PERRONE, GIOVANNI. - Jesuit, theologian, b. at Chieri (diocese of Turin) on 11 March 1794, d. at Castel Gandolfo on 28 Aug. 1876.
Having earned a degree in theology at the University of Turin, he entered the Society of Jesus, just re-established by Pius VII, on 14 Dec. 1815. He was professor of dogmatic theology at Orvieto (1817-24), then moved to the same teaching post at the Roman College, continuing there until his death, interrupted only by 3 years as rector at Ferrara and about 3 years of exile in England because of the revolutionary upheavals of the Roman Republic (1848-51). He was a consultor to Gregory XVI for the controversy over Hermesianism and to Pius IX for the definition of the Immaculate Conception, whose definability he defended with De immaculata B. Mariae Virginis conceptus (Rome 1847; 10th ed. Milan 1852). His fame is linked above all to his theological texts, which made him one of the most effective restorers of ecclesiastical studies in the 19th century; indeed, his clarity, method, concision and especially his extensive knowledge of patristic sources and of positive theology made him appreciated by and suited to the scholars of his time. He published: Praelectiones theologiae dogmaticae (9 vols., Rome 1835-42; of which, up to 1888, there were 34 editions, with complete or partial translations into various languages); Praelectiones... in compendium redactae (5 vols. [then 2], ibid. 1845; of which there were 47 editions up to 1892). In addition, by way of completion to the Praelectiones, various particular treatises: De virtutibus fidei, spei et caritatis (Ratisbon 1865); De virtute religionis (Paris 1866), in which he combated especially the theories of mesmerism, somnambulism and spiritualism; De Domini Nostri Jesu Christi divinitate adversus huius aetatis incredulus (3 vols., Turin 1870); De matrimonio christiano (3 vols., ibid. 1870); De Romani Pontificis infallibilitate (ibid. 1874). He published many other controversial writings against the errors of G. Hermes, of whom he showed himself a formidable opponent; the principal one: l'Ermesianismo (3 fascicles, Rome 1838-39) and against the Protestants: Il protestantesimo e la regola di fede (3 vols., ibid. 1853).
Bibliography8 works
Celestino Testore