Andrea Franchi was an Italian Roman Catholic member of the Order of Preachers who served as the Bishop of Pistoia before his resignation due to ill health.
10 Facts About Andrea Franchi
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Andrea Franchi was born in Pistoia in 1335 as the third of four children that included Francesco di Franco di Simone Franchi as well as Bartolomeo - an advisor of Pope Urban VI and Pope Boniface IX - and the Luca.
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Andrea Franchi studied at the Dominican convent of Santa Maria Novella in Pistoia and joined the Dominicans at the age of fourteen in 1359.
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Andrea Franchi was later ordained to the priesthood and became a noted preacher and evangelist.
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Andrea Franchi served as a teacher in Rome of both philosophical and theological studies.
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Andrea Franchi served from 1369 until 1381 as the prior of the Dominican houses in his home of Pistoia as well as Lucca and Orvieto.
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Andrea Franchi became the Bishop of Pistoia in 1382 after Pope Urban VI appointed him to that position; the new bishop received his episcopal consecration sometime in 1382.
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Andrea Franchi administered to the poor and to the ill and gained the moniker of the "Father of the Poor".
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Andrea Franchi was interred in the church of San Domenico in Pistoia and his remains were deemed to be incorrupt after their exhumation in 1613 - a sweet odor was said to have emanated from his remains following the exhumation.
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Andrea Franchi received formal beatification from Pope Benedict XV on 21 November 1921 after the pontiff confirmed the late bishop's 'cultus'.