Saint cajetan biography

15th/16th-century Italian philosopher and priest

For the saint, see Saint Cajetan.

Thomas CajetanOP (; 20 February 1469 – 9 August 1534), also known as Gaetanus, commonly Tommaso de Vio or Thomas de Vio, was an Italian philosopher, theologian, the Master of the Order of Preachers 1508 to 1518, and cardinal from 1517 until his death. He was a leading theologian of his day who is now best known as the spokesman for Catholic opposition to the teachings of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation while he was the Pope's legate in Augsburg, and among Catholics for his extensive commentary on the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas.

He is not to be confused with his contemporary Saint Cajetan, the founder of the Theatines.

Life

He was born in Gaeta, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, as Jacopo Vio. The name Tommaso was taken as his religious as a friar, while the surname Cajetan derives from his native city. At the age of fifteen, he entered the Dominican order and devoted himself to the study of the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, becoming before the age of thirty a doctor of theology at Padua, and subsequently professor of metaphysics. A public disputation at Ferrara (1494) with Pico della Mirandola made his reputation as a theologian.

He became general procurator in 1507 and general of the Dominicans a year later in 1508.

In 1511 a group of dissident cardinals called the Conciliabulum of Pisa (1511–1512) against Pope Julius II, who had ignored the electoral capitulations he had accepted before being elected. Cajetan displayed vigorous support for the papacy in a series of publications. These were condemned by the Sorbonne and publicly burnt by order of King Louis XII.

At the Fifth Lateran Council (1512–17) which Pope Julius II set up in opposition to that of Pisa, De Vio played the leading role. During the second session of the council, in which he gave the openin

August 7

St. Cajetan – Patron Saint of the Unemployed and Workers

When they lived: St. Cajetan, also known as St. Gaetano dei Conti di Tiene, was born on October 1, 1480, and he passed away on August 7, 1547.

Where they lived: St. Cajetan lived primarily in Italy, with significant periods spent in the cities of Vicenza, Venice, and Naples.

Notable world events during the time of their life:

• Age of Exploration (late 15th to early 17th centuries): During St. Cajetan’s lifetime, European explorers like Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Ferdinand Magellan were making groundbreaking voyages, discovering new lands, and establishing new trade routes. This era marked a significant expansion of global knowledge and interconnectedness.
• Protestant Reformation (early 16th century): The Reformation was a time of religious upheaval, initiated by figures like Martin Luther and John Calvin, challenging the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. This movement had a profound impact on Christianity, leading to the formation of various Protestant denominations and inspiring religious reforms within the Catholic Church as well.
• Renaissance (14th to 17th centuries): St. Cajetan lived during the height of the Renaissance, a period of cultural rebirth characterized by a flourishing of art, literature, and scientific inquiry. Notable figures like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Copernicus were shaping the world with their contributions, elevating human knowledge and creativity.
• Italian Wars (1494-1559): The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts involving major European powers seeking control over Italian territories. These wars had a lasting impact on the political and cultural landscape of Italy and neighboring regions.
• Printing Revolution (15th century): The advent of the printing press during St. Cajetan’s lifetime revolutionized communication and disseminated knowledge more widely. It played a crucial role in the

Saint Cajetan was one of the great reformers of the Church during the period of the Reformation, remaining loyal to the Church regardless of the corruptions and excesses that led many others to betray Her.

He was born inOctober 1480  into a noble family, and received a rigorous education guided by his mother, following the death of his father when he was just two. His studies of canon and civil law led him to work as a jurist in the court of Pope Julius II, which he abandoned upon the Pope's death, in order to study for the priesthood.

He was ordained at the age of 36 and founded a community of priests, who lived a monastic form of poverty and prayer and lived and worked closely with the poor in order to combat the political and spiritual corruption of the times. His order, the Congregation of Clerks Regular, were popularly called the Theatines, after the title of one of his companions, Giovanni Pietro Caraffa, the Bishop of Chieti (Theate in Latin), who later was elected Pope Paul IV.

His concern for the poor always had a strong presence in his life, and he practised charity constantly, whether in personal encounters or in the founding institutions such as a hospital for those with incurable diseases. He even founded a bank for the poor in order to lend money to them without the usual high interest charged by other money lenders.

In 1533 he founded one of his order's houses in Naples where he battled against the growth of the Lutheran heresy.  He died on August 6th 1547, the feast of the Transfiguration. This occurred in Naples when the city was still in serious spiritual, political and social trouble.

Saint Cajetan was canonized by Clement X in 1671.

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(GAETANO.)

Founder of the Theatines, born October, 1480 at Vicenza in Venetian territory; died at Naples in 1547. Under the care of a pious mother he passed a studious and exemplary youth, and took his degree as doctor utriusque juris at Padua in his twenty-fourth year. In 1506 he became at Rome a prothonotary Apostolic in the court of Julius II, and took an important share in reconciling the Republic of Venice with that pontiff. On the death of Julius in 1523 he withdrew from the court, and is credited with founding, shortly after, an association of piouspriests and prelates called the Oratory of Divine Love, which spread to other Italian towns. Though remarkable for his intense love of God, he did not advance to the priesthood till 1516. Recalled to Vicenza in the following year by the death of his mother, he founded there a hospital for incurables, thus giving proof of the active charity that filled his whole life. But his zeal was more deeply moved by the spiritual diseases that, in those days of political disorder, infected the clergy of all ranks, and, like St. Augustine in earlier times, he strove to reform them by instituting a body of regularclergy, who should combine the spirit of monasticism with the exercises of the active ministry.

Returning to Rome in 1523 he laid the foundations of his new congregation, which was canonically erected by Clement VII in 1524. One of his four companions was Giovanni Pietro Caraffa, Bishop of Chieti (in Latin Theate), afterwards Paul IV, who was elected first superior, and from whose title arose the name Theatines. The order grew but slowly. During the sack of Rome in 1527 the Theatines, then twelve in number, escaped to Venice after enduring many outrages from the heretic invaders. T