St Virgil of Salzburg

Virgil is the Irish Feargal, probably of Aghaboe, and presents him as a learned missionary-bishop whose life was more practical than some of the famous controversies around him might suggest. He becomes abbot at Salzburg, then bishop, and works as an important missionary in Bavaria and Carinthia. This life highlights his sound judgment in the baptism controversy, his well-known dispute with St Boniface over the so-called antipodes question, the rebuilding of the cathedral at Salzburg, and missionary labor among the Slovenes.

This life is useful because it shows that an old controversy does not automatically mean a saint was foolish or dangerous. Virgil comes through as learned, pastoral, and broad in his usefulness.