We live in a time that, while obsessed with self-identify, does not know itself; by which is meant, we live in a society whose firmest foundations are Christian ones, but which doesn’t know it. A little like a teenager, society rebels without knowing its parents’ history, especially their historical strengths.
While recognition of past faults and reform is needed for progress, it is important in times of change not to throw out either the baby or the baptismal water.
One man who knew how to balance both change and conservation was St Charles Borromeo, who lived from 1538 to 1584. From the modern perspective, St Charles could easily be spurned as representing everything in the Catholic Church that needed reform in the 16th century.
GREAT POWER
Immensely wealthy, well-positioned with family links, through his mother, to the Medici family, Charles was a man who held some of the greatest power of the Vatican, even before being ordained a priest. His appointments as cardinal-deacon, put in charge of the papal states, and administrator (later Archbishop) of the diocese of Milan were made by his uncle, Pope Pius IV, who had been born Giovanni Angelo de Medici.
While at first glance this all seems an example of the Church’s 16th century problems, Charles was part of a thoroughgoing solution. He was given responsibility for convening the third and final gathering of the Council of Trent, through which the Church made reforms designed to re-establish the primacy and the effectiveness of its spiritual mission in the world.
St Charles launched significant programs of reform which included the development of a Catechism for the Church and the creation of the Confraternity for Christian Doctrine, which would have special charge of instructing children in the faith. He made the proper education of clergy a priority and worked to ensure that church art and architecture reflected strict scriptural authenticity.
As with present-day Pope Francis, St Charles lived an austere life, and within the structures of the Church he instituted change which did not take the Church in a new direction but rather returned many of its wayward branches to the path of holiness.
SPIRITUAL EXAMPLE
Although his early promotion looks like classic nepotism, St Charles – like his uncle – was strict in avoiding any action which corruptly favoured his natural family over his spiritual one. When as Archbishop of Milan he introduced grilles to reinforce the holy, cloistered nature of convent life, two of his aunts, sisters of Pius IV, complained that grilles cast a slur on their sisterhood, the Order of St Dominic; nevertheless, St Charles persisted and the Pope, his uncle, supported him, making clear that blood relations should set good spiritual example to others.
Charles’ stern attention to reform made enemies. In October 1569, a member of the order of the Brothers of Humility proudly tried to assassinate him. When the would-be assassin and his fellow conspirators were caught, St Charles petitioned for them to be forgiven.
St Charles is particularly remembered for his brave selflessness when plague and famine struck Milan. When secular authorities fled the city, Charles remained and arranged for the feeding of up to 60,000 people a day. This was in keeping with his holy character from youth, when he had inherited an income from a Benedictine abbey and insisted that excess funds belonged to the poor.
St Charles Borromeo is an example that, whatever our starting point in life, through prayer and commitment to the divine, we can achieve great things for our fellows and, in times of great change, continue to build the Kingdom of God.
Peter Fleming is a writer and teacher. He doesn’t own a mobile phone and thinks ‘facebook’ is something you should do after taking one off the shelf to read.
ST CHARLES BORROMEO
1538–1584
Feast Day: 4 November
Patron saint: apple orchards, bishops, catechists, catechumens, intestinal disorders
Image: Painting of saint Charles Borromeo and Virgin Mary. Wiki Commons