Who was San Cayetano – TN.com.ar

San Cayetano was born October 1, 1480 in Vicenza, Italy. Son of the Counts of Thiene, Gaspar and María Porto, he received his name in the honor of an uncle recently deceased, professor of law at the University of Padua. He and his two brothers, Juan Bautista and Alejandro, had no father when they were teenagers.

In his youth, Cayetano he's interested in a career in law. At the faculty, he was elected student delegate by his clbadmates and his professors often congratulated him for his high marks. However, he did not consider these reasons as reasons to boast. "I think I'm worth what I am and not what others say about me."he said.

His humility would be a quality that would accompany him all his life. In 1506, at the age of 25, he was appointed Apostolic Protonotary at the court of Pope Julius II thanks to the influences of his family. Then, one of his secretaries wrote: "Despite the job, Cayetano does not matter: just dress up, pay attention to everyone even outside office hours." Always active wherever he is. Treat everyone the same way, whether rich or poor. If you keep this attitude so useful, you will become a very important man. "

Another of Cayetano's main interests was to strive to maintain peace between peoples. That's how, with a group of diplomats, managed to avoid the war between the Republic of Venice and the Papal States, whose results could have been disastrous. This agreement, against his own will, has earned him enormous prestige.

So, who later in his life would call himself Saint, began to understand that his personal goals went hand in hand with the path of faith. "I feel that day after day my life longs to love God. My lawyer years have taught me that people need to feel God through the works of Christians., his action, his teachings, his abandonment. I would always do the will of God: that is what I desire and to which I aspire. Now, I'm going to give another direction to my life. My path is to leave everything without looking back. I will join my own life at the Cross of Christ. I will be a priest".

At age 36, on September 30, 1516, Cayetano was ordained a priest and began his apostolic work in Venice. Then l & # 39; worried the excessive luxury of the palaces and the misery of the suburbs. This is how he proposed "do not stop fighting" for the needy. Improve access to health, organized the first hospital for infectious diseases. But because of its high maintenance costs, there was a time when there was no money left to pay the salaries of the best doctors in the city or to feed the sick. Then Cayetano ordered the sale of his library, the last thing he had left of his badets. "I will never stop giving mine to those who need it until I see myself in such poverty that I do not even have a meter of earth for my grave, nor a penny for my burial, "he said.

Meanwhile, in Germany, Martin Luther proclaimed the separation of the pope and became independent of the Church of Rome. On learning, Cayetano responded with a new project: "I believe that the Church is always the Church, as a wife of Christ she has neither spots nor wrinkles, she is white and pure, but because the fault of men, it seems corrupt … I would like to present before the eyes of the clergy, a group of priests who cohabit, conform to celibacy, do not seek money, do not know how to be poor. the example is lagging behind and we will start reforming ourselves. "

Despite the opposition of some councilors, Pope Clement VII approved the project. Cayetano, accompanied by several companions, said: "We are single, as the Church asks all her priests. We want to be poor: we will not have any income or land. We will only accept spontaneous donations from people. Wealth does not give peace or freedom to the clergy for the apostolate. We will not live in convents or monasteries, but in simple houses. We will have a responsible superior and will depend directly on the pope. We will devote ourselves to the study of the Bible, to the liturgy, to help the prisoners, poor, sick. We are called regular clerics".

Regular clergymen lived in Rome. They had abandoned all their badets. The group was joined by a bishop, Bishop Carafa, who would become Pope Paul IV. They were all settled in a modest house on Leonina Street in a suburban neighborhood. The young Romans were excited and later the house was small. They then moved to a new house, on the outskirts, almost contiguous to the wall of the city.

May 6, 1527, The troops of Emperor Charles V pillaged Rome. Although the pope managed to escape through a secret tunnel, the troops seized property, burned houses, raped women, and made desecrated temples. On arriving at the regular clerks' homes, they asked for money, which the priests said they were poor.

The troop did not believe them and they tortured Cayetano hang his body with a rope from which they pulled through a pulley, until he fainted. Then they beat the rest of the teammates and left furiously. Other soldiers found them and took prisoners to seek the rescue of their loved ones and warned them that if they did not deliver large sums of money, they would die like other hostages. Cayetano and his friends felt more than ever in the hands of God.

After a banquet between several chefs, enthusiastic about wine and euphoria, the chief of the guard let them go, convinced that no one would pay them. They all fled Rome in a barge and a ship from the Republic of Venice brought them back to their country of origin. Then Cayetano settled in Naples and, without losing a moment, He refuted the arguments of other religious who were surprised by his extreme austerity and lifestyle..

Later founded a refuge for repentant prostitutes and took the initiative to proceed with the establishment of a Banco Popular provides interest-free creditthus breaking the criminal activity of usurious lenders.

The inhabitants of Naples turned against the Viceroy, representative of Carlos V. Spanish and Neapolitan troops fought in the streets and squares. Cayetano, with sixty-seven years, sought an agreement between his rivals. After not having him, he fell seriously ill and asked to take communion. A 5 o'clock in the afternoon of August 7, 1547, Cayetano died.

The people have attributed peace, because the ambbadadors of the emperor have reached a fair deal. On April 12, 1671, the pope declared it holy with Rosa de Lima and Luis Beltrán (both presenters of the Gospel in Latin America), Francisco de Borja and Felipe Benicio.