Education and priesthood Andrea Ferrari was born on 13 August 1850 in Lalatta (now Palanzano) in the
Parma province as the eldest of four children to the
shoemaker Giuseppe Ferrari and Maddalena Longarini; his
baptism was celebrated on 14 August. His two paternal uncles, Abbondio and Pietro, were priests serving in
Parma. He received his
First Communion in 1860 from Father Giovanni Agostini and received his
Confirmation in 1866. He felt called to serve as a
priest and was educated in
Parma, where he was to obtain a
doctorate in
theological studies in 1883. Ferrari received the first two minor orders on 18 September 1869 and the other two on 23 September 1871. He received the subdiaconate on 21 September 1872 and the
diaconate on 15 December 1872. He was
ordained to the
priesthood on 20 December 1873 for the
Diocese of Parma, where he served from 1874 until 1890. He also served as the
archpriest of
Fornovo di Taro from 1874 until 1875, when he was made the vicar curate for the San Leonardo church. Ferrari served as the
Vice-Rector for seminarians in Parma and served also as a professor of mathematics and natural sciences in 1875, and later became its rector in 1877. He also served as a professor of
theological fundamentals and
ecclesial historical sciences, as well as educating them in
moral theological subjects in 1878. It was later that he published the "
Summula theologiae dogmaticae generalis" in 1885, which proved to be a respected work in the field at that time, and it was reprinted several times.
Episcopate In mid-1890, he was appointed as the
Bishop of Guastalla, and he received his
episcopal consecration as a
bishop on 29 June 1890 from Cardinal
Lucido Parocchi in the church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Villa Lante. The co-consecrators were Vincenzo Leone Sallua and Giovanni Maria Majoli. He took possession of his new diocese on 3 October 1890 and was later transferred to the
Diocese of Como in mid-1891 after a brief tenure in Guastalla. In Como, he was noted for his dedication to the people and made several pastoral visits to see all his parishes. In 1894 the newspaper
Corriere della Sera noted his "meticulous visits" as proper diocesan management and attentiveness while noting that "he talks well with a good voice". In 1893 he supported the appointment of Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto – future
Pope Pius X – as
Patriarch of Venice and was successful in securing the appointment.
Cardinalate Ferrari was elevated to the cardinalate in 1894 and
Pope Leo XIII named him as the
Cardinal-Priest of Santa Anastasia (the title and red hat were conferred a week after the elevation). It was just a week after his elevation that he was transferred to the
Archdiocese of Milan and was granted the
pallium prior to his departure; he also took
Carlo as a middle name in honour of
Charles Borromeo who was a predecessor during the
Counter-Reformation period. His private assistant while in Milan was Father Giovanni Rossi. Ferrari was a strong supporter and promoter of
Rerum Novarum and espoused the core themes of
social justice that the pope highlighted in that document. He also enlisted the aid of
Giuseppe Toniolo to promote it and make it a theme of his professorship. His main mission in Milan was to preserve the faith of the people through
catechesis, and he made four pastoral visits as archbishop. He pushed for the publication of the
Catechism of Pius X in Milan as a step towards this aim. He also visited all parishes in his archdiocese and was attentive to the social circumstances of each parish. In addition, Ferrari held several episcopal conferences to discuss matters of ecclesial life. In 1895, he held the Archdiocesan Eucharistic Congress from 1–5 September 1895. Ferrari participated in the
papal conclave in 1903 that elected Pope Pius X, and had been considered to be "
papabile" for his pastoral qualities. Ferrari petitioned the cardinals to support a pastoral candidate to become pope and began casting his votes for his old colleague Sarto. He tried to persuade Sarto to accept the election if chosen, though the latter insisted that he should not be voted for and that he would not accept. But Ferrari insisted that the refusal could become harmful for the Church and painful for Sarto for the remainder of his life. But
Francesco Satolli convinced Sarto of the ramifications of his refusal, which prompted Sarto's acceptance of the pontificate. Ferrari returned to Milan on 10 August and that month travelled to
Cologne to meet with its archbishop Cardinal
Anton Hubert Fischer. In 1908 he was in
London at
Westminster for the
nineteenth Eucharistic Congress held from 9–13 September. In 1910 he organized festivities for the third centennial of the canonization of Charles Borromeo. In 1918 he founded the Women's Youth for
Azione Cattolica and entrusted its direction to
Armida Barelli. During
World War I he formed a group that was dedicated to caring for soldiers and prisoners and was awarded in 1919 with the
Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurizio and Lazzaro for his efforts. Ferrari was accused of "
Modernism" in 1907, which was an accusation that Pope Pius X had accepted. He was no Modernist and denounced them in a pastoral letter he issued in 1908. Despite this, the accusations put him in a negative position with
Rome, and he decided to keep quiet so as not to attract the ire of Pius X. He had been accused of excessive liberalism and defended his archdiocese against misunderstandings that Rome held. However, this prompted a 1911 canonical investigation. In 1912, the pope realized the mistake he had made and received the cardinal after this matter was resolved for a reconciliation. In 1912, he promoted the establishment of the newspaper ''L'Italia
, which replaced L'Unione''. He also partook in the
conclave in 1914 that elected
Pope Benedict XV. Ferrari was on good terms with Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli – the future
Pope John XXIII. The two knew the other well, and Roncalli was the one who celebrated his funeral. He was also close with Achille Ratti, who was his successor in Milan and the future
Pope Pius XI. Ferrari ordained as priests the future cardinals
Camillo Caccia Dominioni (1899) and
Carlo Confalonieri (1916) in addition to Bishop Giorgio Giovanni Elli (1903) and Archbishop
Mario Giardini (1904).
Death Ferrari died in 1921 at 5:55pm after he finished the recitation of one of the
rosaries he himself started due to
throat cancer, and was buried in the
archdiocesan cathedral under the Sacred Heart altar. The first sign of his ailment around 1918 was simple hoarseness, later diagnosed as throat cancer. His old friend Roncalli referred to him later as an "authentic saint". In
Legnano, a church was constructed from 1987 to 1989 and dedicated to him. Cardinal
Carlo Maria Martini consecrated the church in 1991. ==Beatification==