ILLIRICO, TOMMASO, Blessed. – Franciscan preacher and theologian, born c. 1485 at Vrana (Dalmatia, whence his surname), died at Menton (Ventimiglia) in 1528. As a child he had gone with his family to Osimo, where he entered the Observant Friars Minor and was ordained priest. Animated by an apostolic spirit, he preached throughout his life in Liguria, Dalmatia, Piedmont, France, and Germany, especially against the Protestant heresy, which was then spreading.
Appointed by Clement VII as general inquisitor for the States of Savoy, he fought in particular against the Waldensians, who were then in great ferment.
Besides the *Sermones* (2 vols., Toulouse 1521), he wrote various polemical works against Protestantism, among which should be noted: *Libellus de potestate Summi Pontificis* (Turin 1523); *Conditiones veri pastoris animarum* (ibid. 1523); *In lutheranas haereses clypeus catholicae Ecclesiae* (ibid. 1524: refutation of the errors of *De captivitate babylonica* concerning Baptism and Penance). His doctrine on the pope is not without stain, since he admits the conciliar theory, i.e., the superiority of the ecumenical council over the Roman pontiff; but in T. I. this was a material error, due to the influence of the 15th century.