The Sleepwalkers (214 page)

At
the
time
of
the
controversy,
Cardinal
Robert
Bellarmine
was
seventy-three,
a
general
of
the
Jesuit
Order,
Consultor
of
the
Holy
Office,
and
the
most
respected
theologian
in
Christendom,
whose
opinion
carried
more
spiritual
authority
than
Pope
Paul
V's.
He
was
the
author
of
the
catechism
in
its
modern
form,
and
co-editor
of
the
Clementine
edition
of
the
Vulgate.
But
his
lasting
fame
is
that
of
one
of
the
great
controversialists
of
all
time.
His
polemics
against
Lutheranism,
Anglicanism,
and
particularist
tendencies
in
Catholic
countries
such
as
France
and
the
Venetian
Republic,
were
inspired
by
an
overriding
vision:
the
Universal
Church
as
a
super-state.
This
involved
the
rejection
not
only
of
the
Protestant
heresy,
but
also
of
the
new
nationalist
tendencies
derived
from
the
principle
of
absolute
monarchy.
The
idea
of
the
Universal
Church
demanded
a
Holy
Father
with
a
universal
authority
overriding
that
of
any
national
ruler.

However,
Bellarmine
was
sufficiently
realistic
to
moderate
his
claims
of
temporal
power
for
the
Papacy.
Hence,
on
the
one
hand,
he
had
to
fight
that
other
great
controversialist,
James
I,
in
a
long
series
of
tracts
and
counter-tracts
which
were
the
scandal
and
delight
of
Western
Christendom;
but
he
also
incurred
the
displeasure
of
Paul
V
for
not
claiming
absolute
temporal
authority
for
the
Pope.
In
a
later
controversy
between
Jesuits
and
Dominicans
on
the
question
of
predestination
Bellarmine
again
took
a
middle
line;
the
point
of
interest
to
us
is
that
the
Dominicans'
(as
later
the
Jansenists'),
arguments
were
mainly
based
on
Augustine's,
so
that
the
African
saint's
opinions
had
become
a
very
controversial
subject.
Galileo's
innocent
reliance
on
Augustine's
authority
shows
how
unwise
it
was
for
a
layman
to
venture
out
into
the
rarified
but
highly
charged
air
of
theology.

As
an
individual,
Bellarmine
was
the
opposite
of
what
one
would
expect
from
a
formidable
theologian
who
defied
popes
and
kings.
He
was
a
lover
of
music
and
the
arts;
he
had
lectured
on
astronomy
in
his
youth.
He
had
a
simple
manner
and
led
a
simple,
ascetic
life,
in
contrast
to
other
princes
of
the
Church;
but
above
all
he
had
a
"childlike
quality
that
was
noted
by
all
who
came
in
contact
with
him".
At
the
time
of
the
Galileo
controversy,
he
was
writing
a
devotional
book
called
Lament
of
the
Dove
,
which
his
most
ferocious
opponent,
James
I,
in
his
later
years
constantly
carried
about
his
person,
and
described
as
a
wonderful
aid
to
spiritual
comfort.

One
of
Bellarmine's
official
functions
was
that
of
a
"Master
of
Controversial
Questions"
at
the
Roman
College.
Here
he
was
in
constant
touch
with
the
leading
astronomers
of
the
capital,
Fathers
Clavius
and
Grienberger,
who
had
been
among
the
first
converts
to
Galileo's
telescopic
discoveries,
and
had
acclaimed
him
on
his
first
visit
to
Rome.
Thus
it
can
hardly
be
said
that
Galileo's
opposite
number
in
the
drama
was
an
ignorant
fanatic.
Bellarmine's
independence
of
mind
is
further
illustrated
by
the
fact
that
in
1890
his
magnum
opus
,
the
Disputationes
,
was
temporarily
put
on
the
Index
of
forbidden
books.

Sixteen
years
before
he
became
involved
with
Galileo,
Bellarmine
had
been
one
of
the
nine
Cardinal
Inquisitors
who
participated
in
the
trial
of
Giordano
Bruno,
and
some
writers
have
tried
to
see
a
sinister
connection
between
the
two
events.
In
fact,
there
is
none.
Bruno
was
burnt
alive,
on
16
February,
1600,
under
the
most
horrible
circumstances
on
the
Square
of
Flowers
in
Rome,
as
an
impenitent
apostate,
who
during
seven
years
of
imprisonment
refused
to
abjure
his
theological
heresies,
and
persisted
in
his
refusal
to
the
last
moment.
²²
Giordano
Bruno
and
Michael
Servetus
(burned,
in
1553,
by
the
Calvinists
in
Geneva)
seem
to
be
the
only
scholars
of
repute
who
became
victims
of
religious
intolerance
in
the
sixteenth
and
seventeenth
centuries
–
not,
of
course,
because
of
their
scientific,
but
because
of
their
religious
opinions.
Coleridge's
remark:
"If
ever
a
poor
fanatic
thrust
himself
into
the
fire,
it
was
Michael
Servetus,"
applies
to
the
irascible
and
tempestuous
Bruno
as
well.
His
teachings
of
the
infinity
of
the
universe
and
the
plurality
of
inhabited
worlds,
his
pantheism
and
universal
ethics
exerted
a
considerable
influence
on
subsequent
generations;
but
he
was
a
poet
and
metaphysician,
not
a
scientific
writer,
and
thus
does
not
enter
into
this
narrative.
^22a