Francesco Marinoni (25 December 1490 – 31 December 1562) was an Italian

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

who was a member of the

Theatines The Theatines, officially named the Congregation of Clerics Regular (; abbreviated CR), is a Catholic order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men founded by Archbishop Gian Pietro Carafa on 14 September 1524. Foundation The order wa ...

. He assumed the name ''Giovanni'' upon his admittance into the order. His cult was confirmed and acted as his formal

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

in 1764 under

Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII (; ; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. He was installed on 16 July 1758. ...

. His life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...

was approved and

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

added the title of

Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

to him despite the fact he was beatified. A miracle - now under investigation - is needed for his

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon ca ...

Life

Francesco Marinoni was born in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

on 25 December 1490. He was a diligent student and studied for the priesthood in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

where he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

. Marinoni served as a canon of Saint Mark's Cathedral in Venice. He retired this post to work with Saint

Cajetan Cajetan and Kajetan is the Anglicized, Germanized and Slavicized form of the Italian given name Gaetano. People with this name include: * Thomas Cajetan (1469–1534), Italian Dominican theologian, cardinal, and opponent of Martin Luther * Saint C ...

who had established the

. He became member of that order on 9 December 1528 and assumed the name of "Giovanni". He received his habit from Cardinal Giovanni Pietro Carafa - the future

Pope Paul IV Pope Paul IV (; ; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559), born Gian Pietro Carafa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death, in August 1559. While serving as papal nuncio in Spain, he developed ...

. He was the spiritual director of Cardinal

Paolo Burali d'Arezzo Paolo Burali d'Arezzo (1511 – 17 June 1578) was an Italian priest of the Theatine Order, a bishop, and Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. His legal skills made him a prominent figure in the law courts of Naples, and ...

- future Blessed. In August 1533 he left Venice for

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

at the request of

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

and remained there to direct the faithful. He also made an attempt to strengthen the faith and to prevent unorthodox views from taking root. He was appointed as the Superior of the House of San Paolo Maggiore in April 1540 and served as the spiritual director of a Dominican

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. He also served as a spiritual advisor to Saint

Andrew Avellino Andrew (Andrea) Avellino (1521 – 10 November 1608) was an Italian Theatine priest. He is venerated as the patron saint of Naples and Sicily and invoked especially against a sudden death. He led a life busy in preaching, hearing confessions, an ...

. Avellino made reference to Marinoni as a great saint. Pope Paul IV wanted to bestow upon him the archbishopric of Naples but he refused it. His age and disease undermined him as he continued to work for others in Naples and the

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemic that spread overcame him in 1562 which led to his death on 13 December 1562.

Beatification

The beatification process commenced in Venice and granted him the title of

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

beatified him on 5 December 1764 after the approval of his cult. The cause resumed on 25 June 2004 under

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

and closed on 3 June 2005. The process was validated on 30 November 2006 and the

Positio A ''positio'' (short for the Latin ''positio super virtutibus'': "position on the virtues") is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a Catholic person is declared Venerable, the second of four steps on the path to can ...

was submitted to the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passi ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 2008 for evaluation.

recognized his life of

and conferred upon him the title of

on 27 June 2011. This cleared the hurdle needed for his canonization. The miracle attributed to him was investigated and was ratified on 17 October 2008. The

-based medical board that advises the Congregation approved the miracle as such on 9 October 2014.

References

External links

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marinoni, Francesco 1490 births 1562 deaths Theatines 16th-century venerated Christians 17th-century venerated Christians Republic of Venice clergy Italian beatified people 16th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Venerated Catholics by Pope Benedict XVI Beatifications by Pope Clement XIII