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Robert Bellarmine

Robert BellarmineSJ(/ˈbɛlɑːrmiːn/;Italian:Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino;4 October 1542 – 17 September 1621) was an ItalianJesuitand acardinalof theCatholic Church.He wascanonized a saintin 1930[1]and namedDoctor of the Church,one of only 37. He was one of the most important figures in theCounter-Reformation.

Saint

Robert Bellarmine

SJ
Cardinal,Archbishop Emeritus of Capua
17th-century portrait of Robert Bellarmine, Antwerp,Museum Plantin-Moretus
ChurchCatholic Church
ArchdioceseCapua
Appointed18 March 1602
Installed21 April 1602
Term endedAugust 1605
PredecessorCesare Costa
SuccessorAntonio Caetani Jr.
Other post(s)Cardinal-Priest of Santa Prassede
Orders
Ordination19 March 1570
Consecration21 April 1602
byClement VIII
Created cardinal3 March 1599
by Clement VIII
RankCardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born(1542-10-04)4 October 1542
Montepulciano,Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Died17 September 1621(1621-09-17)(aged 78)
Rome, Papal States
Coat of armsRobert Bellarmine's coat of arms
Sainthood
Feast day17 September; 13 May (General Roman Calendar,1932–1969)
Venerated inCatholic Church
Title as SaintConfessorandDoctor of the Church
Beatified13 May 1923
Rome,Kingdom of Italy
byPius XI
Canonized29 June 1930
Rome,Vatican City
by Pius XI
PatronageBellarmine University,Bellarmine Preparatory School,Fairfield University,Bellarmine College Preparatory,St. Robert's School, Darjeeling,canonists,canon lawyers,catechists,catechumens,Archdiocese of Cincinnati,St. Robert Catholic High School
ShrinesChiesa di Sant'Ignazio,Rome,Italy

Bellarmine was a professor of theology and laterrectorof theRoman College,and in 1602 becameArchbishop of Capua.He supported the reform decrees of theCouncil of Trent.He is also widely remembered for his role in theGiordano Brunoaffair,[2][3]theGalileo affair,and the trial of FriarFulgenzio Manfredi.[4]

Early life

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Robert Bellarmine was born inMontepulciano,the son of noble, albeit impoverished, parents, Vincenzo Bellarmino and his wife Cinzia Cervini, who was the sister ofPope Marcellus II.[5]As a boy he knewVirgilby heart and composed a number of poems inItalianandLatin.One of his hymns, onMary Magdalene,is included in theRoman Breviary.

Bellarmine entered the RomanJesuitnovitiate in 1560, remaining in Rome for three years. He was then sent to a Jesuit house atMondovì,inPiedmont,where he learnedGreek.While at Mondovì, he came to the attention ofFrancesco Adorno,the local Jesuit provincial superior, who sent him to theUniversity of Padua.[6]

Career

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Bellarmine's systematic studies oftheologybegan at Padua in 1567 and 1568, where his teachers were adherents ofThomism.In 1569, he was sent to finish his studies at theUniversity of LeuveninBrabant.There he was ordained and obtained a reputation both as a professor and as a preacher. He was the first Jesuit to teach at the university, where the subject of his course was theSumma TheologicaofThomas Aquinas.He was involved in a controversy withMichael Baiuson the subject ofGraceandfree will,and wrote aHebrewgrammar.[7]His residency in Leuven lasted seven years. In poor health, in 1576 he made a journey to Italy. Here he remained, commissioned byPope Gregory XIIIto lecture onpolemical theologyin the newRoman College,now known as thePontifical Gregorian University.Later, he would promote the cause of the beatification ofAloysius Gonzaga,who had been a student at the college during Bellarmine's tenure.[5]His lectures were published under the titleDe Controversiasin four large volumes.[8]

New duties after 1589

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Until 1589, Bellarmine was occupied as professor of theology. After the murder in that year ofHenry III of France,Pope Sixtus VsentEnrico Caetaniaslegateto Paris[9]to negotiate with theCatholic League of France,and chose Bellarmine to accompany him as theologian.[10]He was in the city during its siege byHenry of Navarre.

