ALAGONA, PIETRO. — Italian theologian and canonist, born in Syracuse in 1549, died in Rome in 1624; penitentiary of St. Peter’s. A Jesuit from 1564, he held various offices in the Order and taught philosophy and theology. He acquired considerable fame, especially for the three compendia of theological subjects, two of which enjoyed great success.
The first, Compendium manualis Martini Azpilicuetae Navarri de quaestionibus morum et conscientiae, was published in Rome in 1590 under the pseudonym Pietro Giuvara, and by 1625 had gone through no fewer than 23 editions. It was also translated into French. The second, S. Thomae Aquinatis Theologicae summae compendium (Rome 1629), reached 25 editions and was still in use in the nineteenth century. Of lesser interest is the Totius iuris canonici compendium (Rome 1622–23), in 2 vols., in 4°.