St. Virgil of Salzburg

Virgil is identified as the Irish Feargal, probably of Aghaboe, a learned missionary-bishop whose life was more practical than some of the famous controversies around him might suggest. He became abbot at Salzburg, then bishop, and worked as an important missionary in Bavaria and Carinthia. 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 all belong to the record.

His life 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.