Sisto Fabri (4 August 1540 – 1594) was a theologian and canon lawyer of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of C ...

who was appointed

Master of the Sacred Palace In the Roman Catholic Church, Theologian of the Pontifical Household ( la, Pontificalis Domus Doctor Theologus) is a Roman Curial office which has always been entrusted to a Friar Preacher of the Dominican Order and may be described as the pope's ...

Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...

serving from 1580 to 1583, and

Master of the Order of Preachers The Master of the Order of Preachers is the Superior General of the Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominicans. The Master of the Order of Preachers is ''ex officio'' Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aqui ...

from 1583 to 1589.

Early biography

Fabri was born 4 August 1540 at

Villa Basilica Villa Basilica is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lucca in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northeast of Lucca. Villa Basilica borders the following municipalities: Bagni di Lucca, Borgo ...

, near

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as ...

, Italy. Shortly after his birth his family moved to Naples.

Formation

Fabri entered the

in 1556 at the convent of

Santa Caterina a Formiello Santa Caterina a Formiello is a church in Naples, in southern Italy, located at the extreme eastern end of the old historic center of the city, on Via Carbonara and Piazza Enrico de Nicola, near the gate called Porta Capuana. The term ''Formiello ...

. After completing his studies there Fabri began teaching there in 1563. Fabri was later sent to

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

to study

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

.''Treccani.it, L'encicolpedia Italiana, Dizionario Biografico'
Treccani.it
Accessed 10 August 2013

Career

In the mid-1550s Fabri served as professor of theology at the Dominican ''studium'' at Santa Maria sopra Minerva, the forerunner of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum''. In 1571 he became the secretary of the

Serafino Cavalli whom he accompanied during his visitations to many provinces.Benedict M. Ashley, ''The Dominicans'', ch. 5
Later Cavalli appointed Fabri as Provincial for the Holy Land and Procurator for the Order. In 1576 while prior of the convent at Santa Maria sopra Minerva Fabri taught theology at the University of Rome. During this time he came to know

Giordano Bruno Giordano Bruno (; ; la, Iordanus Brunus Nolanus; born Filippo Bruno, January or February 1548 – 17 February 1600) was an Italian philosopher, mathematician, poet, cosmological theorist, and Hermetic occultist. He is known for his cosmolo ...

who was a guest at the convent. During his priorship in 1577 the ''studium'' at the Minerva was reorganized in light of the generous donation of

Juan Solano Juan Solano, O.P. (c. 1505 – 1580), was a Spanish Dominican missionary and the second Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Cuzco, Peru (1544–1562). ''(in Latin)'' Biography Solano was born in about 1504 in Archidona, a town in the Province of ...

, O.P., former bishop of Cusco, Peru and became the College of St. Thomas, the forerunner of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum''. In 1580 Fabri was appointed

. Fabri was asked in 1581 to examine the texts of Michel de Montaigne who was travelling through Rome at the time. After Fabri examined Montaigne's ''Essais'' the text was returned to its author on 20 March 1581. Montaigne had apologized for references to the pagan notion of "fortuna" as well as for writing favorably of

Julian the Apostate Julian ( la, Flavius Claudius Julianus; grc-gre, Ἰουλιανός ; 331 – 26 June 363) was Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplat ...

and of heretical poets, and was released to follow his own conscience in making emendations to the text. In 1582 Fabri collaborated on the new edition of the ''Corpus iuris canonici'' for Pope Gregory. At the Dominican chapter of 1583, he was elected

. As master, he issued a ''Ratio Studiorum'' ordering negligent teachers to be imprisoned. During his mastership, the Uniate Friars of Armenia were raised to a Dominican province and allowed to wear their

habit A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

. As master, he was responsible for testing the

stigmata Stigmata ( grc, στίγματα, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ: the hands, wrists, and feet. Sti ...

of St.

Catherine of Ricci Catherine de' Ricci ( it, Caterina de' Ricci) (23 April 1522 – 2 February 1590), was an Italian Dominican Tertiary sister. She is believed to have had miraculous visions and corporeal encounters with Jesus, both with the infant Jesus and with ...

. In 1584 Fabri received what was probably an honorary doctorate from the

University of Ferrara The University of Ferrara ( it, Università degli Studi di Ferrara) is the main university of the city of Ferrara in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. In the years prior to the First World War the University of Ferrara, with more than 5 ...

. In May 1589 Fabri was removed from office as

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...

and a successor was elected at the Chapter of 21 May. The official reason was Fabri's support for Maria da Visitação (María Lobo de Meneses), a Portuguese Dominican nun who confessed to faking the stigmata in 1588. In 1594 Fabri retired to Florence under the protection of

Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (30 July 1549 – 3 February 1609) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I. Early life Ferdinando was the fifth son (the third surviving at ...

. Fabri returned to Rome only after the death of Pope Sixtus and lived the remaining months of his life at the convent of

Santa Sabina The Basilica of Saint Sabina ( la, Basilica Sanctae Sabinae, it, Basilica di Santa Sabina all'Aventino) is a historic church on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy. It is a titular minor basilica and mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of P ...

where he was buried in 1594.Emmanuel Rodocanachi, ''Una cronica di Santa Sabina sull'aventino'', 3
Google Books
Accessed 10 August 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabri, Sisto Italian Dominicans Masters of the Order of Preachers 1540 births 1594 deaths