MUSSO, CORNELIO. – Franciscan preacher and theologian, born at Piacenza on 16 April 1511, died at Rome on 9 January 1574. He served as preacher and professor of metaphysics at the universities of Pavia and Bologna, preacher to Popes Paul III and Pius IV in the Vatican, and theologian to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. On 4 November 1541 he was elected Bishop of Bertinoro and on 27 October 1544 was transferred to the see of Bitonto.
MUSSOLINI, BENITO – Portrait.
When the Council of Trent was convoked, he delivered the inaugural address (13 December 1545) and played a notable part in its proceedings; Pallavicino called him “the right arm of the Council.” He labored zealously in his dioceses as well, especially at Bitonto, where he held a synod and promoted moral reform.
He was assistant and domestic prelate to Popes Pius IV and Gregory XIII, and a member of the Altemps mission which Pius IV sent in 1560 to Emperor Ferdinand in Vienna. He was buried in the basilica of the SS. Apostoli.
His most important works include: *Prediche* (8 vols., frequently published in Venice and Turin from 1554 to 1590 – notable editions of 1575 and 1579, edited by his nephew Giuseppe M. – partly translated into Latin, French and Spanish); *Synodus Bituntina* (Venice 1579); *Divina historia*, a treatise *De Deo uno et trino* (ibid. 1585); *Commentaria in b. Pauli Epistolam ad Romanos* (ibid. 1588); *Vita di Maria Vergine Madre di Cristo* (Naples 1592).