FERRERES, JUAN BAUTISTA. – Jesuit, moral theologian, and canonist, b. at Olleria (diocese of Valencia) on 28 November 1861, d. in prison at Valencia on 28 December 1936. Having completed his studies, from 1900 until his death he was professor of moral theology and canon law at the College of Sarrià (Barcelona), except for the interval 1918–24, which he spent in Rome. When the anarcho-Communist revolution broke out, he believed that he would find a safer refuge in his native village; but, having been discovered, he had to present himself at Valencia. There he was immediately thrown into prison, where he was left to languish until the end, since it had not been possible to transport him by cart to the place of execution.
Endowed with exceptional talents, accompanied by tireless activity, he not only kept abreast of all innovations in his field, but also vigorously undertook the study of modern medical, social, and economic questions, illuminating them with the light of Catholic morality. He wrote extensively: Compendium theologiae moralis (2 vols., Barcelona 1904) at first, a re-edition of the text by G. J. P. Gury; subsequently increasingly updated and revised (16th ed., ibid. 1939); Casus constientiae (2 vols., 5th ed., ibid. 1926), Institutiones canonicae (2 vols., Barcelona 1918); the first and third of these works were also published in Spanish for the convenience of physicians and professionals. Numerous other questions, most often treated initially in the canonical bulletin Raxón y Fe, subsequently appeared separately and received highly favorable responses: e.g., Lo que deve hacerse y lo que hai que evitar en la celebration de las misas manuales (3rd ed., Madrid 1906); La muerte real y la muerte aparente con relación a los Santos Sacramento (4th ed., ibid. 1910); La Comunión frecuente y diaria y la primera Comunión (Barcelona 1911); Las confradías y Congregaciones ecclesiásticas según la disciplina vigente (ibid. 1907); Las religiosas según la disciplina vigente (Madrid 1908); Los esponsales y el matrimonio según la novissima disciplina (Madrid 1908); Las misas manuales según la disciplina vigente (ibid. 1924), etc.