He joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See and was working as the auditor in the nunciature to Brazil when, on 14 November 1915, Pope Benedict XV appointed him Titular Archbishop of Sebastea and Apostolic Delegate to Colombia.

[2] The appointment ended when on 14 December 1925 he was created Cardinal-Priest of San Bartolomeo all'Isola at the age of 54.

His creation was an exception made to the 1917 Code of Canon Law that forbade anyone having a relative in the Sacred College of Cardinals.

On the 18 May 1933 Pope Pius XI appointed him Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura.

He was one of the cardinal electors in the 1939 papal conclave, which selected Pope Pius XII.