BERTINI, GIOVANNI MARIA. - Dominican theologian, b. in Palermo around 1610, d. there in the odor of sanctity on 15 February 1669. He entered the Dominicans of Palermo at a young age and there pursued the course of studies up to the regency, which he held in the general study house of St. Dominic from 1654 to 1656. He also governed the convent as prior (1651-53 and 1659-61). He then became qualificator and consultor of the Inquisition in Sicily. Full of zeal for souls, he promoted various pious associations, such as that of the Rosary, for secular priests.
His writings concern either the doctrine of St. Thomas or piety, particularly the Holy Rosary. The commentaries on the Summa Theologiae of the Aquinate are found in the Biblioteca Comunale of Palermo (ms. 369, c. 35, 362 q - A : 127). Echard also mentions La Teologia mistica seconda la dottrina di s. Tommaso (Palermo 1668). In the Sacri Rosarii Hortus (4 vols., ibid. 1658-67) the B. explains the Rosary as an aid to contemplation, preaching and action. In Sacratissimae inquisitionis rosa virginea in qua catholicae fidei puritas efflorescit virginalis (ibid. 1662), a work of science, piety and Baroque fantasy, he attempts an explanation of the Summa according to the mysteries of the Rosary. Only the volume on the joyful mysteries saw the light. Noteworthy is his theory of corporeal visions and the manner of knowing them, and especially the «perorationes», that is, brief ardent prayers that conclude the individual articles.
Bibliography3 works
Angelo Wala
BERTINI, GIOVANNI MARIA. - Philosopher, educator, b. in Carmagnola in 1818 and d. in Turin on 14 October 1876. A connoisseur of Greek and of Platonic philosophy, he produced various essays, among which should be remembered: Idea di una filosofia della vita (2 vols., Turin 1850).
Called to serve on the Superior Council of Public Instruction, he exercised a beneficial influence there; the fruit of this service on the Superior Council are the Relazione e proposte sulla scuola secondaria (1865), the Questione urgente sull'istruzione classica and the letters to Fassini Sulla riforma dell'istruzione secondaria classica. For the B., secondary school has above all a formative purpose, in the sense that it does not merely impart knowledge but educates, tending toward the full formation of the personality of the man, the citizen and the soldier. The B. wanted the State not to remain indifferent in the face of the instruction and religious education of the young, which was however to be imparted by the State itself through its own elements and not entrusted to priests, because these would give «ecclesiastical teaching» which, according to him, at that time could not have failed to be informed or influenced by the question of the temporal power of the Holy See.
In the works Questione religiosa, Dialoghi (Turin 1861) and Il Vaticano e lo Stato (1876), the B. sets out his religious convictions, which lead him from a sincere Catholicism to rationalism, because, although he accepts the teaching of Jesus as highly moral and humane, he strips religion of the light of revelation, thinking that philosophy has a more beneficial influence than that exercised by revelation.