St. Robert Bellarmine

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Feastday: September 17
b. 1542 d. 1621

Born at Montepulciano, Italy, October 4, 1542, St. Robert Bellarmine was the third of ten children. His mother, Cinzia Cervini, a niece of Pope Marcellus II, was dedicated to almsgiving, prayer, meditation, fasting, and mortification of the body.

Robert entered the newly formed Society of Jesus in 1560 and after his ordination went on to teach at Louvain (1570-1576) where he became famous for his Latin sermons. In 1576, he was appointed to the chair of controversial theology at the Roman College, becoming Rector in 1592; he went on to become Provincial of Naples in 1594 and Cardinal in 1598.

This outstanding scholar and devoted servant of God defended the Apostolic See against the anti-clericals in Venice and against the political tenets of James I of England. He composed an exhaustive apologetic work against the prevailing heretics of his day. In the field of church-state relations, he took a position based on principles now regarded as fundamentally democratic - authority originates with God, but is vested in the people, who entrust it to fit rulers.

This saint was the spiritual father of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, helped St. Francis de Sales obtain formal approval of the Visitation Order, and in his prudence opposed severe action in the case of Galileo. He has left us a host of important writings, including works of devotion and instruction, as well as controversy. He died in 1621.

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12 Comments

althea pasia
July 26th, 2008 3:08 am
it is very helpful. thank you
Kimbur
August 27th, 2008 12:43 pm
Very helpful for my son's report.
Howard
September 16th, 2008 4:15 pm
thanks so much. this really helped me out. keep up the good work.
catholic man
October 8th, 2008 11:58 am
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carlo
October 11th, 2008 2:36 am
very helpful! thank you so much
robbie
October 13th, 2008 3:13 pm
what is Robert Bellarmine dads name?
darlene
October 21st, 2008 5:40 am
very helpful and understood thank u
dudish boy
October 24th, 2008 10:27 am
pretty nice info. it helped me. :D
JUnioR
October 31st, 2008 10:48 pm
it helped a little bit and it needs more info
robert
February 24th, 2009 3:32 pm
good job. thank you this helped me alot and it is easy to understand
BG
August 1st, 2009 5:48 am
great!
Ann
August 30th, 2010 10:11 pm
I went to Bellarmine-Jefferson High school over 50 years ago. Msgr Keating felt that Thomas Jefferson must have been influenced by Robert Bellarmine in his political philosophy that all authority comes originates from God - not government. Although this information was given to us many times during my 12 years of education, I am now just trying to read information to see exactly how our founders were influenced during the founding of our country.

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