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Several
years ago, a man came to the door of the rectory in St. Robert Bellarmine
Parish, Andover, Massachusetts and announced to the pastor: "If this
is the Church of St. Robert Bellarmine, you must be Jesuit!" He was
rather amazed to find out that the pastor was not a Jesuit, but
Jesuit-trained and a member of the faculty of the local Jesuit college.
The visitor turned out to be a native-born Italian who had graduated from
a Jesuit college in Italy.
All
this is to emphasize that Robert Bellarmine is practically unknown to the
Catholics of the United States, even though is the Patron Saint of
Religious Education and a Doctor of the Church. He is one of the great
figures in the era of the Counter- Reformation or the Catholic
Reformation. A member of the Roman Curia for most of his active life and a
Cardinal of the church, he was not raised to the altars of the Church
until 1930. We will try to understand this a little better when we know
something more of this kind, generous and brilliant man who blessed the
world of his time with his holiness.
The 16th
century was one of the most difficult in the history of the Church. The
attacks on the Church by the original "Reformers" caused
tremendous losses to the Church in numbers, property, power and prestige.
Whole nations abandoned "mother Church", rejected doctrine after
doctrine, denied the validity of the sacramental system and eliminated the
central worship of the Church, the Mass. The rejection of the authority of
the Church, the personal interpretation of Scripture, the importance of
tradition endangered the entire future of Christianity. If the Church had
not responded, it would have been destroyed. But respond it did! Some
historians use the terms "Counter-Reformation" and
"Catholic Reformation" to describe how the Church fought back.
The
Church went into council - the famous Council of Trent - to revitalize the
practice and truth of the faith. The Reformers had not been entirely wrong
in their criticism. There was much wrong with the Church, especially in
its practice. The challenge was to restore the Church to its original
purity, especially in the life of the spirit and the people of God. It is
the view of the Church today that the Providence of God sent to the Church
at that time a man named Robert Bellarmine, who would be a key leader in
defending the Church and moving it forward to better days.
Robert
Francis Romulus Bellarmine (Bellarmino) was born in 1542 at Montepulciano
in Tuscany. His father was Vincent Bellarmino, a member of a noble family,
but one that had fallen on hard times. The family was not at all wealthy
or powerful His mother, on the other hand, Cynthia Cervini, was the
half-sister of Cardinal Marcello Cervini, one of the outstanding leaders
of the Counter-Reformation Church, who would be elected Pope Marcellus II
in 1555. Unfortunately, Pope Marcellus II reigned for only one month
before his death. However, a grateful Church would advance the nephew as
he sought the priesthood. These were the early days of the existence of
the Jesuit order. St. Ignatius Loyola recognized the need for a strong
educational system within the Church to defend it against Protestantism
and to clarify the teaching of the apostolic Church. The Jesuits made this
their major work when to the present day.
There
was a Jesuit college in Montepulciano. The young Bellarmine, a very small,
frail but lively fellow excelled in his studies, especially Latin and
Italian poetry. It didn’t take long for it to become obvious that he
wished to join the Society of Jesus. The rector of the college described
him as "the best of our school and not far from he kingdom of
heaven". In 1559, Bellarmine’s father, who wanted him to be a
medical doctor, agreed that he could spend a year at home pondering his
vocation. In 1560, at the age of 18, Robert Bellarmine applied for
admittance to the Society of Jesus. He was sent to Rome to pursue his
novitiate, even given credit for the year he had spent at home (it’s
nice to be a relative of a Pope!). At the same time, Bellarmine was
enrolled in the "Roman College" of the Jesuits (in modern times
known as the Gregorian University) to study Philosophy.
Bellarmine
would be plagued throughout his life with ill health. When he completed
his philosophical training, he was sent to Florence in his native Tuscany
to rest and to teach at the Jesuit college there – Rhetoric and Latin
poetry. As is so characteristic of the Jesuits, the assignment only lasted
one year and he was sent to Mondovi in Piedmont. There he discovered that
he was expected to teach Cicero and Demosthenes. The problem was, he knew
no Greek! It is told that he burned the midnight oil staying one lesson
ahead of his students! It was at Mondovi that Bellarmine began to preach.
