Saint Gregory Barbarigo

Gregory Barbarigo was born in Venice on September 16, 1625, into a noble family. As a young diplomat he went with the Venetian ambassador to the peace talks at Münster that ended the Thirty Years' War, and there he met the papal nuncio Fabio Chigi, the future Pope Alexander VII, who encouraged his vocation. He was ordained a priest in 1655 and served the sick heroically during a plague in Rome.

In 1657 he became bishop of Bergamo and in 1660 a cardinal. From 1664 until his death he was bishop of Padua, where he visited every parish, taught catechism himself and lived simply so he could give to the poor. He made the seminary one of the best in Europe, adding a printing press for Greek, Arabic and other Eastern languages to help unity with Eastern Christians. He died on June 18, 1697, and Pope John XXIII canonized him in 1960.

His body rests in the cathedral of Padua, where the diocese celebrates his feast. Pope John XXIII, who had studied his work as a young priest in Bergamo, held him up as a model bishop.

Catholic schools and seminaries in the Veneto region honor him as a patron of learning and of Christian unity.