Saint Robert Bellarmine

Saint Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621), Italian Roman Catholic churchman and theologian, one of the leaders of the Counter Reformation.

Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino was born in Montepulciano, Tuscany (Toscana), October 4, 1542. The son of a local magistrate and a nephew of Pope Marcellus II, he entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and was ordained a priest in 1570. Appointed professor of theology at the University of Leuven (now in Belgium), he gained a reputation as a brilliant controversialist. After 1576 he lectured in Rome on the conflicts arising from the Reformation. His chief work was the multivolume Disputations on the Controversies of the Christian Faith (1568-93). His exposition of the Roman Catholic position was so clear and logical that his approach became the standard in textbooks for several centuries. He also took a prominent part in the revision of the Vulgate published in 1592.

Appointed a cardinal in 1599, Bellarmine served as archbishop of Capua from 1602 to 1605. He then returned to Rome, where he continued his scholarly work. An admirer of Galileo, he defended Galileo's right to publish his writings on the solar system. Having given all his money for the relief of the poor, Bellarmine died a pauper on September 17, 1621.

All of Bellarmine's works, written in Latin, were compiled between 1870 and 1874 and were printed in 12 volumes. Many of them, especially his devotional and catechetical works, had been translated into English as early as 1602. He was canonized in 1930 and declared a Doctor of the Church the following year. Bellarmine's feast day is September 17.