PIETRO TOMMASO (PIETRO DI THOMAS), saint. – Carmelite, born at Le Breil (Périgord, France) around 1305, died at Famagusta (Cyprus) on 6 January 1366. Master of theology at Paris in 1349, then regent of the Carmelite Studium at Avignon, in 1345 he became procurator general of the Order. Under Innocent VI he began his diplomatic career, devoted to serving papal efforts for the union of Europe against the Muslim threat.
For this purpose he represented the Holy See in negotiations with Queen Giovanna of Naples (1353), with Venice and Genoa (1353), with Luigi of Hungary and Stefano of Serbia (1355), and with Luigi of Hungary and Venice (1356). In 1357 he negotiated with the Byzantine emperor Giovanni Paleologo for the union of the Eastern Church; in 1359 he was papal legate in the expedition sent to aid that Emperor. Bishop of Patti in 1354, transferred in 1359 to Corone in Morea, he became archbishop of Crete in 1363 and subsequently Latin patriarch of Constantinople.
He worked for the success of the undertaking in Asia Minor and for the defense of the Aegean; after the conquest of Adalia, he organized Catholic worship there. He worked intensively for the conversion of the Serbian people and for the eradication of heresy in Crete and Cyprus. Here he formed a friendship with King Pietro I and his chancellor, Filippo di Mézières, and together they conceived the idea of a new Crusade, seeking the aid of the West. The Crusade was proclaimed by Pope Urban V in 1363, and in 1364 P. succeeded Cardinal Tallegrand in the office of legate. In his new office he worked tirelessly to maintain peace among the Christian powers. In the meantime he administered the city of Bologna, where he was one of the founding masters of the Faculty of Theology (1364). When the Crusade began with the attack and conquest of Alexandria (1365), P. took part in it courageously and was among the few who opposed abandoning the city. He was immediately venerated as a saint; Paul V in 1609 and Urban VIII in 1628 confirmed his cult. Feast in the Carmelite Order on 29 January.