Gioacchino Ventura di Raulica

Who was Gioacchino Ventura di Raulica?

Gioacchino Ventura di Raulica, was an Italian Roman Catholic pulpit orator, patriot, philosopher and writer.

He entered the Society of Jesus in 1808, and in 1817, when the Society was suppressed in Sicily, joined the Theatines. Ordained a priest, he distinguished himself as a Catholic journalist and apologist, as a preacher, especially by his "Funeral Oration of Pius VII", and as an exponent of the counter-revolutionary worldview of Hughes Felicité Robert de Lamennais, Joseph de Maistre and Louis Gabriel Ambroise de Bonald.

He was appointed by Leo XII professor of canon law at the Sapienza, and in 1830 was elected Superior-General of the Theatines. He published his "De methodo philosophandi" in 1828 and "Bellezze della Fede" in 1839. After his generalship he preached in Rome. His eloquence, though somewhat exaggerated and prolix, was vehement and direct, with a noble bearing, a magnificent voice and an affecting delivery, and it won him great renown. In Paris, though not perfectly master of French, he was said to almost rival the famous Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire.

With the accession of Pope Pius IX, Ventura became politically prominent.