FERRARI, ANDREA CARLO. - Cardinal archbishop, b. at Lalatta di Pratopiano (Parma) on 13 Aug. 1850, d. at Milan on 2 Feb. 1921. Of humble origins, he studied at his native Seminary. Ordained a priest on 19 Dec. 1873, after a brief stay in the care of souls at Mariano and at Fornovo, at only 26 years of age he was appointed rector of the Seminary of Parma and remained there for 18 years, a teacher of sacred and profane subjects, vicar general, canon theologian of the Cathedral, president of the Academy of St. Thomas for philosophical studies. In 1890 he was elected bishop of Guastalla, but, after 9 months, he passed to the see of Como, and, in 1894, by Leo XIII, who held him very dear, he was created cardinal of the title of St. Anastasia and archbishop of Milan.
Charity beyond all testing, firmness and courage, dedication to his own duty, preaching in church and in the public square, pilgrimages, youth organizations, most frequent pastoral visits were the constant occupation of his pastoral ministry, above all in the vast archdiocese of Milan.
He reorganized and united seminaries and clergy, promoted religious instruction, public worship, defended and affirmed Catholic principles in the family, in the school, in public affairs, reconciled and strengthened the Catholic press, diminished and divided by internal discord.
The social agitations of 1898, the anti-modernist struggle, the participation of Catholics in political life, the solution of the Roman question, if they were for F. a source of grave bitterness, also brought to light the uprightness of his intentions and the magnanimity of his heart, and in the last years of his life, every opposition and every distrust overcome, he was the object of general admiration from Benedict XV to the rulers of Italy. The slow agony from a cancer of the throat, which nailed him to his bed, surrounded him with a halo of martyrdom for his serene fortitude and made his modest little room the destination of the interminable pilgrimage of his children around their dying father from Oct. 1920 to Feb. 1921. He left, as an imperishable monument for studious youth, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, to the erection of which he contributed so much.