D'ANNIBALE, GIUSEPPE. — Cardinal, one of the foremost moral theologians of the last century, b. at Borbona (L'Aquila) on 22 Sept. 1815, d. there on 17 July 1892. He completed his studies at the seminary of Rieti and, ordained a priest in 1839, was sent as assistant to the parish priest in his native town, where, except for a brief period teaching dogmatic theology at the seminary, he remained until 1851, when he returned to the seminary as professor of moral theology. Capitular vicar (1866–1872), then vicar general (1872–81), he was elected titular bishop of Caristo on 1 Aug. 1882, and left Rieti to assume in Rome the office of canonist of the Holy Penitentiary. Consultor (25 Apr. 1883) and then assessor (14 March 1884) of the Holy Office and canon of St Peter’s, he was created cardinal in 1889 and shortly afterward (May 1889) appointed prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences.
Of subtle and profound intellect, he printed at Rieti his first work, In const. « Apostolicae Sedis » commentarii (1873), which was a revelation for its erudition and doctrinal accuracy, as well as for its concision of expression, a characteristic quality of D'A. The work, “of little bulk
and of the greatest weight” (Civ. Catt., 8th series, 1873, III, p. 584), had other editions (1874, 1880) during the author’s lifetime and several posthumous ones. His learned conferences to the clergy of Rieti from the years 1878, 1879, and 1880 were also printed. But his “principal” work is the Summula theologiae moralis, on which he worked for 20 years, copying out the manuscript twelve times without being satisfied with it even when he sent it to press: I (Rieti 1874), II (there 1875), III (there 1876).
The 3rd ed. was dedicated to Leo XIII in his jubilee year, and to the last edition (Rome 1908) there was also added a Supplementum (there 1909), prepared by D. Mannaoli, bishop of Montefiascone and formerly professor of moral theology at the Roman seminary. Unfortunately, to this day no one has succeeded in adapting the book to the new CIC and to the new codes of civil law.
The importance of D'A.'s work lies above all in the fact that he brought into the study of moral theology and canon law the powerful civil-law formation that he had begun under the guidance of an authentic master, D. Carlo Latini of Rieti, and had perfected in litigation over his paternal goods, subsequently maturing it through 30 years of teaching. In reviewing the work on the occasion of its 1st ed. in La Civiltà Cattolica, Ballerini discerned four qualities in D'A.'s work: order (favored by his synthetic method, which proceeds from the general to the particular, from principles to conclusions), precision, brevity, and clarity. In the rotal sentences issued from 1909 to the present day, there is perhaps no theologian or canonist more frequently cited, and, apart from certain positions now abandoned (his systema possessionis, the lawfulness of embryotomy, etc.), he remains one of the masters most studied and followed in the field of moral theology.