Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo

Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo

Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo (29 April 1658 at Venice – 1730) was an Italian cardinal and nephew of Saint Gregorio Barbarigo (1625–97).

Biography

Born to a patrician family of Venice on 29 April 1658, Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo was the nephew of Cardinal Gregorio Barbarigo. Giovanni Francesco first entered the diplomatic service and was twice sent as representative of the Venetian Republic to the court of King Louis XIV of France. However, he soon turned to an ecclesiastical career, where, if not the great ardor of his vocation, at least illustrious family traditions called him.[1]

In 1674 he became Primicerius of the Church of St. Mark at Venice, and the same year, was named Bishop of Verona by Pope Innocent XII. Faced with the difficulties and practical problems of his daily apostolic work, he always returned to the great model that could not help but occupy his mind, that of his great uncle Gregory Barbarigo, who in turn, had taken Charles Borromeo as his model. Thus, in his religious action and in his ecclesiastical activity, the methods and themes that dominated the Venetian Church in its counter-reformation action are seen again. He greatly increased the number of clerics; paying particular attention to the seminaries of the diocese.[1] Barbarigo also assisted Saint Rose Venerini to found ten schools for poor young women and girls in Montefiascone and the villages surrounding Lake Bolsena between 1692 to 1694; other schools were also founded in Lazio. Barbarigo did the fundraising and Venerini publicized the schools to families, trained the teachers, and organized the schools.[2]

Devoted to Prayer, preaching, personal witness of faith, as practical ideals of action of the Counter-Reformation, he was able to translate and apply with commitment and dedication to his Episcopal See. He personally visited hospitals and provided relief in the most diverse situations, such as during an epidemic that struck his diocese in 1702. He provided for the rest of the territories entrusted many missions, which he assigned entirely to the fathers of the Society of Jesus. On every occasion he became a strong supporter of the rights and prerogatives of the Church with regard to power and civil order, defending ecclesiastical immunities with particular attention.[1]

He was transferred to Brescia in 1714, created cardinal in 1720, and in 1723 became a successor of his uncle in the See of Padua.[3] He was zealous in promoting the cause of beatification of his uncle, and lent his patronage to the production of literary works. For example, he commissioned the Jesuit scholar Giovanni Saverio Valcavi (1701-1781) with publishing the elegy of his family: Nuraismata vivorum illustrium ex Barabadica Gente in 1732 in Pavia.[4] To his suggestion was due the inception of the ecclesiastical history of Verona, and the works of St. Zeno, Bishop of Verona (362-380), were reprinted at his expense in Padua, in 1710.[5]

Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo died in 1730.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c Barbarigo, Giovanni Francesco", Treccani
  2. ^ Farmer, David Hugh, ed. (1996). Butler's Lives of the Saints: May (5 ed.). Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK: Burns and Oates. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-86012-254-8.
  3. ^ The Dictionary of Biographical Reference, by Phillips, Lawrence Barnett. S. Low, Son, & Marston, 1871, page 96.
  4. ^ Nuovo Dizionario Istorico, Va = Uz, Tomo XXI, translated from French, Remondini of Venice (1796); pages 12.
  5. ^ a b Weber, N. (1907). Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo. Catholic Encyclopedia New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved July 23, 2019 from New Advent.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Verona
1698–1714 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Brescia
1714–1723 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Cardinal-Priest of Santi Marcellino e Pietro
1721–1730 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Padua
1723–1730 		Succeeded by