Italian Jesuit, preacher, missionary, ascetical writer, b. at Nettuno, 21 March (cf. Massei) 1624; d. at Rome, 9 Dec., 1694. He studied at the Roman College, and in 1637 entered the Society of Jesus, not without opposition from his father. The eloquent Oliva was his first master in the religious life ; Sforza Pallacicini taught him theology. Under such guides his virtues and talents developed to maturity. He lectured on humanities for several years, and was ordained priest in 1653. By a careful study of Scripture, the Fathers, and the Orations of Cicero, he had prepared himself for the pulpit, for which he had ever felt a strong attraction. He volunteered for the foreign missions, but Tuscany, the Papal States, and the chief cities of Italy were to be the scene of his labours. He preached at first in the great cathedrals, and then for twenty-seven years (1665-92) gave popular missions with an eloquence surpassed only by his holiness. His "Quaresimale" (Florence, 1679, tr. New York, 1874) had been read and admired by Antonio Pignatelli, who as Pope Innocent XII summoned the missionary to preach before him, and made him theologian of the Penitentiaria . Segneri's biographer, Massei, states distinctly that "Le Prediche dette nei palazzo apostolico" (Rome, 1694) won the admiration of the pontiff and his Court.

After St. Bernadine of Siena and Savanarola, Segneri was Italy's greatest orator. He reformed the Italian pulpit. Marini and the Marianisti with the petty tricks and simpering graces of the "Seicento" had degraded the national literature. The pulpit even was infected. Segneri at times stumbles into the defects of the "Seicentisti", but his occasional bad taste and abuse of profane erudition cannot blind the impartial critic to his merits. The "Quaresimale", "the Prediche", the "Panegyrici Sacri" (Florence, 1684, translated by Father Humphrey, London, 1877), stamp him as a great orator. His qualities are a vigour of reasoning, a strategist's marshaling of converging proofs and arguments, which recall Bourdaloue ; a richness of imagination which the French Jesuit does not possess; a deep and melting pathos. He is particularly cogent in refutation; to harmony of thought and plan, he unites a Dorian harmony of phrase; he is full of unction, priestly, and popular. He has two sources of inspiration, his love of God and of the people before him. To his oratorical powers, he added the zeal of an apostle and the austerities of a great penitent. All this readily explains his wonderful success with people naturally emotional and deeply Catholic. Entire districts flocked to hear him; extraordinary graces and favours marked his career. His triumphs left him simple as a child. In his theological discussion with his superior-general, Thyrsus Gonzalez, who was a firm champion of Probabiliorism, he combined the respect and obedience of the subject with the reasonable and manly independence of the trained thinker (cf. Lettere sulla Materia del Probabile" in vol. IV of "Opere", Venice, 1748). Segneri wrote also "Il penitente istruito (Bologna, 1669); "Il confessore istruito" (Brescia, 1672); "La Manna dell anima" (Milan, 1683, tr. London, New York, 1892); "Il Cristiano istruito" (Florence, 1690). His complete works (cf. Somervogel) have been frequently edited: at Parma, 1701; Venice, 1712-58; Turin, 1855, etc. The "Quaresimale" has been printed at least thirty times. Some of Segneri's works have been translated into Arabic. Hallam criticizes Segneri unfairly; Ford is more just in his appreciation.

The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed in fifteen hardcopy volumes.

Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.

No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.

Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912

Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online