Upon the death of Pope Sixtus V in 1590, theCount of Olivareswrote toPhilip II of Spain,"Bellarmine... would not do for a Pope, for he is mindful only of the interests of the Church and is unresponsive to the reasons of princes."[11]

PopeClement VIII,said of him, "the Church of God had not his equal in learning".[5]Bellarmine was made rector of theRoman Collegein 1592, examiner ofbishopsin 1598, and cardinal in 1599. Immediately after his appointment as Cardinal, Pope Clement made him aCardinal Inquisitor,in which capacity he served as one of the judges at the trial ofGiordano Bruno,and concurred in the decision which condemned Bruno to beburned at the stakeas aheretic.[12]

In 1602 he was madearchbishop of Capua.He had written against pluralism and non-residence of bishops within theirdioceses.As bishop he put into effect the reforming decrees of theCouncil of Trent.He received some votes in the 1605conclaveswhich electedPope Leo XI,Pope Paul V,and in 1621 whenPope Gregory XVwas elected, but his being a Jesuit counted against him in the judgement of many of the cardinals.[5]

Thomas Hobbessaw Bellarmine in Rome at a service on All Saints Day (1 November) 1614 and, exempting him alone from a general castigation of cardinals, described him as "a little lean old man" who lived "more retired".[13]

The Galileo case

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Main article:Galileo affair

In 1616, on the orders of Paul V, Bellarmine summonedGalileo,notified him of a forthcomingdecreeof theCongregation of the Indexcondemning theCopernicandoctrine of the mobility of the Earth and the immobility of the Sun, and ordered him to abandon it.[14]Galileo agreed to do so.[15]

When Galileo later complained of rumours to the effect that he had been forced to abjure and do penance, Bellarmine wrote out a certificate denying the rumours, stating that Galileo had merely been notified of the decree and informed that, as a consequence of it, the Copernican doctrine could not be "defended or held". Unlike the previously mentioned formal injunction(see earlier footnote),this certificate would have allowed Galileo to continue using and teaching the mathematical content of Copernicus's theory as a purely theoretical device for predicting the apparent motions of the planets.[16][17]

According to some of his letters, Cardinal Bellarmine believed that a demonstration for heliocentrism could not be found because it would contradict the unanimous consent of theFathers'scriptural exegesis,to which theCouncil of Trent,in 1546,[18]definedall Catholics must adhere. In other passages, Bellarmine argued that he did not support the heliocentric model for the lack of evidence of the time ( "I will not believe that there is such a demonstration, until it is shown to me" ).[19]

Bellarmine wrote toheliocentristPaolo Antonio Foscariniin 1615:[19]

The Council [of Trent] prohibits interpreting Scripture against the common consensus of the Holy Fathers; and if Your Paternity wants to read not only the Holy Fathers, but also the modern commentaries onGenesis,thePsalms,Ecclesiastes,and Joshua, you will find all agreeing in the literal interpretation that the sun is in heaven and turns around the earth with great speed, and that the earth is very far from heaven and sits motionless at the center of the world.

and

I say that if there were a true demonstration that the sun is at the center of the world and the earth in the third heaven, and that the sun does not circle the earth but the earth circles the sun, then one would have to proceed with great care in explaining the Scriptures that appear contrary, and say rather that we do not understand them, than that what is demonstrated is false. But I will not believe that there is such a demonstration, until it is shown me. Nor is it the same to demonstrate that by supposing the sun to be at the center and the earth in heaven one cansave the appearances,and to demonstrate that in truth the sun is at the center and the earth in heaven; for I believe the first demonstration may be available, but I have very great doubts about the second, and in case of doubt one must not abandon the Holy Scripture as interpreted by the Holy Fathers.

