When Jorge Bergoglio was named a cardinal in 2001, as is tradition, he was given a parish church in Rome for which he would serve as Cardinal Protector. Sometimes the match is simply administrative and a formality, but at other times the pope will make a specific choice based on the newly named cardinal’s homeland or expertise.
Because of his membership in the Society of Jesus, Bergoglio was given the “Chiesa di San Roberto Bellarmino.”
Robert Bellarmine, a Jesuit, was not only the patron saint of Fairfield University where I taught before Durham (this week they unveiled an almost 8-foot statue of him on campus), but also particularly revered by my mentor and dissertation director Cardinal Avery Dulles – like Bergoglio and Bellarmine, one of the church’s rare Jesuit-cardinals.
There have been approximately 40 Jesuit-cardinals in history, although these numbers are murky – as some were Jesuits and then left only later to become cardinals, or became cardinals and then joined the Society.
Only five are alive today. Because of these connections, I continue to find Bellarmine particularly fascinating.
Father Michael Fahey recently explained that the Renaissance doctor of the church, “was a controversial yet innovative theologian who stressed biblical and patristic sources to refute Reformation doctrines. In the service of the church, he designed the Gregorian calendar, undertook dangerous travels as papal advisor, and in defense of Galileo, urged moderation. Had he not at papal conclaves several times refused election, he would have been the first Jesuit pope already in the 17th century.”
Bellarmine was in fact the nephew of another pontiff, Marcellus II.
A famed preacher, theologian and orator, Bellarmine was once described by a theological adversary as “an invincible champion, as one with whom none of our men would dare to engage, whom nobody can answer,” and if anyone did attempt to debate him, they should be regarded as “an utter madman.”
Bellarmine’s catechetical works and explanations of the faith remained in wide circulation for centuries.
When Bellarmine died in 1621, bodyguards had to stand vigil over his corpse, as so many of the faithful attempted to procure first-class relics from the death chamber, including samples of his blood and a piece of his skull. While Bergoglio’s former titular church is named for him, Bellarmine’s actual remains are preserved behind glass, in cardinalatial red robes, in another nearby Roman church, Sant’Ignazio, next to the body of his student St. Aloysius Gonzaga.
One can perhaps see reflections of a kinship between Bergoglio and Bellarmine, both “loyal sons of the church,” and of Ignatius, but ones famously willing to risk an encounter with the “other” that is respectful and informed of positions outside traditional areas of comfortable complacency. Jesuit theologian Ronald Mercier writes “in many ways, Bellarmine represents a possible model for us today as well…. He demonstrated an excellence in all aspects of his life, but always marked by deep humility that allowed him to move freely across the social barriers of his time. In an age marked so sharply by divisions like ours, perhaps his commitment to balance, fairness and a quest for truth that allowed his mind and heart to ascend to God while serving others could be a gift we all could embrace.”
Michael M. Canaris, Ph.D., of Collingswood, is a Research Associate at Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies in Northeast England.
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