[2] Bascapè became titled as Venerable on 19 December 2005 - on the road to possible sainthood - after Pope Benedict XVI confirmed his heroic virtue.

[3] Bascapè studied humanities and classical languages under Marcantonio Maioragio, Milan's leading humanist and teacher of rhetoric.

In Pavia he joined the newly founded Accademia degli Affidati, members of which included scholars like Gerolamo Cardano.

[6] In 1580, Bascapè was sent by Borromeo to Madrid to meet Philip II on his behalf due to conflicts that had arisen with the Spanish governor of Milan, Antonio de Guzmán Zúñiga y Sotomayor.

[8] After the death of Borromeo, Bascapè wrote De vita et rebus gestis Caroli cardinalis (Ingolstadt, 1592), one of the most substantial biographies of the saint.

He received his episcopal consecration that same month on 24 February from Ludovico de Torres with Francesco Gonzaga and Owen Lewis serving as the co-consecrators; he was installed in his new diocese the following 30 May and worked his hardest to implement the reforms of the Council of Trent.

[2][1] Following the example of Charles Borromeo, he showed deep attention to the training of the clergy, building new seminaries for theology scholars; he held episcopal synods and strived to ensure that the ecclesiastics measured up to their duties; he set up the Oblates of San Gaudenzio and San Carlo, a congregation of secular priests inspired by the Oblates of Saints Ambrose and Charles.