope from Oct. 29 to Dec. 30, 1591. As bishop of Nicastro, Kingdom of Naples, he participated in the Council of Trent in 1562. In 1566 he was a papal ambassador at Venice. He was later employed in the Roman Inquisition (to combat Protestantism) by Pope Gregory XIII, who appointed him patriarch of Jerusalem (1576) and later made him a cardinal (1583). He assumed practically all administration under the ailing pope Gregory XIV, whom he was chosen to succeed as pope. He died two months later.