BONAVENTURA DA PALAZZOLO

BONAVENTURA da Palazzolo. — Franciscan missionary, b. at Palazzolo (Vercelli) on 23 Apr. 1601, of the Relli family, d. at Turin on 2 Oct. 1657. In 1628, urged by the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide and by Charles Emmanuel I, Prince of Piedmont, he founded the Franciscan mission among the populations of Pinerolo and the valleys of Luserna, already one-third converted to the heresy of the Waldensians and Lutherans. In 1632 the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda sent him as prefect of the missions of the Reformed Franciscans to be founded in Albania, Macedonia, and Serbia: a task which he accomplished amid great sacrifices and sufferings. He also worked strenuously for the establishment in Italy of a large college for the training of Albanian clergy, but without success.