BACCARI, FRANCESCO

BACCARI, FRANCESCO. - Priest, architect, and ascetical writer, b. at Lendinara (Rovigo) on 11 Aug. 1747, d. at Rome on 3 March 1835. At the age of sixteen he entered the Congregation of the Mission in Rome. Ordained a priest, he was engaged in missions and in preaching to the clergy at Florence, Forlì, Fermo, and in almost all the dioceses of Romagna and the Marches. A skilled architect, he rendered notable services in enlarging and embellishing various houses of his religious family. He also designed and supervised the construction of churches, such as the parish church of Saludecio (Rimini). He held distinguished offices among his confrères: he was superior in Rome, provincial visitor, and vicar general for Italy. He enjoyed the esteem of the Supreme Pontiffs from Pius VII to Gregory XVI, as well as of artists and other eminent persons. He was a member of the Clementine Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. Much appreciated among ecclesiastics was his work: Pratica del Confessionale, 4 vols., published in Rome in 1827. Annibale Bugnini