ROBERT BELLARMINE, Saint. – Doctor of the Church, born in Montepulciano on 4 October 1542, died in Rome on 17 September 1621. Of noble family (his mother, Cintia, was sister of Cardinal Cervini, the future Marcellus II), he was to depart for the University of Palermo when, in 1558, immediately after the arrival of the Jesuits in Montepulciano, the young man asked Lainez (v. to enter the Society of Jesus.
Admitted on 21 September 1560, Bellarmine successfully attended the philosophy course at the Roman College, taught by Toledo and Mariana (v). After five years (1563–67) of teaching literature in the Colleges of Florence and Mondovì, he began the theological course in Padua, which he completed in Louvain, whither S. Francesco Borgia (v.) sent him in 1569 as a preacher against Protestantism in the Low Countries. Ordained priest in Ghent on 25 March 1570, Bellarmine achieved notable success in preaching and in the struggle he waged against the errors of Michael Baius (already condemned by Pius V on 1 October 1567), which had just begun in the house of the Jesuits (October 1570), where he took as his text, expounding the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas. Recalled to Rome for reasons of health by Father General Mercurian, he was entrusted at the Roman College with the new chair of controversies, which he was to render illustrious with the Disputationes et controversiae christianae fidei, composed over fourteen years of assiduous teaching (1575–88). In October 1580 he left for Paris as theologian to Cardinal Legate Gaetani, sent by Sixtus V to safeguard Catholic interests after the assassination of Henry III. The balanced stance of Bellarmine drew the admiration even of Henry IV, who, upon his conversion, always regarded the Saint as a sincere friend. After the death of Sixtus V (27 August 1590), Bellarmine returned to Rome, where he worked intensively on the sixtine–elemental edition of the Vulgate (1591–92). He resumed the office of spiritual father at the Roman College (an assignment given him in 1588, at the end of his controversialist teaching) and in that capacity directed, in the final months, assisting at the moment of death, St. Aloysius Gonzaga (21 June 1591).
Rector of the Roman College in 1592, he assisted the following year at the Fifth General Congregation of the Order, where he was designated a member of the Commission charged with putting the final touches to the Ratio studiorum of the Society. Bellarmine made wise proposals, unanimously accepted, especially that of making St. Thomas the rule to be followed in speculative theology (scholasticism). In 1595 he was named Provincial of Naples, where his moral qualities were highly esteemed even by St. Bernardine Realino. Upon the death of Cardinal Toledo, theologian to the Pope, Clement VIII, following the advice of Baronius, chose Bellarmine for that office and accordingly recalled him to Rome at the beginning of 1597, naming him at the same time Consultor of the Holy Office and examiner of bishops, until on 3 March 1599 he created him cardinal, with the title of St. Mary in Via, later changed, out of devotion to St. Charles Borromeo, to that of St. Praxedes. A member of many congregations (Holy Office, Rites, Index, Reform of the Breviary, Examination of the Marriage of Henry IV) and a highly regarded counsellor of Clement VIII, Cardinal Bellarmine continued his theological activity as before, in no way altering his habits as a humble religious. An enemy of flattery, he made known to the Pope with noble frankness the abuses to be corrected in the government of the Church, in the well-known memorandum De rebus reformandis. In the controversy on Grace, vigorously agitated in the Congregation de auxiliis, Bellarmine substantially upheld the side of Molina (v.) and his Order, yet sought a ground of agreement between the two parties and advised the Pope against proceeding further; with a certain vehemence he announced to Clement VIII that a definitive resolution of the controversy would never be reached.
