Background
Lionelli was born to a Slovene mother and an Italian father in the town of Sveti Križ (now Vipavski Križ) in the Vipava Valley, County of Gorizia.
Lionelli was born to a Slovene mother and an Italian father in the town of Sveti Križ (now Vipavski Križ) in the Vipava Valley, County of Gorizia.
His sermons had a crucial role in the affirmation of the Slovene language. He is also known by his monastic name John Baptist of Sveti Križ in Vipava (Latin: Joannes Baptista à Sancta Cruce Vippacensi. Later Slovenized as Janez (Krstnik) Svetokriški, Janez Krstnik od svetega Križa, or Ivan Krstnik od Križa).
A recent theory conjectures that he was actually born as Ivan Hrobat, the illegitimate son of Katarina Hrobat and a nobleman of the Lanthieri family, and that the surname Lionelli was purchased to avoid embarrassment.
He served in various monasteries in the Slovene Lands, including the Capuchin monastery of Saint Francis Assisi in his native town, and in Croatia. Lionelli died in Gorizia, where he had spent the last years of his life.