Venerable Gregorio Barbarigo

Gregorio Giovanni Gaspare Barbarigo (16 September 1625 – 18 June 1697) was an Italian cardinal and is venerated as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Bishop of Bergamo and later as the Bishop of Padua. Barbarigo was a frontrunner in both the 1689 and 1691 papal conclaves as he had distinguished himself for his diplomatic and scholastic service. He became noted as a scholar for his distinguished learning and as an able pastor for his careful attention to pastoral initiatives and frequent parish visitations. Barbarigo's beatification was celebrated in 1761 under Pope Clement XIII, while Pope John XXIII canonized the late cardinal in 1960; the latter pope held Barbarigo as a great role model and fostered a devotion to him since the pope had hailed from Bergamo. His liturgical feast is on 17 June in the General Roman Calendar of 1960. On the General Roman Calendar of 1969, it is observed on 18 June. Gregorio Giovanni Gaspare Barbarigo was born on 16 September 1625 in Venice as the eldest of four children to the nobles Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo (a senator) and Lucrezia Leoni (d. 19 March 1631 - plague). His father brought a cousin - Franchesina Lippomani - to look after the children after the death of his wife. His sister was Elena and his two brothers were Pietro and Antonio. He was a relative of the cardinal Marcantonio Barbarigo and the uncle of Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo. He was also a relation of Cardinal Angelo Barbarigo. His ancestors included the two Venetian doges Marco Barbarigo and Agostino Barbarigo. His father instructed him in philosophical studies and in mathematics while preceptors taught him Latin and Greek; he also received the rudiments of music. In 1643 he accompanied as secretary the Venetian ambassador Aloise Contarini to Münster for the negotiations to prepare for the Peace of Westphalia which was signed on 24 October 1648.