Charles Borromeo | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal,Archbishop of Milan | |
 Portrait byGiovanni Ambrogio Figino | |
| Church | Catholic |
| Archdiocese | Milan |
| Province | Milan |
| Appointed | 12 May 1564 |
| Term ended | 3 November 1584 |
| Predecessor | Filippo Archinto |
| Successor | Gaspare Visconti |
| Other post | Cardinal-Priest of Santa Prassede |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 4 September 1563 by Federico Cesi |
| Consecration | 7 December 1563 by Giovanni Serbelloni |
| Created cardinal | 31 January 1560 byPius IV |
| Rank | Cardinal priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Count Carlo Borromeo di Arona (1538-10-02)2 October 1538 Castle ofArona,Duchy of Milan |
| Died | 3 November 1584(1584-11-03) (aged 46) Milan, Duchy of Milan |
| Buried | Milan Cathedral |
| Parents |
|
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 4 November |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Title as Saint | Bishop,Confessor |
| Beatified | 12 May 1602 Rome,Papal States by Clement VIII |
| Canonized | 1 November 1610 Rome, Papal States by Paul V |
| Attributes | cord, red cardinal robes |
| Patronage | againstulcers, appleorchards,bishops,catechists,catechumens, colic, intestinal disorder, Lombardy, Italy, Monterey California,cardinals, seminarians, spiritual directors, spiritual leaders, starch makers, stomach diseases,São Carlos city in Brazil (namesake) |
| Shrines | Milan Cathedral San Carlo al Corso, Rome |
Charles Borromeo (Italian:Carlo Borromeo;Latin:Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was anItalian Catholic prelate who served asArchbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. He was made acardinal in 1560.
Borromeo founded theConfraternity of Christian Doctrine and was a leading figure of theCounter-Reformation together withIgnatius of Loyola andPhilip Neri. In that role, he was responsible for significant reforms in the Catholic Church, including the founding ofseminaries for the education of priests. He was canonized in 1610 and hisfeast day is 4 November.
Borromeo was a descendant of nobility; theBorromeo family was one of the most ancient and wealthiest inLombardy, made famous by several notable men, both in the church and state. The familycoat of arms included theBorromean rings, which are sometimes taken to symbolize theHoly Trinity. Borromeo's father, Gilbert, was Count ofArona. His mother, Margaret, was a member of the Milanese branch of theHouse of Medici. The second son in a family of six children, he was born in the castle of Arona onLake Maggiore 36 miles fromMilan on 2 October 1538.[1]
Borromeo received thetonsure when he was about twelve years old. At this time, his paternal uncle Giulio Cesare Borromeo turned over to him the income from the richBenedictine abbey of Sts. Gratinian and Felin, one of the ancient perquisites of the family. Borromeo made plain to his father that all revenues from the abbey beyond what was required to prepare him for a career in the church belonged to the poor and could not be applied to secular use. The young man attended theUniversity of Pavia, where he applied himself to the study of civil and canon law. Due to a slight speech impediment, he was regarded as slow, but his thoroughness and industry meant that he made rapid progress. In 1554, his father died, and although he had an elder brother, Count Federico, he was requested by the family to take the management of their domestic affairs. After a time, he resumed his studies, and on 6 December 1559, he earned adoctorate in canon and civil law.[2]
On 25 December 1559, Borromeo's uncle Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Medici was elected asPope Pius IV. The newly elected pope required his nephew to come to Rome, and on 13 January 1560 appointed himprotonotary apostolic.[3] Shortly thereafter, on 31 January 1560, the pope created himcardinal, and thus Borromeo ascardinal-nephew was entrusted with both the public and the privy seal of the ecclesiastical state.[4] He was also brought into the government of thePapal States and appointed a supervisor of theFranciscans,Carmelites andKnights of Malta.[2]
During his four years in Rome, Borromeo lived in austerity, obliged theRoman Curia to wear black, and established an academy of learned persons, the Academy of the Vatican Knights, publishing their memoirs as theNoctes Vaticanae.[5]