He was so small that he had to stand on a stool in the pulpit. His
ethereal looks made him very popular as the "boy preacher".
Crowds
came to hear him. At the college, Bellarmine showed great courage by
objecting to the practice of flogging unprepared students, something that
was common at that time. The story is told that the Jesuit Provincial went
to hear Bellarmine and was so impressed that he transferred Robert to
Padua to complete his studies for ordination and to preach to the college
community there. Again, this was not to last. The Superior General of the
Jesuits, Francis Borgia (now St. Francis Borgia) sent Bellarmine to the
great Catholic University at Louvain Belgium. Reformation theology had
permeated the University and Borgia recognized the brilliance of Robert
Bellarmine to counteract this trend. Robert lectured preached and studied
for the next seven years. In 1570, Bellarmine was ordained to the
priesthood and appointed to a professorship at Louvain, the first Jesuit
to hold such a post. For six years he lectured on the Summa Theologica of
St. Thomas Aquinas, preached regularly and taught himself Hebrew. He wrote
a Hebrew grammar text to help his students, which became very popular.
All
this was too much and Bellarmine suffered a serious breakdown. He was
recalled to Rome although St. Charles Borromeo tried to lure him to Milan.
In Rome, Bellarmine received the key appointment of his life – to the
"Chair of Controversial Theology" at the Roman College. Its
purpose was apologetical: to defend the church against the attacks of
Reformers. Bellarmine would hold this post for 11 years, until 1587. It
was during this time that he wrote his classic work, " Disputations
on the Controversies of the Christian Faith", in four large volumes.
To this day, it is considered one of the most important texts of Catholic
theology ever written. Three hundred years after its publication, it was
called "the most complete defense of the Catholic teaching".
The
disputations were rewritten to defend the church against " The
Centuries of Magdeburg", a Protestant series which purported to prove
that Protestantism represented the church of the apostles in all Christian
centuries. In such a period of controversy, tempers were always high and
personal attacks were constant. Bellarmine’s work was known for the
kindness and respect he gave the Reformers. The result of this was that
the "Disputations" became the basic text for all controversies
used by Catholic and Protestant leaders alike. Bellarmine’s work
received the greatest compliment of being banned in England! One English
bookseller of the day said: " I have made more money out of this
Jesuit than out of all the other divines put together.
Bellarmine’s
success was so great that he became one of the most powerful men in the
Church. He was sent on many papal delegations even suffering the siege of
Paris in 1589. When he returned to Rome, Pope Clement VIII gave him an
enormous task. The Council of Trent felt that the " private
interpretation of Scripture" proposed by the Reformers was very
dangerous for doctrinal purity. It suggested that the Pope take the
responsibility for preparing an official version of the Bible so that a
consistent text would be available to all scholars. Sixtus V,
unfortunately, decided to prepare the text himself. Unfortunately, his
text was found to be inaccurate and unusable. The Church had used St.
Jerome’s Latin text of the Bible, " The Latin Vulgate" edition
of the Bible for centuries. It was time to apply the advances in
Scriptural understand to a new official text. After the death of Sixtus V,
Clement VIII turned to Robert Bellarmine for an up-to-date official text
of the Vulgate, which is still in use today.
It is
only in the last few years that work has begun on a modern text of the
Vulgate. Robert Bellarmine’s "Preface" is still in use today.
The significance of this is great. For centuries, all translations of the
Bible into the vernacular were done from the Vulgate text (e.g. Douai
Bible; Confraternity of Christian Doctrine Bible). Today, many new
translations are based on the original languages: Hebrew, Greek and
Aramaic. These translations are one level closer to the original texts
than the Latin Bible. However, Bellarmine still makes his contribution.
During
these years, St. Robert’s reputation continued to grow. He continues to
be one of the most powerful men in the Church, yet insisted on living the
life of a simple priest. He lived in the Jesuit community at the Roman
College where he became the Spiritual Director. It was here that he met
and directed the young Aloysius Gonzaga. He was present at Aloysius’
deathbed. So deeply attached was he to the future patron saint of youth,
he called him "my dear ghostly child" and directed in his will
that he be buried at the feet of the young saint. The story is told that
Saint Robert reveled in the living community life. He washed the dishes
after every evening meal! Soon Robert was mad e rector of the Roman
College.
