| Saint Giovanni Battista de Rossi | |
|---|---|
| Confessor | |
| Born | February 22, 1698 Voltaggio, Province of Alessandria, Piedmont, Duchy of Savoy |
| Died | May 23, 1764 Rome, Papal States |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | May 13, 1860, Rome by Pope Pius IX |
| Canonized | December 8, 1881, Rome by Pope Leo XIII |
| Major shrine | Church of San Giovanni Battista de Rossi, Rome |
| Feast | May 23 |
Saint John Baptist de Rossi (February 22, 1698 – May 23, 1764) is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.[1]
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St John Baptist de Rossi was born in the municipality of Voltaggio, in the Province of Alessandria, Piedmont, then a part of the Duchy of Savoy. He was one of four children of Carlo de Rossi and Francesca Anfosi, relatively poor but very pious parents. At the suggestion of his uncle, Lorenzo de Rossi, a Church Canon, he travelled to Rome, to study at the Collegium Romanum, under the Jesuits.
His desire to become a priest was very strong, but was hampered by episodes of epilepsy, which would normally exclude one from the priesthood. Nonetheless he was granted a dispensation on March 8, 1721, and was ordained a priest soon after. He worked tirelessly in Rome on behalf of homeless women, the sick, prisoners and workers, becoming a very popular confessor. St John Baptist was known as a second Saint Philip Neri.
Owing to his selfless desire to assist the needy and downtrodden, he eventually succumbed to illness and died on May 23, 1764. His mortal remains were interred in the main altar of the church of Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini in Rome,[2] his base of operations.[3]
Saint John Baptist de Rossi was beatified by Blessed Pius IX on May 13, 1860. The process had started nearly ninety years previously, but was delayed due to the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and the Revolutions of 1848. He was later canonized on December 8, 1881, by Pope Leo XIII.
A church was dedicated to St John Baptist de Rossi in Rome in the year 1940, though construction was delayed for a while by the Second World War. This church was finally consecrated on May 22, 1965 (with the saint's relics translated the following day, his feast day from the Church of SS Trinità dei Pellegrini).[2]
Lady Elizabeth Herbert wrote a life of him in English.