Ferrari, Bartolomeo, ven.
FERRARI, BARTOLOMEO, VEN.
Cofounder of the barnabites; b. Milan, 1499; d. there, Nov. 25, 1544. He was born of a noble family, but was orphaned as a young child. He studied law at Pavia, and in 1524 he showed much charity and courage in aiding the plague-stricken in Milan. Dedication to works of mercy led him and his friend Antonio Morigia to join the Confraternity of Eternal Wisdom. There with Anthony zaccaria they united in the foundation of a congregation of clerks regular to work for moral reform and the defense of the faith against heresy. The strong support of Bartolomeo's brother, Basilio Ferrari, employed in the papal court, helped their project, and the new order was approved by the bull Vota per quae vos of Clement VII (Feb. 18, 1533). Ferrari was ordained c. 1532 and elected general in 1542. He consolidated the new order, formed new recruits and obtained privileges from Paul III and Emperor Charles V. He was venerated by the people after the declaration of his virtues by Urban VIII in 1634.
Bibliography: i. gobio, Vita del ven. PP. B. Ferrari e G. A. Morigia (Milan 1858). o. m. premoli, Storia dei Barnabiti nel cinquencento (Rome 1913).
[u. m. fasola]