Later,
after a short term as Jesuit provincial in Naples, he was called back to
Rome to become the personal theologian of Clement VIII. The Pope
commissioned him to write two catechisms of Catholic doctrine. Luther had
invented the Catechism style to propagate Protestant theology. The history
of Bellarmine’s catechism is nothing less than incredible. The first was
the instruction manual used by Jesuit missionaries all over the world. It
was translated into sixty-two languages. Only the Bible itself and the
famous " Imitation of Christ" surpass this record. The second
catechism was used ion most of the diocese of Italy until the publication
of the new master catechism of the Church only in the early 1990’s.
In
1598, Bellarmine was stunned to be named a cardinal by Clement VIII.
Jesuit’s are not supposed to receive honors from the Church by their
Constitution, but the pope declared: "He was not his equal for
learning". Cardinals who are full-time members of the Roman Curia,
the top administrative body of the Church, live in apartments in the
Vatican itself. The are supported by benefices so that they can keep up an
office and staff. This was against the religious vow of poverty!
Bellarmine continued his usual austere life. He ate the food of the poor-
bread and garlic. He did not heat his apartment in winter and gave most of
his income to the poor. He even distributed the wall hangings of his rooms
to the poor for clothing with the very wry comment: "The walls won’t
catch cold".
Much to
the amazement of all, at the height of his career, at the age of 60, Pope
Clement VIII appointed Robert Bellarmine the archbishop of Capua.
Bellarmine had never been in pastoral ministry. Never the less, he began a
new dimension of his priesthood with his usual enthusiasm. He would spend
the next three years introducing the reforms of the Council of Trent in
his archdiocese. He traveled everywhere, preaching to the people. He
visited his clergy as well as religious men and women to encourage them to
renew the Church. He won the love of everyone.
But, it
was not to last. In 1605, Paul V was elected pope and immediately called
Bellarmine back to Rome. He would not leave again. He became the head of
the Vatican Library, one of the great sources of the world. He was
appointed a member of the most congregations of the Curia. He would
continue to write in defense of the Church, but the tone of his works
would not have the same bite of controversy. One of his subjects was the
power of the papacy, especially in relation to the civil power of kings.
Bellarmine wrote two pamphlets against the views of King James of England
regarding the "divine right of kings", the power to control the
Church in their countries, the first a spoof of James’ poor Latin, the
second a devastating destruction of his arguments. Bellarmine’s "De
Potestate Papae" (The Power of the Pope), was burned publicly by the
Parliament of Paris!
Robert
Bellarmine was the " point man" in the famous controversy
between the Church and Galileo. Actually, the two men were close friends.
Galileo dedicated one of his books to Bellarmine. Bellarmine was able,
then, to approach Galileo on a very personal basis. However, so tension
filled was the issue that the friends could not resolve it. The
controversy was to become one of the most important in history: the
relationship between Science and Theology, the relative importance of
human observation and revealed truth. Galileo was one of the first users
of the telescope. His measurements led to the proposal of the Heliocentric
Theory – that the sun was central to our world that the earth moved
around the sun and not the sun around the earth. Yet, the Scriptures talk
of the movement of the sun. In Joshua 10, 12, Joshua, the Israelite
general, is pursuing an enemy force in retreat. He prayed that God would
stay the movement of the sun: " Stand still, O Sun". Also,
Christian theology that always taught that the earth was central to our
world (Geocentric Theory) because it was home to the most important
creation of God, the human race. Now, this doctrine was being threatened.
Galileo
represented the beginning of modern science; Bellarmine the truth of
scripture as literally interpreted. The Galileo Controversy has been used
for centuries to suggest a fundamental conflict between science and faith.
In recent years, correspondence and documents have been discovered which
throw new light on the details of the controversy. Bellarmine urged
Galileo to be patient. He was confident that apparent conflicts would be
resolved by even better understanding of truth. Galileo, unfortunately,
refused to wait. He published his theory and was dismissed from his
teaching position. He was even subjected to house arrest. Today we
understand that Galileo’s contribution was not just a fact of the
natural world but a major sign that the Scriptures cannot be interpreted
literally.
