Biographical notes

• Born and baptized the same day in Fino Mornasco (Como) on July 8, 1839
• Ordained priest on May 30, 1863; professor and rector of the St. Abbondio diocesan seminary
• In 1870 he was named pastor of St. Bartholomew parish in Como
• Ordained bishop in Rome on January 30, 1876
• Entry into the diocese of Piacenza on February 13, 1876

Bishop of Piacenza

• He did five pastoral visits to the 365 parishes of the diocese
• He celebrated three Synods: 1879, 1893, and 1899
• He founded the School of Christian Doctrine; Pope Pius IX called him Apostle of the Catechism. Founded the catechetical review il Catechista Cattolico; held the first National Catechetical Congress in 1889

Father to the migrants

• On November 28, 1887 he founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo
• In 1889 established the St. Raphael Lay Association for Assistance to Migrants
• On October 25, 1895 he founded the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles
• Visited his missionaries and their missions in the Americas: in 1901 in the US and in 1904 in Brazil
• Died in Piacenza on June 1, 1905 (Solemnity of the Ascension).