In early youth he entered the Congregation of Clerics Regular of the Divine Providence,[2] and assumed thenceforth the name of Paolo instead of that of Cesare, which he had received in baptism.

His fame as a preacher spread all over Italy, although he labored under natural impediments which might have altogether stopped the career of anyone less enthusiastic and resolute.

He held that see for twenty-four years, ending with his death in 1644; and during that long period he distinguished himself highly, not only for his activity in the literature of his profession and for his patronage of literary men, but for the earnestness and zeal with which he performed the ordinary duties of his office.

Being a non-dogmatic Aristotelian philosopher, Arese sought to accommodate any possible disagreements between scientific inquiry and traditional religious ideas.

Both Galileo's indisputable heliocentrism and Urban VIII's early persecution prompted Arese to write a lengthy rebuttal of the Copernicanism, which he interpolated into the last volume of his own most renown book, Le imprese sacre.