 Confalonieri was intended to be appointed Substitute, or Deputy, Secretary of State in 1937, but the position instead went to Giovanni Battista Montini.Moreover, when Pope Pius XII invited Confalonieri to become Archbishop of Modena and Abbot of Nonantola on 16 December 1939, he declined.On 27 March 1941, Confalonieri was appointed Archbishop of L'Aquila by Pope Pius XII.