LAMBRUSCHINI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. - Theologian and bishop, elder brother of Cardinal Luigi, born at Sestri Levante on 28 Aug. 1755, died at Orvieto on 24 Nov. 1827. Appointed professor at the Seminary of Genoa, he became known for his aversion to revolutionary ideas and in 1797 was imprisoned in the fortress of Savona; once released, he was forbidden to return to Genoa. When the political conditions changed, however, in 1799, he returned there and was appointed vicar general.
When the situation was once again overturned, he took refuge in Rome, where the Pope appointed him first titular bishop of Azotus, then, in 1805, administrator, and, on 14 Aug. 1807, bishop of Orvieto. Here he took into his home Angelo Mai and several exiled Jesuits, among them also Fr. Luigi Fortis, who was later general of the Society. Having refused to take the oath required by the French government, he had to interrupt the pastoral visitation and go into exile at Turin in 1809, then at Bourg-en-Pressée, and finally at Belley. In 1814, having returned to Orvieto, he devoted himself with ardour to the moral renewal of his diocese.
The fruit of his teaching is two compendia, one of the whole of dogmatics, Theologia dogmatica (Genoa 1788), the other of the De Gratia (ibid. 1789). His name, however, is linked to a short devotional work entitled Guida spirituale per la diocesi di Orvieto (Rome 1823), published several times and translated into German.
Bibliography3 works
Agostino Amaroli