FERUS GIOVANNI (WILD). – Observant Friar Minor, celebrated preacher, born on 24 June 1495 in Swabia, died in 1554 at Mainz. He entered religious life in 1515; after completing his studies, he was sent as a preacher to Mainz (1528), where he remained until his death, highly esteemed for his elegant and effective eloquence, and for his firmness, free from acrimony, especially in the defense of the Faith against the advancing Protestant danger.
His numerous sermons were published for the most part after his death, contrary to his intention. Lacking polish and precision in certain passages, partly also because of adulterations by Lutheran editors who, as some suggest, were responsible for preparing their publication, all his works were condemned and placed on the Index, “donec corrigantur,” with the exception of the Commentaries on the Gospels of s. Matthew and s. John, together with his First Epistle, and the book Examen ordinandorum, revised and printed after 1577.
(phot. Enc. Latt.) FESCH, JOSEPH — Portrait. Print by G. Lepri (1803).