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The saints

St. Robert Bellarmine

A great Jesuit theologian who wrote a catechism for children and lived like a poor man.

Feast: 17 September · 1542 to 1621 · Reformation and missions · Montepulciano and Rome

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Portrait of St. Robert Bellarmine in a cardinal’s red biretta and cape.

Unknown author, 1622. Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

Home / The saints / St. Robert Bellarmine

Rome, the late 1500s

Robert Bellarmine taught theology at the Roman College and wrote a massive defense of the faith against the Reformers.1

He also wrote a short catechism for children that was used for centuries.1

Made a cardinal, he lived simply and gave his money to the poor.

Patron of catechists and catechumens1

01St. Robert Bellarmine

Doctor of the Church

He was later named a Doctor of the Church.1

Live it this week

Teach the faith to a beginner

Bellarmine wrote both huge books and a children’s catechism. Volunteer this week for your parish religious ed or OCIA, or teach one child one prayer.

Notes

How we know · 1 source for this page
  1. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saint Robert Bellarmine”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.