VULPES, ANGELO

Theologian and Mariologist; b. Montepiloso in the kingdom of Naples (exact date not known); d. Naples, April 19, 1647. He entered the Order of Friars Minor Conventual at an early age. In 1614 his superiors sent him to St. Bonaventure College in Rome. After a brief stay in Assisi where he taught sacred theology, he was sent to Naples as regent of the Collegio di San Lorenzo, an office he held for 25 years, during which he expounded the Books of Sentences of Duns Scotus. Besides other works he wrote a summa of theology entitled Sacrae Theologiae Summa Ioannis Duns Scoti … et Commentaria quibus eius doctrina elucidatur, comprobatur, defenditur. It is an immense work [12 v. in folio (Naples 1622–46)] patterned after the order and method of St. Thomas. Christ and the Immaculate Virgin Mary are the two beacons that, as it were, shine throughout the summa and illumine his teaching. An ardent Scotist, he is at odds with the Angelic Doctor on the traditional Franciscan theses (see scotism; thomism). The esteem and authority that Vulpes enjoyed suffered greatly in the 18th century, for despite an imposing array of prominent names of popes, cardinals, and theologians who directly or indirectly attested the orthodoxy of his summa, his work was placed on the Index. He is buried at the convent of San Lorenzo in Naples.

Bibliography: l. wadding, Scriptores Ordinis Minorum (Rome 1650; 3d ed. 1906) 22. j. h. sbaralea, Supplementum et castigatio ad scriptores trium ordinum S. Francisci a Waddingo, 2 v. (Rome 1806; new ed. in 4 v. 1906–36) 48. p. apollinaire, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, ed. a. vacant, 15 v. (Paris 1903–50; Tables générales 1951–) 15.2:3492–94. g. franchini, Bibliosofiae memorie letterarie di scrittori francescani conventuali (Modena 1693) 52–57.

[g. m. grabka]