When the archbishopric of Capua fell vacant, Bellarmine was elected to that see and consecrated bishop by the Pope himself on 21 April 1602. Whatever the reasons for this sudden removal from Rome, St. Robert Bellarmine immediately went to Capua to reside there and gave proof of excellent pastoral qualities in preaching, in teaching the catechism, in synodal dispositions, in reforms, and in his relations with his clergy, for whom he wrote the Explanation of the Symbol (Rome [?] 1604). After the death of Clement VIII (3 March 1605), Bellarmine took part in the subsequent conclaves, where he received many votes and from which emerged, in quick succession, Leo XI and Paul V; the latter wished Bellarmine to be in Rome, where, renouncing the see of Capua, he became a member of the new Congregation de auxiliis, charged with bringing to an end the now too protracted controversy on Grace. Once the debate was concluded without any theoretical decision, Bellarmine worked with great vigour on the subsequent and grave politico-religious questions in which the Holy See became embroiled: the Venetian controversy (1606–1607), aggravated by ARPI (v.), in which Bellarmine refuted point by point the errors of Sarpi and the seven Venetian theologians who were his collaborators; the Anglican controversy (1607–1609), stirred up by the anti-papal oath imposed by King James I of England upon his Catholic subjects on 5 July 1606. On 22 September 1606 the Pope declared such an act illicit, but the archpriest Blackwell refused to publish the papal brief; Bellarmine, availing himself of an old friendship with the archpriest, in a letter full of charity and learning, showed him how the oath implied a rejection of the primacy of the Apostolic See; Blackwell persisted in his error and was deposed. King James wished to intervene polemically in the affair: in 1608 he circulated an anonymous work: Triplici nodo triplex cuneus (the three knots were: the two papal briefs and Bellarmine’s letter); the cardinal replied under the pseudonym Matthias Tortus. The English monarch republished, in an expanded form, the previous pamphlet, to which he prefixed a pompous preface, wherein, addressing Emperor Rudolph II and his fellow continental rulers, he posed as defender of the divine right of kings; Bellarmine replied with an apology of his response (1609). James I remained silent, but in his stead Andrewes, Bishop of Chichester, continued with the Tortura Torti (London 1609), to which two counterfeit replies of the cardinal were made. The Gallican controversy (1610–12) arose from the posthumous and anonymous publication of the work of the Catholic jurist William Barclay: De potestate papae (London 1609), in which the author championed the absolute independence of civil power from ecclesiastical, denying the Roman Pontiff any power, even indirect, over temporal matters; in his anti-papal requisition Barclay attacked in particular Bellarmine’s De Romano Pontifice. The cardinal
In the last decade the cardinal continued to be “the porter of the Roman Congregations” (this was how his colleagues called the Blessed), undertaking further labors for the good of the Church: the administration of the diocese of Montepulciano (1607–11), the laborious and fruitful protectorship of the Celestines (reconciling the two branches in France and Italy), and active participation GALILEA (v.), BRUGNATO (v.), CAMPANELLO (v.). He supported Saint Francis de Sales in obtaining approval for the Visitation nuns (1616) and defended the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception (1616–17). After taking part in the conclave that elected Gregory XV on 9 February 1612, worn out by years and toil, he obtained permission to retire to Sant’Andrea al Quirinale, where, visited by the Pope and his colleagues, he died piously.
Regarded as a saint by all, his cause of beatification was opened the year after his death and was not concluded until 1923. The delay was due to a complex of historical circumstances, among which stand out the animosities of the Gallican courts and the not‑brief period during which the Society was suppressed. The heroic nature of the outstanding cardinal’s virtues, acknowledged verbally but not officially by Benedict XIV, was proclaimed by Benedict XV in July 1920. Beatified in 1923 and canonized on 29 June 1930 by Pius XI, he was given the title of Doctor of the Church on 17 September 1931.
Works. – An extraordinarily prolific author, the Blessed touched on almost every topic in ecclesiastical science.
1932. Theological controversy
His masterpiece is the Disputationes de controversiis christianae fidei adversus huius temporis haereticos (3 vols., Ingolstadt 1586–93; 2nd ed., revised by the author, 4 vols., Venice 1596, which served as the model for all subsequent editions, very numerous, the most esteemed being: Paris 1608, Prague 1721, Rome 1832–33). In it he expounds the entire controversial doctrine between Catholics and Protestants in a simple and comprehensive plan: I. CHRIST: 1. The Word of God, revealed (Inspiration), written (Bible), and handed down orally (Tradition); 2. The Incarnate Word, Head of the Church: Trinity, Incarnation, Hypostatic Union, Christ’s human knowledge, descent into hell; Christ’s mediation; 3. The Supreme Pontiff, Vicar of Christ: primacy of the Roman pontiff, the pope and the Antichrist, infallibility, papal power in temporal matters. II. THE CHURCH: 1. gathered in council and scattered throughout the world; 2. members of the Church Militant (clergy, monks, laity); 3. the Church Suffering: purgatory; 4. the Church Triumphant (happiness and cult of the saints, veneration of images and relics, pious practices toward the saints). III. THE SACRAMENTS: 1. in general; 2. specifically (Baptism and Confirmation; the Eucharist—real presence, sacrament, sacrifice; Penance and Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony). IV. GRACE: 1. the primitive state of man; 2. original sin; 3. restoration through Christ (communication of grace; predestination; grace and free will); 4. justification and merit.
