GERBET, PHILIPPE. - Controversialist, b. at Poligny on 5 Feb. 1798, d. at Perpignan on 8 Aug. 1864. In Paris he formed a friendship with Lamennais, of whom he became a fervent admirer, spreading his thought from the lectern and through his writings: Des doctrines philosophiques sur la certitude dans leurs rapports avec les fondements de la théologie (Paris 1826); Coup d'œil sur la controverse chrétienne depuis les premiers siècles jusqu'à nos jours (ibid. 1828); Sommaire d'un système des connaissances humaines, published the following year.
When, however, in 1834, Lamennais's doctrines were condemned, G. abandoned the master, indeed wrote against him Précis de l'histoire de philosophie (ibid. 1834). From 1839 to '49 he was in Rome. The fruit of that stay is the work in 2 vols. Esquisse de Rome chrétienne (ibid. 1844-50). Having returned to France, he was vicar general at Amiens, and in 1854 he became bishop of Perpignan. Of his episcopal activity the most important is the Instruction pastorale sur les diverses erreurs du temps présent of 23 July 1860, which earned the praise of Pius IX and served as the basis for the commission charged with drafting the Syllabus. Also part of his activity as a scholar are: Livre de sainte Théodosie (Amiens 1854); Conférence sur Rome (Perpignan 1863); La stratégie de M. Renan, published posthumously in Paris in 1866. Best known of all, however, is his little devotional book on the Eucharist: Considérations sur le dogme générateur de la piété catholique (Paris 1829).
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Cosimo Petino