GIANNONETTI, PIETRO. - Mystical theologian, born in 1695 at Città di Castello, died on 28 January 1773. He studied in Rome at the Collegio Fuccioli. After ordination to the priesthood, he returned to his native city, where, following the renunciation of his brother Virgilio (later bishop of Città della Pieve), he was appointed provost of the Cathedral (2 December 1734).
He published notable works of mystical theology, a distinguished monument to his piety, zeal, and vast learning: *Teologia mistica* (3 vols., Lucca 1751); *Vita della buona serva di Dio suor Angela Moscani capuccina* (Perugia 1757); *Ristretto di mistica dottrinale ed esperimentale* as well as of ascetical theology which disposes or accompanies the mystical life with sufficient rules for discerning spirits (ibid. 1758), a compendium of *Teologia mistica*. The author’s doctrine is usually grounded in the teaching of the greatest Doctors of the Church and the best theologians of various schools, as well as in the lives of many saints and servants of God, not a few of whom were contemporaries, such as St. Veronica Giuliani, Sister Paola Novelli della Volontà di Dio, Sister Caterina Brondi, and Sister Chiara Todi. Frequent are his reprobations of the pseudomysticism of Molinos, whom he qualifies as “an enemy of all mortification” (*Ristretto*, p. 243).