On October 4, 1542, Robert Bellarmine was born in Montepulciano, a town in Tuscany. A cardinal by trade, his uncle went on to become Pope Marcellus II. Just two years before his birth, the Jesuit order had been officially approved by the pope, and Robert was educated by them as a young man.
Robert himself joined the Jesuit order in September of 1560. After spending three years in Rome studying philosophy, he taught humanities until 1567, at which point he started a theological study that would run until 1569. His last training phase focused on disproving Protestant fallacies.
After being ordained as a priest in Belgium, Robert preached before large audiences of Protestants and Catholics alike. He went back to Italy in 1576 and started working as an academic there, discussing religious issues. His "Disputations," the resultant work, went on to become a classic in Catholic apologetics.
The renowned theologian was appointed "Spiritual Father" of the Roman College around the end of the 1580s. Near the conclusion of the young Jesuit's life, he guided St. Aloysius Gonzaga and contributed to the creation of the authoritative Latin Bible text required by the recent Council of Trent.
Robert started serving as Pope Clement VIII's counsellor towards the close of the 20th century. In 1599, the Pope made him a cardinal, stating that he was the most learned man in the Church.
During his three years in Capua, the cardinal archbishop demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the reforming principles and directives of the Council of Trent. In two subsequent elections, he was floated as a potential pope; nevertheless, the idea of becoming pope unsettled him and he was ultimately not selected.
When the Church was being attacked in Venice and England in the early years of the 17th century, the cardinal publicly defended its freedom. In addition, he made an unsuccessful attempt to mediate a settlement between the Vatican and his personal friend Galileo Galilei about the latter's assertion that the sun was the center of the universe, not just the earth.
In the summer of 1621, Cardinal Bellarmine retired owing to health issues. In a book titled "The Art of Dying Well," he had shared his ideas about the end of life two years prior. In that essay, the cardinal argued that life's most essential task was to prepare for death because a person's eternal destiny would be determined by their soul's state at death.
On September 17, 1621, St. Robert Bellarmine passed away. In 1931, Pope Pius XI made him a Doctor of the Church and canonized him.
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