©2025 Victor R. Claveau, MJ.
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church”.[1]
The Counter Reformation demonstrated a large-scale heroism on the part of the Catholic Church. God raised up extraordinary men and women to wrest back His Bride, the Church, from the minions of Satan. Episcopates,[2] old and new religious orders, and even the laity (as with England during the persecutions), were suddenly filled with holy zeal; lionhearted martyrs were to be found in great numbers; inspired writers, preachers, and leaders abounded; education was eagerly devoured; routine duties of daily life were discharged with an alertness of faith and renewed meaning; and for a time Catholic rulers and whole States arose, superior to considerations of self-interest. While the Protestant Reformation was a time of great challenge to the Church, the Counter Reformation was a period of deep renewal.
The century between the career of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) and Saint Vincent de Paul (1580 – 1660) became the classic age of Catholicism. There were 315 men and women living in the sixteenth century who were recognized as Saints or Blesseds; of those, 285 had been martyred for their faith.
In what is called “The Counter Reformation”, God raise up many saints. One of the greatest among them was Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) of the Society of Jesus. He was a figure of giant stature, Catholicism’s most formidable and most learned apologist, whose learning was equaled only by his holiness. In the course of a long and active life, spent for the most part at the nerve center of the Counter-Reformation, he was the servant of the See of Rome, and the friend and advisor of popes, princes, and saints.
He became a Jesuit at Rome in 1560, and he was ordained at Ghent. In 1570, he became the first Jesuit to become a professor at Louvain.[3] He lectured on the Summa of Saint Thomas Aquinas, counteracted the teachings of Michael Baius,[4] and gained a reputation as a brilliant preacher; he also studied Hebrew grammar to prepare himself for scriptural interpretation.
He was called to Rome in 1576, taught at the Roman College, and prepared Disputations de controversies (1581-1593), a study of the Christian faith, written in answer to the Protestant Centuries of Magdeburg.[5] In 1592, he engaged in the preparation of the revision of the Clementine edition of the Vulgate.[6]
In 1597, Bellarmine became the theologian to Pope Clement VIII, and he prepared two catechisms. He was created cardinal in 1599, and in 1602, Archbishop of Padua; he resigned in 1605 to return to Rome at the request of Pope Paul V. He then became a major voice in the affairs of the Church.
His writings on the relations between Church and state profoundly influenced Catholic thought for more than two hundred years, and they are relevant to many of the problems confronting the Church today. He wrote and lectured at a time when the Catholic Church was on the defensive, and he tried to understand the Protestant views and state them accurately.
This Cardinal was born “a poor gentleman” in Tuscany. He was a brilliant preacher whose sermons dazzled peasants and prelates alike, a scholar who taught himself Hebrew and Greek in a few weeks. But he was characterized above all by a deep humility. The wholesale attempts to pillage his coffin for relics were inspired less by Bellarmine the scholar or the controversialist than by Bellarmine the archbishop, who gave away money, food, and possessions to the poor, and who, as rector of the Roman College, washed dishes with his students.
His life’s work was a vital contribution to the formation of post-medieval Europe. Bellarmine, who wrote The Art of Dying Well in 1619, along with several other short books intended to help ordinary people in their spiritual life, died on September 17, 1621 at the Jesuit College of Saint Andrew, in Rome, Italy, after developing a fever at the age of 78.
“When he felt the hour of his happy transition was imminent, he prayer the Apostles’ Creed, Psalm 51, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Hail Mary, while constantly repeating the holy names of Jesus and Mary. Then he placed the sacred image of Christ nailed to the cross on his head so he could venerate it and crossed his arms on his breast, and finally with a gentle sigh peacefully he rendered his spirit to his Creator.”
He was canonized in 1930 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1931 by Pope Pius XI.[7]
Robert Bellarmine was a prolific writer. He was called another Augustine, another Athanasius. He was greatly detested by Protestants because of the power of his arguments to prove that they were in error.
St. Robert Bellarmine was the chief Catholic theologian during the latter part of the 16th century and at the beginning of the 17th century. His literary production was immense, since he produced books and treatises on most areas of theology, including Scripture, Christology, Sacraments, Liturgy, Ecclesiology and Eschatology. One of his main works was “The Controversies of the Christian Faith against the heretics of His Time.” This is a scholarly and detailed work contained in three volumes with 64 sections, which he called “books.” The first volume appeared in 1581, the second volume in 1583, and the third in 1592. And after that it went through twenty editions in the northern countries, and famous authors say how important it was for the Church of God. It was described as “The primary antidote against the heresies of this time, the wall and defense of the house of God.”
Bellarmine presents many arguments from Scripture and Tradition to prove his points. In “Controversies” he refutes the errors of many adversaries of the Catholic Church. His favorite targets are Martin Luther and John Calvin. Robert Cardinal Bellarmine was greatly admired by bishops and Catholic theologians during his lifetime and was famous for his scholarship and preaching. He was the theologian and counselor for several Popes.
In a time when cardinals maintained splendid courts, Bellarmine lived a simple and ascetic life, practicing self-sacrifice, and poverty. The process of canonization was begun in 1627. In 1931 Pope Pius XI finally declared Bellarmine a Doctor of the Church.
Father Kenneth Baker, S.J., the long-time editor of the Homiletic & Pastoral Review, has recently translated from Latin St. Robert Bellarmine, S.J.’s Controversies of the Christian Faith. The book is 1087 pages long! Such a lengthy book, might seem rather out of date. But on this 500th anniversary of the Reformation, we might well look at how Bellarmine dealt with controversies about Scripture and Christology that Luther and Calvin inaugurated. Likewise, when the third part of this tome is devoted to “Controversies on the Sovereign Pontiff,” one pays attention. Bellarmine left no objection unanswered.
Every Catholic should study this monumental work.
[1] Tetullian, Apologeticus, Chapter 50.
[2] The body of bishops, as in a country.
3 Leuven (Dutch pronunciation: French: Louvain, often used in English) is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in Belgium. It is located about 25 kilometres (16 miles) east of Brussels. It is home to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the largest and oldest Catholic university still in existence.
[4] Baianism is a term applied to the theology of Catholic theologian Michael Baius (1513-1589). It claims thorough Augustinianism over the scholasticism which held sway over most Catholic theologians at the time. It is the immediate historical predecessor of Jansenism, and with Jansenism it has been deemed non-orthodox by the Catholic Church.
[5] The Magdeburg Centuries is an ecclesiastical history, divided into thirteen centuries, covering thirteen hundred years, ending in 1298; it was first published from 1559 to 1574. It was compiled by several Lutheran scholars in Magdeburg, known as the Centuriators of Magdeburg.
[6] Pope Sixtus V took upon himself the task of revision and publication of the Latin Vulgate (the original translation of the Septuagint Bible by Saint Jerome). He had entrusted the task to a Cardinals’ committee, but it was taking too long for his liking and he plunged into it himself. The result was a Bible full of errors. It aroused a storm of protest by traditionalists and scholars alike. The bull was issued on his translation and the new Vulgate was printed. On the evening prior to the signing of the formal documents for its release, he died suddenly of natural causes—a man of robust health. Saint Robert Bellarmine immediately re-translated the Vulgate correctly, the error-laden edition was withdrawn from circulation, and it was re-issued properly.
[7] For an excellent in-depth biography of St. Bellarmine see: James Brodrick, (S.J.), Robert Bellarmine: Saint and Scholar, (Westminster, Maryland: The Newman Press, 1961).