In 1633, nearly twelve years after Bellarmine's death, Galileo was again called before the Inquisition in this matter. Galileo produced Bellarmine's certificate for his defense at the trial.[20]

According toPierre DuhemandKarl Popper"in one respect, at least, Bellarmine had shown himself a better scientist than Galileo by disallowing the possibility of a" strict proof "of the earth's motion, on the grounds that an astronomical theory merely" saves the appearances "without necessarily revealing what" really happens. "[21]Philosopher of scienceThomas Kuhn,in his book,The Copernican Revolution,after commenting onCesare Cremonini,who refused to look through Galileo'stelescope,wrote:

Most of Galileo’s opponents behaved more rationally. Like Bellarmine, they agreed that the phenomena were in the sky but denied that they proved Galileo’s contentions. In this, of course, they were quite right. Though the telescope argued much, it proved nothing.[22]

Death

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Robert Bellarmine retired toSant'Andrea degli Scozzesi,the Jesuit college of Saint Andrew in Rome. He died on 17 September 1621, aged 78.[23]He was buried in theChurch of St. Ignatiusin Rome.[24]

16th-century portrait of Saint Robert Bellarmine

Works

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Bellarmine's books bear the stamp of their period; the effort for literary elegance (so-called"maraviglia") had given place to a desire to pile up as much material as possible, to embrace the whole field of human knowledge, and incorporate it into theology. His controversial works provoked many replies, and were studied for some decades after his death.[a]At Leuven he made extensive studies in theChurch Fathersandscholastic theologians,which gave him the material for his bookDe scriptoribus ecclesiasticis(Rome, 1613). It was later revised and enlarged bySirmond,Labbeus,andCasimir Oudin.Bellarmine wrote the preface to the newSixto-Clementine Vulgate.[5]Bellarmine also prepared for posterity his own commentary on each of the Psalms. An English translation from the Latin was published in 1866.[25]

Dogmatics

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Main article:Disputationes de Controversiis

From his research grewDisputationes de controversiis christianae fidei(also calledControversiae), first published atIngolstadtin 1581–1593. This major work was the earliest attempt to systematize the various religious disputes between Catholics and Protestants. Bellarmine reviewed the issues[11]and devoted eleven years to it while at the Roman College. In August 1590,Pope Sixtus Vdecided to place the first volume of theDisputationeson theIndexbecause Bellarmine argued in it that the Pope is not the temporal ruler of the whole world and that temporal rulers do not derive their authority to rule from God but from theconsent of the governed.However, Sixtus died before the revised Index was published, and the next Pope,Urban VII,removed the book from the Index during his brief twelve-day reign.[26]

Page of the short catechism of Bellarmine:Dottrina cristiana breve,1752

In 1597-98 he published aCatechismin two versions (short[it]andfull[it]) which has been translated to 60 languages and was the official teaching of theCatholic Churchfor centuries.[27]

Venetian Interdict

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Main article:Venetian Interdict

UnderPope Paul V(reigned 1605–1621), a major conflict arose betweenVeniceand thePapacy.Paolo Sarpi,as spokesman for the Republic of Venice, protested against the papalinterdict,and reasserted the principles of theCouncil of Constanceand of theCouncil of Basel,denying the pope's authority in secular matters. Bellarmine wrote three rejoinders to the Venetian theologians, and may have warned Sarpi of an impending murderous attack, when in September 1607, an unfrocked friar and brigand by the name of Rotilio Orlandini planned to kill Sarpi for the sum of 8,000 crowns.[28]Orlandini's plot was discovered, and when he and his accomplices crossed from Papal into Venetian territory they were arrested.[29]

Allegiance oath controversy and papal authority

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Further information:Oath of Allegiance of James I of England

Bellarmine also became involved in controversy with KingJames I of England.From a point of principle forEnglish Catholics,this debate drew in figures from much of Western Europe.[30]It raised the profile of both protagonists, King James as a champion of his own restrictedCalvinistProtestantism, and Bellarmine forTridentine Catholicism.[31]

Devotional works

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During his retirement, he wrote several short books intended to help ordinary people in their spiritual life:De ascensione mentis in Deum per scalas rerum creatorum opusculum(The Mind's Ascent to God by the Ladder of Created Things;1614) which was translated into English asJacob's Ladder(1638) without acknowledgement byHenry Isaacson[d],[32]The Art of Dying Well(1619) (in Latin, English translation under this title byEdward Coffin),[33]andThe Seven Words on the Cross.

