Nocella was born in Rome and studied at the Pontifical Roman Athenaeum S. Apollinare, from where he obtained a doctorate in canon and civil law.
[1] Ordained a priest on 2 September 1849,[2] he joined the faculty of the Pontifical Roman Athenaeum S. Apollinare and later became Secretary of Latin Letters, canon of the Liberian Basilica and of St. Peter's Basilica, and protonotary apostolic de numero participantium.
[1] On 22 June 1899, Nocella was appointed Latin Patriarch of Antioch by Pope Leo XIII.
[2] Leo XIII created him Cardinal Priest of S. Callisto in the consistory of 22 June 1903.
He participated in the 1903 papal conclave, which elected Pope Pius X. Nocella died in Rome, aged 81; he is buried in Campo Verano cemetery.