‹ The Bishops
Counter-Reformation · Saint
St Francis de Sales
Bishop of Geneva
Doctor of the ChurchReformerConfessor
1567 – 1622
1593
Ordained
1602
Consecrated Bishop
Geneva
Diocese
France
Country
The Life
Born in 1567 into a noble Savoyard family, Francis renounced a legal and political career to become a priest in 1593. As a missionary in the Calvinist Chablais he won many back to the Catholic faith through patience and gentle persuasion.
Consecrated Bishop of Geneva in 1602, he resided at Annecy because Geneva itself was held by the Calvinists. Renowned for teaching that holiness is for everyone, he wrote spiritual classics, co-founded the Visitation Order, and was named a Doctor of the Church in 1877.
Notable Actions
- Evangelized the Calvinist Chablais, reconciling thousands to the Catholic faith
- Consecrated Bishop of Geneva (1602), residing at Annecy under Calvinist control of the city
- Wrote the 'Introduction to the Devout Life' and the 'Treatise on the Love of God'
- Co-founded the Order of the Visitation with St Jane Frances de Chantal (1610)
- Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pius IX in 1877; patron of writers and journalists
Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.
Attributed to St Francis de SalesPortrait: Benjamin Gavaudo / Wikimedia Commons