Juan Tomás de Rocaberti

Juan Tomás de Rocaberti (Joan Tomàs de Rocabertí in Catalan, 4 March 1627 – 13 June 1699) was a Catalan theologian.


Joan Tomàs de Rocabertí
Archbishop of Valencia
ChurchRoman Catholic
ArchdioceseValencia
SeeBasilica of the Assumption of Our Lady of Valencia
Installed8 February 1677
Term ended13 June 1699
PredecessorLuis Alfonso de los Cameros
SuccessorAntonio Folc de Cardona
Personal details
Born(1627-03-04)4 March 1627
Died13 June 1699(1699-06-13) (aged 72)
Madrid, Spain
NationalitySpanish
Alma materUniversity of Girona

Biography

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Rocaberti was born into a noble family at Perelada, in Catalonia. Educated at Girona, he entered the Dominican convent there, receiving the habit in 1640. His success in theological studies at the convent of Valencia secured for him the chair of theology in the University of Valencia.

In 1666 he was chosen provincial of Aragon, and in 1670 the General Chapter elected him general of the order. The Dominican Vincent Contenson dedicated to him his Theologia mentis et cordis.

In 1676 he was appointed by Carlos II of Spain first Archbishop of Valencia, and then governor of that province. In 1695 he was made inquisitor-general of Spain.

He obtained the canonization of Louis Bertrand and Rose of Lima, the solemn beatification of Pius V, and the annual celebration in the order of the feast of Albert the Great and others.

Historian John Langdon-Davies described Rocaberti as a "fanatical ascetic, he never wore linen or silk, he only ate vegetables and fish, his bed was more like a martyr's rack than a high ecclesiastic's resting place."[1]

Rocaberti died at Madrid.

Doctrine

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De Romani pontificis authoritate, 1691

Rocaberti is best known as an active apologist of the papacy, against Gallicans and Protestants.

His first work in the sense was De Romani pontificis in temporalibus auctoritate (3 vols., Valentia, 1691–94). His most important work is the Bibliotheca Maxima Pontificia (21 vols., Rome, 1697–1700). In this monumental work the author collected and published in alphabetical order, and in their entirety, all the important works dealing with the primacy of the Holy See from an orthodox point of view, beginning with Abraham Bzovius and ending with Zacharias Boverius. A summary is given in Hurter's Nomenclator.

Works

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  • De Romani pontificis in temporalibus auctoritate, 3 vols., Valentia, 1691–94.
    • De Romani pontificis authoritate (in Latin). Vol. 1. Valentia: Jaime de Bordazar. 1691.
    • De Romani pontificis authoritate (in Latin). Vol. 2. Valentia: Jaime de Bordazar. 1694.
    • De Romani pontificis authoritate (in Latin). Vol. 3. Valentia: Jaime de Bordazar. 1693.
  • Bibliotheca Maxima Pontificia, 21 vols., Rome, 1697–1700.

References

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  1. ^ Langdon-Davies, John. (1962). Carlos: The Bewitched, the Last Spanish Hapsburg, 1661-1700. J. Cape. p. 204
  •   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainHerbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Juan Tomás de Rocaberti". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Sources:
    • Quétif and Jacques Échard, Scriptores ordinis prædicatorum recensiti, notisque historicis illustrati ad annum 1700 auctoribus, II (Paris, 1721), 630, 827;
    • Touron, Hist. des hom. Ill. De l'ordre Dom., V (Paris, 1748), 714–26;
    • Hugo von Hurter, Nomenclator literarius recentioris theologiae catholicae, II: Année Dominicaine, XIII, 785.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Master General of the Dominican Order
1670–1677
Succeeded by
Preceded by Grand Inquisitor of Spain
1695–1699
Succeeded by