Borromeo organized the third and last session of theCouncil of Trent, in 1562–63.[4] He had a large share in the making of theTridentine Catechism (Catechismus Romanus). In 1561, Borromeo founded and endowed a college atPavia, today known asAlmo Collegio Borromeo, which he dedicated toJustina of Padua.[2]
On 19 November 1562, his older brother, Federico, suddenly died. His family urged Borromeo to seek permission to return to the lay state (laicization), to marry and have children so that the family name would not become extinct, but he decided not to leave the ecclesiastic state.[6] His brother's death, along with his contacts with theJesuits and theTheatines and the example of bishops such asBartholomew of Braga, were the causes of the conversion of Borromeo towards a more strict and operative Christian life, and his aim became to put into practice the dignity and duties of the bishop as drafted by the recent Council of Trent.[5]
Borromeo was appointed the administrator of theArchdiocese of Milan on 7 February 1560. To this end, he was ordained adeacon on 21 December of that same year. After his decision to stay in the service of the Church, he was ordained apriest (4 September 1563) and on 7 December 1563 he was consecrated as abishop in theSistine Chapel by CardinalGiovanni Serbelloni.[7] Borromeo was formally appointedarchbishop of Milan on 12 May 1564, after the former archbishopIppolito II d'Este waived his claims on that archbishopric, but he was only allowed by the pope to leave Rome one year later. Borromeo made his formal entry into Milan as archbishop on 23 September 1565.[6]
After the death of his uncle, Pius IV (1566), Borromeo sent a galley to fetch Cardinal Ugo Boncompagni, the Nuncio in Spain, but he did not arrive in time to be considered at the conclave. Borromeo then reached an agreement withAlessandro Farnese, who held a significant number of votes, to supportAntonio Ghislieri, who was rumoured to have the support ofPhilip II of Spain. Ghislieri was elected and took the name Pius V.[8]
Before Borromeo went to Milan, while he was overseeing reform in Rome, a nobleman remarked that the latter city was no longer a place to enjoy oneself or to make a fortune. "Carlo Borromeo has undertaken to remake the city from top to bottom," he said, predicting that the reformer's enthusiasm "would lead him to correct the rest of the world once he has finished with Rome."[9]
Subsequently, he devoted himself to the reformation of his diocese which had deteriorated in practice owing to the 80-year absence of previous archbishops.[10] Milan was the largest archdiocese in Italy at the time, with more than 3,000 clergy and 800,000 people. Both its clergy and laity had drifted from church teaching. The selling of indulgences and ecclesiastical positions was prevalent; monasteries were "full of disorder"; many religious were "lazy, ignorant, and debauched".[9]
Borromeo made numerous pastoral visits and restored dignity to divine service. He urged churches to be designed in conformity with the decrees of theCouncil of Trent, which stated that sacred art and architecture lacking adequate scriptural foundation was in effect prohibited, as was any inclusion of classical pagan elements in religious art.[11] He divided the nave of the church into two compartments to separate the sexes at worship.[2] He extended his reforms to the collegiate churches, monasteries and even to theConfraternities of Penitents, particularly that ofSt. John the Baptist. This group was to attend to prisoners and those condemned to death, to give them help and support.
Borromeo believed that abuses in the church arose from ignorant clergy. Among his most important actions, he established seminaries, colleges, and communities for the education of candidates for holy orders.[12] His emphasis on Catholic learning greatly increased the preparation of men for the priesthood and benefited their congregations. In addition, he founded the fraternity ofOblates of St. Ambrose, a society of secular men who did not take orders but devoted themselves to the church and followed a discipline of monastic prayers and study. They provided assistance to parishes when so directed.[10] The new archbishop's efforts for catechesis and the instruction of youth included the initiation of the first "Sunday School" classes and the work of the Confraternity for Christian Doctrine.
