CAJETAN

Also known as: Cajetan the Theatine; Cajetan of Thiene; Cayetano; Gaetano; Gaetanus; Gaetano dei Conti di Tiene; Gaetano da Thiene
Memorial: 7 August
Profile: Venetian nobility. Studied law in Padua, and was offered governing posts, but turned them down for a religious vocation. Ordained at age 36. In 1522, Cajetan founded a hospital in Venice for victims of incurable illness. Cajetan was aware of the need of reformation in the Church, and felt called to enter a religous community to serve the sick and poor. On 3 May 1524, with three others, including John Peter Caraffa who later became Pope Paul IV, he formed the Congregation of Clerks Regular (Theatines) at Rome with the mission of fostering the Church's mission and reviving the spirit and zeal of the clergy. Founded a bank to help the poor and offer an alternative to usurers (loan sharks); it later became the Bank of Naples. Known for a gentle game he played with parishioners where he would bet prayers, rosaries or devotional candles on whether he would perform some service for them; he always did, and they always had to "pay" by saying the prayers.
Born: October 1480 at Vicenza, Italy as Gaetano dei Conti di Tiene
Died: 1547 at Naples, Italy
Beatified: 8 October 1629 by Pope Urban VIII
Canonized: 12 April 1671 by Pope Clement X
Patronage: job seekers; unemployed people
Print References: Roman Martyrology, 3rd Turin edition
New Catholic Dictionary: Saint Cajetan
New Catholic Dictionary: Theatines

American Catholic’s Saint of the Day

God calls each one of us to be a saint.

August 7, 2006

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 entered 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 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.

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. But, as he said, God is the same in Naples as in Venice, with or without Trent or Vatican II (or III). 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.