Pier Matteo Petrucci

Pier Matteo Petrucci, C.O. (20 May 1636 – 5 July 1701) was an Italian Oratorian priest, bishop of Jesi, cardinal, spiritual director, poet, and mystical writer. He was one of the principal Italian figures associated with the late seventeenth-century Quietist controversy. His writings on acquired contemplation, interior recollection, annihilation of self-will, pure love, and the relation between mystical experience and theological language drew on John of the Cross, Pseudo-Tauler, Louis de Blois, Jean de Saint-Samson, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, and other traditions of Catholic mysticism.

Petrucci was made bishop of Jesi in 1681 and cardinal by Pope Innocent XI in 1686. During the Roman campaign against Quietism, his writings were examined by the Roman Inquisition, propositions were extracted from them, and his works were placed on the Index of Forbidden Books. Unlike Miguel de Molinos, however, Petrucci made his retraction privately, retained his dignity as cardinal, and was not publicly degraded or imprisoned. He entered his diocese on 20 May 1681.

Episcopal succession

While bishop, he was the principal consecrator of: