FABRI, HONORÉ. – Jesuit, polymath, born at Vivien-le-Grand (Ain) on 5 April 1607, died in Rome on 8 March 1688. Initially esteemed as a professor of philosophy, physics, and mathematics at Lyons (1646–60); subsequently penitentiary of St Peter’s in Rome (1660–80), where, in addition to the duties of his new office, he continued to devote himself to the natural sciences he particularly loved.
Quick and versatile of intellect, he wrote extensively on the most varied subjects; above all, however, he did so by pursuing with excessive liveliness his marked inclination toward controversy, taking an active part in the most hotly debated questions of his time, Jansenism and probabilism. Mentioning only the Tractatus physicus de motu locali (Lyons 1646), the Tractatus duo, quorum prior de plautis et de generatione animalium, posterior de homine (2 vols., Paris 1666), in the latter of which he discusses the circulation of the blood, which he observed independently, though later than Harvey, and the Physica, id est scientia verum corporaverum (I, Lyons 1669; II–III, ibid. 1670; IV–V, ibid. 1671), the following works of theological controversy, which caused considerable scandal, deserve notice: Pithanophilus or Dialogus de opinione probabili (Rome 1659), in defence of probabilism, and Apologeticus doctrinas moralis Societatis Iesu (Lyons 1670), in which, following the earlier work, he added other dialogues against the rigorists, such as the Dominican V. Baron and the canonist P. Fagnani, together with other pamphlets by various authors on the same subject. The work, placed on the Index in 1672 because it had been published without prior Roman censorship, earned its author fifty days in prison, « 45 libertoris carceris, et 5 paulo strictioris et inhonesti » (Reusch [V. BIBLICA.], p. 502). Meanwhile the Apologeticus appeared in a second edition, twice as large (2 vols., Cologne 1672), which also included a refutation of Pascal’s Provisionalii, and, under the two pseudonyms B. Stubrock and L. Carter, several notes against G. Wendreck and L. Montalto. The work was again prohibited in 1672 and 1673, and the two series of notes likewise received their own specific condemnations (1673, 1678). Although they were attributed to him, F. always denied that he was their author. Also worthy of mention are: Corolla Virginiae (Palermo 1655), in defence of the Immaculate Conception; Euphynodes, seu vir ingeniosus (Lyons 1669), on the study of the humanities and rhetoric; and, in defence of the virtues of quinine, an issue then being vigorously debated, Pulex Ferencianus vindicatus (1655).
In the dispute over the regalian rights, which arose between Louis XIV and Innocent XI, F. expressed the opinion that the matter concerned purely temporal affairs; but, having taken the king’s side, although he in no way accepted the Gallican errors, he was obliged to resign his office as penitentiary.