Canonization and final resting place

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Robert Bellarmine wascanonizedbyPope Pius XIin 1930;[34]the following year he was declared aDoctor of the Church.His remains, in a cardinal's red robes, are displayed behind glass under a side altar in theChurch of Saint Ignatius,the chapel of the Roman College, next to the body of his studentAloysius Gonzaga,as he himself had wished. In theGeneral Roman CalendarSaint Robert Bellarmine'sfeast dayis on 17 September, the day of his death; but some continue to use pre-1969 calendars, in which for 37 years his feast day was on 13 May. Therankassigned to his feast has been "double" (1932–1959), "third-class feast" (1960–1968), and since the1969 revision"memorial".

Notes

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  1. ^On Laymen or Secular People;On the Temporal Power of the Pope. Against William Barclay;andOn the Primary Duty of the Supreme Pontiff,are included in Bellarmine,On Temporal and Spiritual Authority,Stefania Tutino (ed.) trans., Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 2012

References

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  1. ^Jestice, Phyllis G. (2004).Holy People of the World: A Cross-cultural Encyclopedia.ABC-CLIO. p. 114.ISBN978-1-57607-355-1.Archivedfrom the original on 20 February 2023.Retrieved19 November2020.
  2. ^Gibbings, Richard (1852).Were "heretics" Ever Burned Alive at Rome?: A Report of the Proceedings in the Roman Inquisition Against Fulgentio Manfredi. Taken from the Original Manuscript Brought from Italy by a French Officer, and Edited, with a Parallel English Version and Illustrative Additions.John Petheram. pp.44–45.Archivedfrom the original on 20 February 2023.Retrieved19 November2020.
  3. ^Martinez, Alberto A. (1 October 2016). "Giordano Bruno and the heresy of many worlds".Annals of Science.73(4):345–374.doi:10.1080/00033790.2016.1193627.ISSN0003-3790.PMID27607442.S2CID25425481.
  4. ^Perkins, William (1600).A Golden Chain or the description of Theology(PDF).University of Cambridge. p. 155.Archived(PDF)from the original on 9 October 2022.
  5. ^abcdeSmith, Sydney Fenn (1907)."St. Robert Francis Romulus Bellarmine".In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  6. ^Rule, William Harris (1853). "A Jesuit cardinal: Robert Bellarmine".Celebrated Jesuits.Vol. 2. London: John Mason. p. 20.
  7. ^Farmer 2011.
  8. ^"St. Robert Bellarmine The Great Defender of the Faith".ChristianApostles.Archivedfrom the original on 31 December 2022.Retrieved2 December2020.
  9. ^Miranda, Salvador."The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church – Biographical Dictionary – CAETANI, Enrico (1550-1599)".www2.fiu.edu.Archivedfrom the original on 23 March 2020.Retrieved23 June2017.
  10. ^Miranda, Salvador."The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church – Biographical Dictionary – BELLARMINO, S.J., Roberto (1542-1621)".www2.fiu.edu.Archivedfrom the original on 23 March 2020.Retrieved23 June2017.
  11. ^ab"The Galileo Project | Christianity | Robert Cardinal Bellarmine".galileo.rice.edu.Archivedfrom the original on 7 January 2018.Retrieved23 June2017.
  12. ^Blackwell(1991, pp. 47–48).
  13. ^Martinich, A. P. (1999).Thomas Hobbes: a Biography.Cambridge: Cambridge U.P. p. 34.
  14. ^Blackwell(1991, p. 126).
    The Vatican archives contain an unsigned copy of a more strongly worded formal injunction purporting to have been served on Galileo shortly after Bellarmine's admonition, ordering him "not to hold, teach, or defend" the condemned doctrine "in any way whatever, either orally or in writing", and threatening him with imprisonment if he refused to obey.
    However, whether this injunction was ever properly served on Galileo is a subject of much scholarly disagreement.(Blackwell, 1991, p. 127–128)
  15. ^Fantoli (2005, p.119).Some scholars have suggested that Galileo's agreement was only obtained after some initial resistance. Otherwise, the formal injunction purporting to have been served on him during his meeting with Bellarmine(see earlier footnote)would have been contrary to the Pope's instructions(Fantoli. 2005, pp.121, 124).
