He joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See and was chargé d'affaires in the Apostolic Nunciature to Switzerland from 1864 to 1868.

Pope Pius IX appointed him titular archbishop of Mira on 10 October 1874.

He returned to Rome to serve as secretary of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars on 8 June 1877 and was given his next diplomatic assignment as Apostolic Nuncio to Spain on 30 September 1879.

[3] He received his red biretta and the title of Santa Prassede in the consistory of 15 March 1883.

From that day until his death he headed the Apostolic Dataria,[2] an office which the pope employed to grant benefices and marital dispensations.