Borromeo's diocesan reforms faced opposition from several religious orders, particularly that of theHumiliati (Brothers of Humility), a penitential order which, although reduced to about 170 members, owned some ninety monasteries. Some members of that society formed a conspiracy against his life, and a shot was fired at him with anarquebus in the archepiscopal chapel. His survival was considered miraculous.[12]
In 1576, there was famine at Milan due to crop failures, and later an outbreak of theplague. The city's trade fell off, and along with it, the people's source of income. The Governor and many members of the nobility fled the city, but the bishop remained to organize the care of those affected and to minister to the dying. He called together the superiors of all the religious communities in the diocese and won their cooperation. Borromeo tried to feed 60,000 to 70,000 people daily. He used up his own funds and went into debt to provide food for the hungry. Finally, he wrote to the Governor and successfully persuaded him to return.[13][4]
Borromeo had also been involved in English affairs when he assisted Pius IV. Many English Catholics had fled to Italy at this time because of the persecutions underQueen Elizabeth I. He gave pastoral attention to English Catholics who fled to Italy to escape the new laws against the Catholic faith.[12]Edmund Campion, a Jesuit, andRalph Sherwin visited him at Milan in 1580 on their way to England. They stayed with him for eight days, talking with him every night after dinner. A Welshman, Grudfydd Robert, served as his canon theologian and an Englishman,Thomas Goldwell, as vicar-general. The archbishop carried on his person a small picture ofJohn Fisher, who withThomas More had been executed during the reign ofHenry VIII and for whom he held a great veneration. During the 19th centuryCatholic restoration in England,Nicholas Wiseman was to institute an order of Oblates of St Charles, led byHenry Edward Manning, as a congregation of secular priests directly supporting the Archbishop of Westminster.[14]
Though the Diet ofIlanz of 1524 and 1526 had proclaimed freedom of worship in theThree Leagues, Borromeo repressed Protestantism in the Swiss valleys. The Catholic Encyclopedia relates: "In November [1583] he began a visitation as Apostolic visitor of all the cantons ofSwitzerland and theGrisons, leaving the affairs of his diocese in the hands of MonsignorOwen Lewis, his vicar-general. He began in theValle Mesolcina; here not only was there heresy to be fought, but also witchcraft and sorcery, and atRoveredo it was discovered that 'the provost or rector, was the foremost in sorceries'".[15] During his pastoral visit to the region, 150 people were arrested for practicing witchcraft. Eleven women and the provost were condemned by the civil authorities to be burned alive.[16]
Reacting to the pressure of theProtestant Reformation, Borromeo encouragedLudwig Pfyffer in his development of the "Golden League" but did not live to see its formation in 1586. Based inLucerne, the organization (also called the Borromean League) linked activities of several Swiss Catholic cantons ofSwitzerland, which became the centre of Catholic Counter-Reformation efforts and was determined to expel heretics. It created severe strains in the Swiss civil administration and caused the break-up ofAppenzell canton along religious lines.[17][self-published source?]
Charged with implementing the reforms dictated by the Council of Trent, Borromeo's uncompromising stance brought him into conflict with secular leaders, priests, and even the Pope.[9] He met with much opposition to his reforms. The governor of the province and many of the senators addressed complaints to the courts ofRome andMadrid.[2]
In 1584, during his annual retreat at Monte Varallo, he fell ill with "intermittent fever and ague", and on returning to Milan grew rapidly worse. After receiving thelast rites, he quietly died on 3 November at the age of 46.[13]
Following his death, popular devotion to Borromeo arose quickly and continued to grow. The Milanese celebrated his anniversary as though he were already a saint, and supporters in a number of cities collected documentation to support hiscanonization. In 1602Clement VIIIbeatified Borromeo. In 1604 his case was sent to theCongregation of Rites. On 1 November 1610,Pope Paul V canonized Borromeo. Three years later, the church added his feast to theGeneral Roman Calendar for celebration on 4 November.[15] Along withGuarinus of Palestrina and perhapsAnselm of Lucca, he is one of only two or threecardinal-nephews to have been canonized.
Charles Borromeo is the patron saint of bishops, catechists and seminarians.[18]
Borromeo's emblem is the Latin wordhumilitas (humility), which is a portion of the Borromeo shield. He is usually represented in art in his robes, barefoot, carrying the cross as archbishop, a rope around his neck, one hand raised in blessing, thus recalling his work during the plague.[15]
Borromeo' biography was originally written by three of his contemporaries:Agostino Valerio (afterwards cardinal and Bishop of Verona) and Carlo Bascape (General of theBarnabites, afterwards Bishop of Novara), who wrote their contributions in Latin, andPietro Giussanno (a priest), who wrote his in Italian. Giussanno's account was the most detailed of the three.[19]
Borromeo's correspondence shows his influential position in Europe during his lifetime. The popes under whom he served sought his advice. The Catholic sovereigns of Europe –Henry III of France,Philip II of Spain,Mary, Queen of Scots – and others showed how they valued his influence. Cardinal Valerio of Verona said of him that Borromeo was "to the well-born a pattern of virtue, to his brother cardinals an example of true nobility."Cardinal Baronius styled him "a secondAmbrose, whose early death, lamented by all good men, inflicted great loss on the Church."
Late in the sixteenth or at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Catholics in England circulated among themselves a "Life of St. Charles".[8]
A large number ofchurches dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo exist, including:
Media related toCharles Borromeo at Wikimedia Commons
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Borromeo, Carlo".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 274–275.
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