St. Robert Bellarmine

Their story

Robert Bellarmine was born in 1542 in Montepulciano, in Tuscany, Italy. His uncle had briefly been pope. Robert joined the Jesuits at eighteen and became a brilliant scholar and teacher. He taught at the University of Louvain, in today's Belgium, and then at the Roman College, where he lectured on the controversies raised by the Protestant Reformation. Robert's great work, the Controversies, explained and defended Catholic teaching clearly and fairly, and it was read across Europe for generations. He also wrote two catechisms, simple question-and-answer books that taught the faith to children and adults and were used for centuries. He was the spiritual director of the young St. Aloysius Gonzaga, whom he guided and loved, and he asked to be buried beside him. In 1599 Robert was made a cardinal, and he later served for a time as archbishop of Capua. He was involved in the Church's first examination of Galileo's ideas, treating him with respect. Despite his high position, he lived very simply and gave generously to the poor. A story tells that he once took down the hangings from his walls to clothe the poor, saying the walls would not catch cold. He died on September 17, 1621. He was canonized in 1930 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1931.