Saint of the Day Online - St Gregorio Barbarigo

Saint of the Day for Sunday, June 18, 2017

Saint Name: Saint Gregorio Barbarigo
Place: Venice, Republic of Venice
Birth: 16 September 1625
Death:  18 June 1697
Feast: 18 June

Saint Gregorio Barbarigo born on 16 September 1625 was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal who served as the Bishop of Bergamo and later as the Bishop of Padua. 

A brilliant student, he embraced a diplomatic career and accompanied the Venetian Ambassador, Contarini, to the Congress of Munster in 1648. He was a frontrunner in both the 1689 and 1691 papal conclaves for his diplomatic and scholastic nature distinguished himself though fell short of becoming pope himself. He became a noted scholar of his distinguished learning and as an able pastor for his careful attention to pastoral initiatives and frequent parish visitations.

He guided his flock with pastoral wisdom and deep understanding. St. Gregory Barbarigo worked unceasingly in carrying out the reforms set forth by the Council of Trent. Through his efforts, the seminaries of both Bergamo and Padua were so, substantially enlarged. At Padua he also added a library and a printing press.

On 9 July 1657, the pope appointed him as the newest Bishop of Bergamo and he received his episcopal consecration as such on 29 July 1657 from Marcantonio Bragadin. But before he accepted the post he decided to celebrate a Mass to discern the will of God while he felt the concrete call to take on the see during the Mass. Barbarigo took possession of his new episcopal see on 2 September through his procurators Rodolfo Roncalli the archdeacon and the vice-capitular Giovanni Battista Lavezzali while he himself arrived there on 27 March 1658. He inspected each of the 279 parishes of the diocese.

Barbarigo died after a brief illness on 18 June 1697 in Padua where he was interred in the diocesan cathedral. His remains were exhumed on 25 May 1725 and found to be incorrupt with his nephew Bishop Giovanfrancesco Barbarigo leading the exhumation initiative.

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