"There can be no true
reform of the Church unless we first reform our lives and convert our
hearts”.
"Doctor of the Church", St. Robert Bellarmine, teaches us this
"with great clarity and the example of his life”, which Benedict XVI
outlined Wednesday for the eight thousand people who attended the general
audience.
The Pope urged people to meditate on the writings
and teachings of the great Jesuit theologian who lived between the
sixteenth and seventeenth century, author of the famous Catechism,
because they "remind us that the end of our lives is the Lord God,
revealed in Jesus Christ, who continues to call and promise us communion
with Him. They reminds us of the importance to confide in the Lord, to
illuminate with prayer every circumstance of our lives and always strive
for union with Him. "
Robert Bellarmine, the Pope said, was born in Montepulciano,
Tuscany, 4 October 1542. He was a nephew, on his mother's side, of Pope
Marcellus II. He had an excellent education in the liberal arts before
entering the Society of Jesus September 20, 1560. He pursued studies in
philosophy and theology at the Collegio Romano, Padua and Louvain.
Ordained a priest March 25, 1570, was for some years professor of
theology at Louvain.
Then, called to Rome as a professor, he was
appointed the chair of "Apologetics" at the Collegio Romano. In the decade in which he held that office (1576 - 1586) he worked out a course of lectures which were later developed into the "Controversiae", a “work which found immediate fame for the clarity and richness of content and historical perspective".
They are a "reference point that is still valid for the
Catholic ecclesiology regarding questions about revelation, the nature
of the Church, the sacraments, theological anthropology. The
institutional aspect of the Church appears accentuated in them, by
reason of the errors which circulated on these issues at the time.
However Bellarmine clarified aspects of the invisible Church such as the
Mystical Body".
In his work Bellarmine "avoids all aggressive polemics
regarding the ideas of the Reformation, but using the arguments of
reason and tradition of the Church, explains Catholic doctrine in a
clear and effective manner”.
In fact, the Council of Trent had just
ended and the Catholic Church needed to "strengthen and confirm its
identity, particularly concerning the Protestant Reformation".
Bellarmine’s activities must be seen in this context.
Clement VIII appointed him papal theologian, consultant to the
Holy Office and dean of the College Confessors of St. Peter’s Basilica.
His catechism, the short Christian Doctrine, dates to the biennium 1597 –
1598, and was his most popular work.
On March 3, 1599 he was created cardinal by Pope Clement VIII,
and on March 18, 1602, was appointed Archbishop of Capua. In the three
years when he was bishop of the diocese, he "distinguished himself by
his zealous preaching in his cathedral, for his weekly visits to the
parishes, for the three diocesan synods and provincial council, held on
his initiative”.
Recalled to Rome, he was made a member of the Congregations of
the Holy Office, the Index, the Rites, of Bishops and the Propagation of
the Faith. He was also entrusted with diplomatic assignments to the
Venetian Republic and Britain to defend the rights of the Apostolic See.
In his later years he wrote several books on spirituality, in which
condensed the result of his annual spiritual exercises, in the tradition
of St. Ignatius.
"The Christian people still draw great edification
from reading these".
He died in Rome September 17, 1621. Pope Pius XI beatified him
in 1923 and canonized him in 1930 and proclaimed him a Doctor of the
Church in 1931.
In the writings of Bellarmine, "on sees very clearly, even
beneath the reserve that hides his feelings, the primacy which he
assigns to the teachings of the Lord." St. Bellarmine "offers us a model
of prayer, the soul of all activity: a prayer that listens to the Word
of God, which is satisfied in contemplating its greatness, which does
not withdraw into itself, but is glad to surrender to God."
The hallmark
of his spirituality is "the living and personal perception of the
immense goodness of God".
It was for him " a source of great joy to
gather with serenity and simplicity, in prayer, and contemplation of
God."
During the audience, addressing the audience in English,
Benedict XVI recalled the earthquake that has devastated Christchurch,
New Zealand, and invited prayers for the victims and support for
rescuers.
Before going to the audience, the Pope stopped to bless a
statue of Saint Maron, placed in a niche outside of St Peter’s Basilica.
Present were the Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, patriarch of the Maronite
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman - who had an audience
with the Pope - and a group of Lebanese ministers of all denominations.