Successful Nepotism

There seemed little doubt about Roberto’s career path: it was the 16th century, he was Italian, there was a new Jesuit school in his hometown, and his mother’s late brother had been the Pope.

Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, many Papal nephews found careers in the Church and many of them were incompetent at best and sometimes extraordinarily decadent. In those turbulent times, as kingdoms and empires rose and fell, the Church was often the only stable institution and the safest route for ambitious men.

Unlike many other Papal nephews, Roberto was extremely intelligent and devout. He entered the Jesuit order, went to some of the greatest centers of learning, and was ordained a priest. taught at universities and wrote powerfully against the errors of Protestantism. He was made an Archbishop and a Cardinal. He advised Popes and also cared for the poor.

St. Robert Bellarmine died on this very day in 1621. In the 20th century he was declared a Doctor of the Church and the patron saint of catechists.