St Gregory Barbarigo

Gregory studied very hard as a young man and he became a lawyer. He was asked to attend a very important meeting in Germany to represent Venice. This meeting was to sign a peace treaty, which would end the “Thirty Years War” that had been fought in Germany between Germany, Sweden and France. The war had been started by an argument between the Catholic and Protestant people. While at this meeting, Gregory (still only about 20 years old) met Archbishop Fabio Chigi, who was the Pope’s representative and who later became Pope himself, Pope Alexander VII. The Archbishop could tell that Gregory was a very good man and he made him the Bishop of Bergamo, Italy. When the Archbishop later became Pope he made Gregory a Cardinal of Padua (where St. Anthony came from). He was a very generous, kind and humble Cardinal; he gave to the poor and was always ready to help those in need. He started schools and seminaries for men to study for the priesthood. He helped to choose 4 Popes during his time as Cardinal.