Saint Cajetan

Cajetan of Thiene (also: Cajetan of Thiene, Italian: Gaetano di Tiene; Latin: Cajetanus Thienaeus ) (* October 1480 in Vicenza; † August 7, 1547 in Naples) was a co-founder of the Order of Theatines and is a saint of the Catholic Church; not to be confused with Cardinal Thomas Cajetan.

Life

Cajetan was born into a Venetian Counts. He studied law at the University of Padua and was there in 1505 doing a PhD "Doctor iuris utriusque ". Thereafter, he was appointed by Pope Julius II with the Apostolic prothonotary.

In 1516, Cajetan was ordained a priest, was a member of the Oratory of Divine Love and campaigned for the reform of the Roman clergy. In 1518 he returned to Vicenza back, donated a home for the terminally ill and joined the Brotherhood of St. Jerome, who had made ​​the service of the poor and sick to the task. Until 1521, he worked for the oratorio in Venice and then in Rome.

In Rome matured in him the plan to establish a new religious order, which should combat the abuses among the clergy. To this end, he could Bishop Gian Pietro Carafa of Theatinum (now Chieti), the future Pope Paul IV win. The two -founded in 1524 the Ordo Clericorum Regularium, vulgo Theatinorum ( Abbr: CR; Order of Clerics Regular, Theatines called ), which is today under the symbol Theatines ( OTheat ) is known, the oldest orders of this type (see Jesuits ). The confirmation of the foundation was made by Pope Clement VII on 24 June 1524. With his support, the Order began its work, but in the troubled times of the Sacco di Roma had to flee in 1527 the members of the Order. They went to Venice, where the monastery was left to them by Saint Nicholas, whose provost Cajetan was. During the plague epidemic in 1528, he was one, the model and the center of the young community was of the most active workers; In 1533 he was entrusted with the formation of a Theatinerstrasse office in Naples. From 1540 he was again in Venice in 1543 and returned back to Naples, where he died on August 7, 1547 on a down on the floor sackcloth.

On October 8, 1629 Cajetan was beatified, on April 12, 1671 canonized by Pope Urban VIII by Clement X.. His relics are now preserved in the church of St. Paul at Naples. His feast day is August 7.

Out of gratitude for the birth of the crown prince Maximilian II Built Elector Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria 1662 Theatinerkirche St. Cajetan in Munich. He also appointed Cajetan 1672 Patron of old Bavaria.

Through his efforts at persuasion and his work, the Theatines, next to the similarly structured order of the Jesuits (SJ ) and the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri (CO), the most important force for reform in Italy developed.