  16. ^Blackwell(1991, p.127).Maurice Finocchiaro's English translations of the purportedformal injunction,thedecreeof the Congregation of the Index and Cardinal Bellarmine'scertificateare available on-line.
  17. ^Blackwell, Richard J. (31 January 1991).Galileo, Bellarmine, and the Bible.University of Notre Dame Press.ISBN9780268158934.Archivedfrom the original on 20 February 2023.Retrieved19 November2020.
  18. ^"Fourth Session of the Council of Trent".8 April 1546.Archivedfrom the original on 21 October 2013.Retrieved16 December2013.
  19. ^abBellarmine's letter of 12 April 1615 to Foscarini, translated inFinocchiaro, Maurice A., ed. (1989).The Galileo Affair: a Documentary History.Berkeley: U. California P. pp.67–8.ISBN0520066626.
  20. ^Galileo's third deposition (10 May 1633), translated inFinocchiaro, Maurice A., ed. (2014).The Trial of Galileo: Essential Documents.Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. p. 130.ISBN9781624661358.
  21. ^McMullin, Ernan (2008). "Robert Bellarmine". In Gillispie, Charles (ed.).Dictionary of Scientific Biography.Scribner & American Council of Learned Societies.
  22. ^Kuhn, Thomas (1957).The Copernican Revolution.New York: Random House / Vintage Books. p. 226.
  23. ^Chisholm (1911)
  24. ^Díaz Vizzi, Daniel (10 January 2021)."Church of St. Ignatius in Rome: the jewel of baroque architecture".Rome Reports.Translated by Christian Campos.Retrieved15 September2023.
  25. ^"A COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF PSALMS".ecatholic2000.Archivedfrom the original on 8 January 2020.Retrieved22 November2019.
  26. ^Blackwell, Richard J. (31 January 1991)."Chapter 2: Bellarmine's Views Before the Galileo Affair".Galileo, Bellarmine, and the Bible.University of Notre Dame Press. p. 30.doi:10.2307/j.ctvpg847x.ISBN978-0-268-15893-4.Archivedfrom the original on 20 February 2023.Retrieved4 September2020.Bellarmine himself was not a stranger to theological condemnation. In August 1590 Pope Sixtus V decided to place the first volume of theControversieson theIndexbecause Bellarmine had argued that the pope is not the temporal ruler of the whole world and that temporal rulers do not derive their authority to rule from God through the pope but through the consent of the people governed. However Sixtus died before the revisedIndexwas published, and the next pope, Urban VII, who reigned for only twelve days before his own death, removed Bellarmine's book from the list during that brief period. The times were precarious.
  27. ^Introduction by Bishop Athanasius Schneider toBellarmine, St. Robert (2016).Doctrina Christiana: The Timeless Catechism of St. Robert Bellarmine.Translated by Grant, Ryan. Mediatrix Press. pp.xiv–xv.
  28. ^The Cambridge Modern History, Volume 4: Fra Paolo Sarpi(Cambridge University Press 1906), p. 671
  29. ^Robertson, Alexander (1893)Fra Paolo Sarpi: the Greatest of the Venetians,London: Sampson, Low, Marston & Co. pp. 114–117
  30. ^W. B. Patterson,James VI and I and the Reunion of Christendom(1997), pp. 76–77.
  31. ^"Bellarmine, Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence".National Catholic Register.Archivedfrom the original on 16 November 2016.Retrieved23 June2017.
  32. ^"Iacob's ladder consisting of fifteene degrees or ascents to the knowledge of God by the consideration of his creatures and attributes".quod.lib.umich.edu.Archivedfrom the original on 18 April 2016.Retrieved23 June2017.
  33. ^Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913)."Edward Coffin".Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  34. ^Tutino, Stefania (2010).Empire of Souls: Robert Bellarmine and the Christian Commonwealth.Oxford University Press. p. 289.ISBN978-0-19-978058-7.Archivedfrom the original on 20 February 2023.Retrieved19 November2020.

Sources

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  • Blackwell, Richard J. (1991).Galileo, Bellarmine, and the Bible.Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.ISBN0-268-01024-2.
  • Fantoli, Annibale (2005).The Disputed Injunction and its Role in Galileo's Trial.InMcMullin (2005, pp.117–149).

Further reading

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Works of Bellarmine

Works about Bellarmine

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