After immigrating to the United States, he was a professor of divinity at St. John's College in Fordham, New York.
On March 11, 1857, Cicaterri was appointed Santa Clara University's third president and inherited the financial woes created by construction projects.
Cicaterri was removed from the University's presidency in 1861 due to Rome's displeasure.
On August 15, 1869, Cicaterri became the sixteenth master of novices of the Jesuits' Maryland Province, succeeding Joseph O'Callaghan.
[1] In January 1873, he was sent to the College of the Sacred Heart in Woodstock, Maryland, where he died July 15, 1873.