On various occasions of religious debate in which he played a major role, the Blessed developed in further writings particular points touched on or sketched in his major work. The principal ones are: De exemptione clericorum (Paris 1599), later incorporated into De membris Ecclesiae in the Controversiae; De indulgentiis et iubileo (Cologne 1599), prepared for the Jubilee of 1600. Of particular interest for Church history and theology are his replies to direct attacks on Rome in the circumstances mentioned above: Iudicium de libro Concordiae (Ingolstadt 1585), a critical source for the celebrated Lutheran confessional book; De translatione imperii Romani a Graecis ad Francos (Antwerp 1589), a reply to Flacius Illyricus, who denied the transfer of the empire made by papal authority; and in response to the interdict on Venice, he wrote four Italian pamphlets against Sarpi and his companions, later translated into Latin.
1933. Exegesis
In omnes Psalmos dilucida expositio (Rome 1611); more than thirty subsequent editions appeared. Although not free from certain errors of literal interpretation (the Blessed was self‑taught in Hebrew), this expository work, suffused with deep piety, helped make the clergy aware of the doctrinal and ascetical value of the Psalter. De editione latina vulgata, quo sensu a Concilio Tridentino definitum sit ut ea pro authentica habeatur (posthumous, Würzburg 1749).1934. Ascetical works
Numerous short treatises reveal his intense fervor: De ascensione mentis in Deum (Rome 1615); De externa felicitate sanctorum (ibid. 1616); De gemitu columbae seu de bono lacrymarum (ibid. 1616); De septem verbis a Christo in Cruce probatis (Antwerp 1618); De arte bene moriendi (Rome 1620); De cognitione Dei (posthumous, Louvain 1861).For those to whom God has given greater social responsibility, the saint laid down precise norms for personal sanctification and for the good governance of Church and state: De officio primario Summi Pontificis et eiusdem Pontificis responsiones (in appendix to the Epistolae familiares); Admonitio ad episcopum Theanensem, nepotem suum, quae necessaria sint episcopo qui vere salutem suam aeternam in tuto ponere velit (Paris 1616); De officio principis christiani (Rome and Antwerp 1619), dedicated to Prince Ladislaus, son of King Sigismund III of Poland.
1935. Oratory
Saint Robert was an assiduous preacher who prized vigorous reasoning and solid doctrinal content over stylistic elegance: Conciones habitae Lovanii (Cologne 1615); Exhortationes domesticae (posthumous; Brussels 1899). Father Tromp is now preparing the Opera oratoria postuma (10 vols., Rome 1940 seq.); several volumes have already appeared.1936. History
De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis (Rome 1613): a list of Christian authors from the origins to 1500.
At the request of Muzio Vitelleschi, then Assistant for Italy, the Blessed wrote his Autobiography (1613) as a document for the history of the Society of Jesus; this narrative, reflecting the saint’s candor, became a weapon in the hands of his adversaries. Recognitio librorum omnium etiam in quo (1607): a kind of retraction of his entire scholarly output.
1937. Catechetics
His most widely circulated works were Dottrina cristiana breve (Rome 1597) and Dichiarazione più copiosa della dottrina cristiana (ibid. 1598). For other published and unpublished works V. Le Bachelet, Austriam Bellarminam, Paris 1913.The Opera omnia have had the following principal editions: 7 vols., Cologne 1619–20; Paris 1619; Venice 1722–29; 8 vols., Naples 1856–62; 12 vols., Paris 1870–1938.
Evaluation. — S. R. B., who by the acuteness of his intellect (as is evident from his personal stance in the *de auxiliis* controversy) and by his theological sensitivity (he was well able to formulate new theories, e.g., on grace, on the power of the pope) might have been a second Cardinal Gaetano, chose a different path. While acknowledging the high value of medieval speculation (the notion of his opposition to Scholasticism is a fable), particularly of Thomistic thought, he, as a man sensitive to the problems of his time, perceived that after the attacks of Protestantism it was necessary to repel the adversary on the same field and with the same weapons. The direct contact he had, in the prime of his life, at Louvain with Protestant heresy in its various forms and manifestations contributed to giving his powerful intellect that unexpected success.
