Giovanni, or John, Leonardi, joining the (now-extinct)…
1583 CE
Giovanni, or John, Leonardi, joining the (now-extinct) Apostolic Clerics of St. Jerome, had been ordained priest around 1572 and become particularly active in charity.
He had soon attracted and trained some laymen and in 1574 founded his religious congregation in Lucca.
In 1579, he had formed the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; his congregation of the Roman Catholic Ordo Clericorum Regularium Matris Dei (Clerks Regular of the Mother of God) receives episcopal approval in 1583.
The order, whose members are commonly called Leonardini, is distinguished for learning and is devoted to combatting Protestantism and to promoting the Counter-Reformation.
John's campaign against Protestantism, however, is so fervent that only with papal protection is he admitted into the Republic of Lucca, which opposes his policies for political reasons.
He is aided by Philip Neri, the religious reformer, and Joseph Calasanz, whose order of the Pious Schools (Piarists) temporarily merges with the Leonardini.
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