FERRARIS, Lucio. - Franciscan theologian and canonist, born at Solero (Alessandria) on 18 April 1687, died at Alessandria on 24 February 1763. For many years he was professor of theology and canon law at the studium of S. Bernardino in Alessandria, synodal examiner, and for a time provincial of his Order. In Rome he served as consultor to the Holy Office and to various other Congregations.
He is best known for his *Prompta bibliotheca canonica, iuridica, moralis, theologica* (8 vols., Bologna 1746), an encyclopedic compilation rich in juridical, moral, and theological doctrine, legislation, jurisprudence, and administrative practice. The work, often reprinted and later updated with notes and a supplementary volume by Fr G. Bucceroni (Rome 1885–99), enjoyed unchallenged pre-eminence until the new codification and is still consulted with profit. As a moralist he steered a middle course between rigorism and laxism and may be classed among the probabilists. From a technical-scientific standpoint, his systematic method stands out, combining scholastic and casuistic approaches.