August
7
St. Cajetan
(1480-1557)
Like
most of us, Cajetan seemed headed for an “ordinary” life—first as a lawyer,
then as a priest engaged in the work of the Roman Curia.
His life took a characteristic turn when he joined the Oratory of Divine
Love in Rome, a group devoted to piety and charity, shortly after his
ordination at 36. When he was 42 he founded a hospital for incurables at
Venice. At Vicenza, he joined a “disreputable” religious community that
consisted only of men of the lowest stations of life—and was roundly
censured by his friends, who thought his action was a reflection on his
family. He sought out the sick and poor of the town and served them.
The greatest need of the time was the reformation of a Church that was “sick
in head and members.” Cajetan and three friends decided that the best road
to reformation lay in reviving the spirit and zeal of the clergy. (One of
them later became Paul IV.) Together they founded a congregation known as
the Theatines (from Teate [Chieti] where their first superior-bishop had his
see). They managed to escape to Venice after their house in Rome was wrecked
when Emperor Charles V’s troops sacked Rome in 1527. The Theatines were
outstanding among the Catholic reform movements that took shape before the
Protestant Reformation. He founded a monte de pieta (“mountain [or fund] of
piety”) in Naples—one of many charitable, nonprofit credit organizations
that lent money on the security of pawned objects. The purpose was to help
the poor and protect them against usurers. Cajetan’s little organization
ultimately became the Bank of Naples, with great changes in policy.
Story:
When Cajetan was sent to establish a house of his congregation in Naples, a
count tried to prevail upon him to accept an estate in lands. He refused.
The count pointed out that he would need the money, for the people of Naples
were not as generous as the people of Venice. “That may be true,” replied
Cajetan, “but God is the same in both cities.”
Comment:
If Vatican II had been summarily stopped after its first session in 1962,
many Catholics would have felt that a great blow had been dealt to the
growth of the Church. Cajetan had the same feeling about the Council of
Trent (1545-63). But, as he said, God is the same in Naples as in Venice,
with or without Trent or Vatican II. We open ourselves to God’s power in
whatever circumstances we find ourselves, and God’s will is done. God’s
standards of success differ from ours.