Bellarmine, Saint Robert (bĕlär`mĭn), 1542–1621, Italian theologian, cardinal, Doctor of the Church, and a principal influence in the Counter Reformation Counter Reformation, 16th-century reformation that arose largely in answer to the Protestant Reformation; sometimes called the Catholic Reformation. Although the Roman Catholic reformers shared the Protestants' revulsion at the corrupt conditions in the church, there
..... Click the link for more information. . His full name was Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino. He joined the Jesuits (1560) and taught at Louvain (1569–76) and at the Roman College (1576). In 1599 he was made cardinal and from 1601 to 1605 he was archbishop of Capua. His theological works (in Latin) were polemical and widely noticed. His three-volume Disputationes de Controversiis Christianae Fidei (1586–93), the most lucid modern exposition of Catholic doctrine, called forth many Protestant replies. As Jesuits nearly always were, Cardinal Bellarmine was uncompromisingly ultramontane (see ultramontanism ultramontanism (ŭl'trəmŏn`tənĭzəm) [Lat.,=beyond the mountains, i.e.
..... Click the link for more information. ). He was an admirer of Galileo and a moderating influence at his trial. His devotional works have been translated frequently into English. Pope Pius XI canonized him in 1930 and declared him a Doctor of the Church the following year. Feast: May 13.

Bibliography

See biography by J. Brodrick (rev. ed. 1966).

Bellarmine, Saint Robert

Italian Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino

(born Oct. 4, 1542, Monrepulciano, Tuscany—died Sept. 17, 1621, Rome; canonized 1930; feast day September 17) Italian cardinal and theologian. He joined the Jesuits in 1560, and after ordination in the Spanish Netherlands (1570) he began to teach theology. He was made a cardinal in 1599 and an archbishop in 1602. He took a prominent part in the first examination of Galileo's writings; though somewhat sympathetic to Galileo, he thought it best to have the Copernican system declared “false and erroneous,” which was done in 1616. He gave impartial attention to Protestant works and was regarded as an enlightened theologian. He died a pauper, having given all his funds to the poor. In 1931 he was named a Doctor of the Church.