Saint Robert Bellarmine
September 17th is the feast of Saint Robert Bellarmine. Bellarmine was involved in the Galileo controversy. He warned Galileo, under orders of Pope Paul V, not to discuss or defend Copernican or heliocentric theories. He apparently opposed Copernican theories both on the grounds that they contradicted Scripture and were not fully demonstrated scientifically. In a letter to Paolo Antonio Foscarini, who had written a book defending Copernican theory against the charge that it contradicted Scripture, Bellarmine wrote:
First, I say that it seems to me that Your Paternity and Mr. Galileo are proceeding prudently by limiting yourselves to speaking hypothetically and not absolutely, as I have always believed that Copernicus spoke. . . .
Second, I say that, as you know, the Council prohibits interpreting Scripture against the common consensus of the Holy Fathers; and if Your Paternity wants to read not only the Holy Fathers, but also the modern commentaries on Genesis, the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Joshua, you will find all agreeing in the literal interpretation that the sun is in heaven and turns around the earth with great speed, and that the earth is very far from heaven and sits motionless at the center of the world. Consider now, with your sense of prudence, whether the Church can tolerate giving Scripture a meaning contrary to the Holy Fathers and to all the Greek and Latin commentators.
Third, I say that if there were a true demonstration that the sun is at the center of the world and the earth in the third heaven, and that the sun does not circle the earth but the earth circles the sun, then one would have to proceed with great care in explaining the Scriptures that appear contrary, and say rather that we do not understand them than that what is demonstrated is false. But I will not believe that there is such a demonstration, until it is shown me.
All this suggests to me that Bellarmine might have been comfortable today in the camp of the "intelligent design" theorists.
He is a Doctor of the Church and his major work, Disputations on the Controversies of the Christan Faith Against the Heretics of the Time, was three volumes! Apparently, among many other things, it argues against the so-called divine right of kings.
Nonetheless, Bellarmine seems to me admirable because of his style of church leadership and his concern for the poor. As one source states:
Bellarmine was made a cardinal by Pope Clement VIII on the grounds that "he had not his equal for learning." While he occupied apartments in the Vatican, Bellarmine relaxed none of his former austerities. He limited his household expenses to what was barely essential, eating only the food available to the poor. He was known to have ransomed a soldier who had deserted from the army and he used the hangings of his rooms to clothe poor people, remarking, "The walls won't catch cold."
Here is another author on Bellarmine:
All of a saint’s life should be a book or mirror that teaches people how to apply the gospel to the needs of their particular era and state of life and personal characteristics. I have already dwelt on his concern for the poor and the sick. Let us look at some other personal traits of Bellarmine. One was simplicity. He despised the pomp of office which most Renaissance notables gloried in. As soon as he became rector at the Roman college, he stripped down his office. The big chestnut desk he sent to the sacristy to hold altar linens. The religious pictures from his office were moved to the corridor walls where all might see, enjoy, and profit from them. Even as rector he insisted on doing a turn sweeping the corridors and washing the dirty pots and pans.13 As an old man, he used to delight in going off for his vacation to the Jesuit novitiate where he could shed his fancy red cardinal’s robes and don an old black cassock and eat the ordinary fare of the novices.
Another characteristic of his was a joyful disposition. He always received those who came to his office with a smile, himself pulling out a chair for visitors, trying to make them feel at home. Bellarmine’s Jesuit subjects at the Roman College and its 2000 students represented a dozen nationalities. He bent over backwards not to favor any one nation. The people Bellarmine did favor were the sick, for whom he provided the best fare and best care. Another thing he did not scrimp on was the library.
First, I say that it seems to me that Your Paternity and Mr. Galileo are proceeding prudently by limiting yourselves to speaking hypothetically and not absolutely, as I have always believed that Copernicus spoke. . . .
Second, I say that, as you know, the Council prohibits interpreting Scripture against the common consensus of the Holy Fathers; and if Your Paternity wants to read not only the Holy Fathers, but also the modern commentaries on Genesis, the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Joshua, you will find all agreeing in the literal interpretation that the sun is in heaven and turns around the earth with great speed, and that the earth is very far from heaven and sits motionless at the center of the world. Consider now, with your sense of prudence, whether the Church can tolerate giving Scripture a meaning contrary to the Holy Fathers and to all the Greek and Latin commentators.
Third, I say that if there were a true demonstration that the sun is at the center of the world and the earth in the third heaven, and that the sun does not circle the earth but the earth circles the sun, then one would have to proceed with great care in explaining the Scriptures that appear contrary, and say rather that we do not understand them than that what is demonstrated is false. But I will not believe that there is such a demonstration, until it is shown me.
All this suggests to me that Bellarmine might have been comfortable today in the camp of the "intelligent design" theorists.
He is a Doctor of the Church and his major work, Disputations on the Controversies of the Christan Faith Against the Heretics of the Time, was three volumes! Apparently, among many other things, it argues against the so-called divine right of kings.
Nonetheless, Bellarmine seems to me admirable because of his style of church leadership and his concern for the poor. As one source states:
Bellarmine was made a cardinal by Pope Clement VIII on the grounds that "he had not his equal for learning." While he occupied apartments in the Vatican, Bellarmine relaxed none of his former austerities. He limited his household expenses to what was barely essential, eating only the food available to the poor. He was known to have ransomed a soldier who had deserted from the army and he used the hangings of his rooms to clothe poor people, remarking, "The walls won't catch cold."
Here is another author on Bellarmine:
All of a saint’s life should be a book or mirror that teaches people how to apply the gospel to the needs of their particular era and state of life and personal characteristics. I have already dwelt on his concern for the poor and the sick. Let us look at some other personal traits of Bellarmine. One was simplicity. He despised the pomp of office which most Renaissance notables gloried in. As soon as he became rector at the Roman college, he stripped down his office. The big chestnut desk he sent to the sacristy to hold altar linens. The religious pictures from his office were moved to the corridor walls where all might see, enjoy, and profit from them. Even as rector he insisted on doing a turn sweeping the corridors and washing the dirty pots and pans.13 As an old man, he used to delight in going off for his vacation to the Jesuit novitiate where he could shed his fancy red cardinal’s robes and don an old black cassock and eat the ordinary fare of the novices.
Another characteristic of his was a joyful disposition. He always received those who came to his office with a smile, himself pulling out a chair for visitors, trying to make them feel at home. Bellarmine’s Jesuit subjects at the Roman College and its 2000 students represented a dozen nationalities. He bent over backwards not to favor any one nation. The people Bellarmine did favor were the sick, for whom he provided the best fare and best care. Another thing he did not scrimp on was the library.
posted by Whistling Dixie at 9:45 AM
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