B., endowed with a particular sense of concreteness, fought the Protestantism of the second generation, which, through a kind of retreat into itself, had sought to provide the personal experiences of Luther and Calvin with an apparatus of proofs drawn from Scripture and the early ecclesiastical writers, intended to justify them in the eyes of their numerous followers. Therefore, in the *Controversiae* of B. one should not seek the Luther of history, the one marked by profound and sometimes sincere inner turmoil, but rather the Luther now fixed in features imposed upon him by the admirers of a later age. The theologian of the Roman College waged war against the cold and lifeless Lutheranism of Melanchthon, above all against that of Martin Chemnitz, of whom it was said: *Si Martinus [Chemnitz] non fuisset, Martinus [Lutherus] non stetisset*.
His struggle was complete and intended to be so, to force the enemy to reconsider the entire line of argument. His predecessors had responded to this or that difficulty; B. wished to respond to all, and thus his work is a true *summa* of all anti-Protestant controversies. The method he followed reflects the exigencies of the moment, of that particular mental framework which Humanism and the “Reformation” had created and spread throughout Europe: Scripture, documents, history—not syllogisms, not speculative disputes or schoolroom wrangling. Bellarmine’s tactic took this psychology of the opponent into account, and thus his replies are measured and pertinent. After setting forth Protestant doctrine, drawn from direct sources (no Catholic, perhaps, in the 16th century read more heretical works at Louvain than B.), and doing so with an unusual amplitude (so much so that some Catholics were scandalized), even if the parts are not always well articulated, the author opposes Catholic teaching, which draws from biblical texts interpreted literally by the Fathers, of whose thought, for the period, he shows ample and profound knowledge. Scripture is not taken in its full and complex meaning, as a modern biblical scholar might do—one who possesses an organic knowledge of the entire written Revelation—but is used as a *locus theologicus*, in the sense of Melchior Cano, as an argument *ad hoc*. He proceeds with the same criterion in drawing from the Fathers, citing the characteristic text that responds to a particular denial; the context is neglected. Of reason, B. made that use which could interest and move a Protestant mind: he highlighted the moral aspect of Catholic doctrine, its intimate connection with real life, with the demand for a natural and incontestable logic. However meager and sparse this arsenal may seem today to the great controversialist of the 16th century, it must be remembered that it achieved the desired end, since the success was immediate, widespread, and lasting. The Protestants implicitly acknowledged that the response surpassed the attack: at Heidelberg in 1600 a *Collegium antibellarminianum* was founded, and for half a century the work of the Saint was the principal target of anti-Catholic polemic; more than 200 works were written against the *Controversiae*.
The Catholics felt the full pride of having such a defender; the laudatory judgments of Cardinal Baronius and St. Francis de Sales are well known. These praises were not merely conventional, for the entire theology of the 17th–19th centuries, and in part of our own century, is indebted, in its fundamental structure, to the method inaugurated by B.
His work and his method have left a deep mark on the history of the Church and of theology; his doctrines on the Pope and on the Sacraments (e.g., on *opus operatum*) have enriched the doctrinal tradition of Catholicism; his spiritual pamphlets have nourished the piety of many souls; his catechism, inspired by the concrete mentality of the people, has instructed for centuries a large part of Christendom; his dedication to Christ and to His Mystical Body was such as to serve as an example more admirable than imitable.
F. Segarra, *S.R.B. y el primado del Romano Pontefice*, in *Razón y Fe*, 90–93 (1930), pp. 5–21; L. Izaga, *Ideas políticas de s. R. B.*, ibid., pp. 12–28, 118–37; E. Raitz V. Frentz, *Die aszetuisch. Schriften des Kard. B.*, in *Zeitschrift für Aszesse und Mystik*, 5 (1930), pp. 215–33; J. Gemmel, *Die Lehre des Kard. B. über Kirche und Staat*, in *Scholastik*, 5 (1930), pp. 357–79; J. Brodrick, *B. doctor of the universal Church*, in *The month*, 1931, pp. 401–91; X. le Bachelet, *B. et Giordano Bruno*, in *Gregorianum*, 14 (1933), pp. 193–210; F. X. Arnold, *Die Staatslehre des Kard. B.*, Munich 1934; A. Bernier, *Un cardinal humaniste. St Robert Bellarmin et la musique liturgique*, Montreal 1935; E. A. Ryan, *The histor. scholarship of S. B.*, New York 1936; M. Grabmann, *Storia della teologia catt.*, Italian trans., 2nd ed., Milan 1939, pp. 227–28; Y. de Montcheul, *La place de st. R. B. dans la théologie*, in *Mélanges théol.*, Paris 1946, pp. 129–37. Antonio Piolanti