The
Later Years
Robert
Bellarmine died at Rome in 1621 at the age of 79. If his early career
featured brilliant polemics and his middle years gentle, loving, pastoral
life, his final years brought him transcendent peace. His writings turned
spiritual. He wrote several works, the classics being "The Ascent of
the Mind to God" and "The Art of Dying". He wrote that this
was his way of preparing for death and to move closer to his God.
Why
So Long?
It
seems incomprehensible that the consummate renaissance man would have to
wait until 1930 to be elevated to the altars of the Church – 300 years
for a man of his achievement and holiness. The answer probably lies in the
title of his greatest work – "Controversies". People who are
active in controversies become controversial themselves. The church has
its priorities and thinks far ahead. It was not interested in offending
Protestantism by recalling the conflicts of the past or Modern Science
which it wished to encourage and embrace. By 1930, these considerations
were no longer imperative. The church was able to say that it had a new
saint, a new doctor of the church and a patron for religious education.
Bellarmine
and the Declaration of Independence:
In the
children’s chapel of Saint Robert Bellarmine Church, Andover, MA, you
will find a rather unique but impressive stained glass window. It is quite
large and in four panels. Three of the panels represent the breath of the
United States, geographically, economically and politically. The fourth
panel is not a "picture" or a symbol. It is a series of
quotations. These quotations are culled from the political writings of
Robert Bellarmine and the Declaration of Independence. There is an amazing
correspondence between the two, something that has been remarked by many
philosophers, theologians, and legal experts. For example:
Bellarmine:
"In a commonwealth, all men are born naturally free and equal"
(De Clericis, Ch. VII)
Virginia
Declaration of Rights:
"All men are born equally free and independent." (Preliminary
draft – The Virginia Declaration of Rights, a seminal document for the
Declaration of Independence, was written by Madison, Mason and Jefferson.
The final draft read: "All men are by nature equally free and
independent".)
Declaration
of Independence:
"All men are created equal".
The
similarities between the writings of Bellarmine and these basic documents
of American Democracy and freedom focused considerable historical study on
Bellarmine and his possible influence on Thomas Jefferson. A search of
Jefferson’s personal library at Monticello found no sign of the writings
of Bellarmine. Research proved that while Jefferson had a rudimentary
knowledge of Latin, it probably would not have sustained a serious reading
of Bellarmine’s works. On the other hand, a most interesting discovery
was made. Jefferson had a copy, notated and underlined in pencil, of the
"Patriarcha" of Sir Robert Filmer, the personal theologian of
James I of England. He had written his book in defense of the divine right
of kings and, since Bellarmine had written a classic work against this
political theory, Filmer quoted copiously from Bellarmine. It is these
quotations which were underlined in Jefferson’s copy.
We have
no way of determining if Jefferson himself did this annotating but it is
exactly these quotations from Bellarmine which show up in the wording of
the Declaration of Independence. These are also the quotations used in the
stained glass window described above.
From
the initial article written by Gaillard Hunt, an archivist at the Library
of Congress and a convert to Catholicism, in 1917 studies were published
supporting both sides of this debate in the pages of many of the most
scholarly journals of our country. The debate did not fade away until
1945. It had become obvious that no definitive conclusion could be
reached. The window in Andover, MA commemorates the debate rather than any
one determination. Modern scholars feel that Jefferson did not know
Bellarmine’s writings first hand. Bellarmine, on the other hand, was the
best known protagonist of the Christian Democratic theory based on the
"consent of the governed" rather than on the "divine right
of kings", thinking which came out of the thought of Saint Thomas
Aquinas and Scholasticism. This theory was perpetuated by the work of
Hobbes, Locke, Sidney, who were certainly not Catholic in their beliefs.
It is well known how the founding fathers were influenced by these
political philosophers. At most, we can say that Bellarmine could have
indirectly contributed a wording of this theory, which appeared in the
Declaration of Independence itself. This should be enough to make
Bellarmine, in the words of his biographer, James Broderick S.J., "a
patron saint of the United States". |