He also received a doctorate in utroque iuris, both civil and canon law on 22 July 1826.

[2] Only three years later on 22 July 1844, Carafa was elevated to Cardinal and appointed Archbishop of Benevento and Cardinal-Priest of S. Maria degli Angeli[3] Carafa was expelled from Benevento in 1860 after its annexation to the Italian kingdom.

He was also appointed Secretary of Apostolic Briefs on 30 January 1879 and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Military Orders.

On 12 May 1879, Carafa received his final assignment; appointment as Cardinal-Priest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina.

[1] He lay in state in the metropolitan cathedral of Naples and was buried, temporarily, in the chapel of the archconfraternity of the Bianchi dello Spirito Santo, in the new cemetery of that city.