Thomas de Vio Cajetan (d. 1534): a life in service of the truth

Tommaso de Vio, also known as Thomas Cajetan (from "Gaetano", after his birthplace of Gaeta, Italy - not to be confused with Saint Cajetan), was a leading Renaissance theologian, philosopher and exegete. He was Master of the Order of Preachers, before becoming a cardinal. He played an important role in defending pontifical rights at the Fifth Lateran Council. Cajetan was also one of the most brilliant and extensive commentators on the works of Saint Thomas Aquinas. His reflections influenced theology and canon law for several centuries, and his translation of the Bible was a milestone, at least until the 19th century. Cajetan was a man of austere piety and fervent zeal, who found the meaning of his life and mission in the Word of God. He died on August 19, 1534.

Ferdinand Pauwels, Martin Luther confronts Thomas Cajetan, 1872, Wartburg-Stiftung / ©

Reasons to believe:

Thomas de Vio Cajetan was a leading European intellectual, recognised by his peers in theology, exegesis and philosophy. He debated in public with the illustrious Florentine philosopher Pico della Mirandola.

Cajetan's attitude shows that he was driven by a genuine desire to seek the truth and a primary desire to obey God. When he served as the papal legate to Germany in 1518 to persuade Martin Luther to recant, he did not blindly condemn but used arguments, exhibiting a spirit of moderation: he compared Luther's positions analytically with Holy Scripture, the doctrine and tradition of the Church, and human reason. The report of this meeting, written by Luther himself, emphasizes his benevolent and respectful attitude.

On Christmas Day 1517, while Cajetan was celebrating Mass in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, the Virgin Mary appeared to him, accompanied by the Child Jesus. According to many witnesses, he remained completely motionless for long minutes, during which no one dared to say a word. On August 19, 1534, on his deathbed, Mary appeared to him a second time and strengthened his faith.

This man, "small and rather puny-looking" (Yves Congar) led a particularly humble life, despite his remarkable titles and functions. Cajetan always considered himself first and foremost at the service of God, the Church and the poor, whom he wanted to nourish spiritually and intellectually with the word of God.

The power of his intellect, his human wisdom, extensive work, as well as the number of roles he served in the Church, make of him a remarkable Christian figure.

Summary:

Tommaso de Vio, known as Cajétan, was born on March 1, 1469, in Gaeta (Italy, Lazio), a city that was then part of the Papal States.

These were difficult times for the Catholic Church. For over a century, the lavish life of certain prelates had become the target of harsh criticism. Catholic theology was being challenged in a way it had never been challenged before: the Protestant Reformation officially came into being in 1517; and European diplomacy was regularly getting the papacy and papal states into trouble. The King of France, Charles VIII, invaded part of the Italian peninsula, and Emperor Charles V plundered Rome in 1527.

Cajetan was 56 years old. Throughout his life, he strove to defend papal rights - whose mission is to guard the treasure of the faith and pass it on to the next generations, along with the beauty and authenticity of its teaching - but also the truth of the Gospel in the face of all human opinions and philosophies. He did not hesitate to debate with the famous Florentine philosopher Pico della Mirandola, when he was barely 25 years old.

Cajetan was very familiar with the intellectual currents that influenced his time, starting with Neoplatonism, which nourished European thought during the Renaissance. His faith led him to show that truth is not a concept - however brilliant - but a person, Jesus Christ. As a scholar, educated at three of the leading universities of the time (Bologna, Padua and Naples), and a Dominican friar, he was aware that this truth (God made man) could only be received through personal meeting and dialogue and sometimes direct confrontation of the faith of Saint Peter with the dominant philosophies, and that no one had ever done this better, or more deeply, than his illustrious predecessor, the Dominican Saint Thomas Aquinas. This is why Cajetan was such a demanding, erudite and magisterial commentator, particularly of the Summa Theologica. In 1519, he was the principal drafter of two papal bulls that placed the work of Saint Thomas Aquinas at the forefront of the Church's dialogue with the society of his time.

Theology was not enough for him. He constantly nourished his mind and heart with the Scriptures. He was an assiduous reader of the Bible. His knowledge of the Old Testament was truly exceptional for his time: he had regular exchanges with several learned rabbis and, in the space of a few years, translated almost all of Sacred Scripture by himself, with little editorial support (he was a researcher who liked to work alone or with little company), a genuine achievement in and of itself. His translation would inspire many modern exegetes.

Another of his skills, aside from his superior intellect, was his exemplary time management. He allowed himself very little rest. He put his body and soul at the service of evangelical truth. This is why he managed, in a masterly and truly incredible way, to combine diplomatic activities of the utmost importance (legate to Popes Julius II and Leo X), overflowing intellectual work, and a rich and fruitful spiritual life. Through the Holy Spirit,his varied occupations worked in harmony, forming a whole: it would be wrong to see in Cajetan only a philosopher and a theologian. He was a man of God, whose thought and will were one with his emotions, imagination and affections.

When Cajetan attempted to dialogue with Martin Luther in 1518, he did not present himself to him simply as a representative of the Holy See, but as a brother in Christ. When he declared the marriage of Henry VIII of England to Catherine of Aragon to be canonically valid, thus denying the English king a divorce in the eyes of the Church, he did not condemn him humanly, but made him aware that he was in error in the eyes of the Lord. When he organized the Christian resistance against the Turkish invasion of Central Europe in 1523-1524, he did not see these invaders as men to be slaughtered, but as souls to be converted.

Like Saint Dominic, the founder of his order, this cardinal theologian had an extraordinary devotion to Mary. On Christmas Day 1517, he celebrated Mass in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Just after the consecration, as he raised the chalice, the Virgin Mary appeared to him, accompanied by the Child Jesus. According to many witnesses, Cajetan's body remained completely motionless for several long minutes, during which the clerics around him and the faithful did not dare say a word. Then he resumed the liturgy as if nothing had happened. In 1534, on his deathbed, Mary appeared to him a second time and supported him in his faith. These events became known, and then spread rapidly after his death. Several sources mention them, and it is impossible to imagine that Cajetan lied, or that he was grossly mistaken. Similarly, it is hard to imagine that the congregation of faithful gathered in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore were all prey to a collective illusion.

Even though he held high positions in his order and his the Church hierarchy, Cajetan kept a confounding modesty throughout his life, not only towards the Pope, the Roman Curia and the bishops, but also towards his brothers in religion, the Dominicans, for whom he acted as Master General for many years, and, even more so, towards all believers, whatever their social rank. What we have of him is not a spiritual diary, but real books, which he considered to be an adaptation of the Gospel message for the people of the sixteenth century, rather than original works in themselves. His bibliography includes more than 25 titles. These are not pure theology but form a sort of catechism for the use of his contemporaries. Cajetan saw and wanted only one thing in his writing, political and diplomatic activity: to serve Christ as Christ himself had served mankind.

Patrick Sbalchiero

Going further:

Catholic Encyclopedia article on Tommaso de Vio Cajetan

More information:

Cajetan Responds: A Reader in Reformation Controversy by Tommaso de Vio Cajetan, Wipf and Stock (June 14, 2011)
Pre-Tridentine Doctrine: A Review of the Commentary on the Scriptures of Cardinal Cajetan by Tommaso De Vio Cajetan (Author), Robert C Jenkins (Author), Legare Street Press (October 27, 2022)
Cajetan on Sacred Doctrine by Hieromonk Gregory Hrynkiw, The Catholic University of America Press (November 12, 2020)
Thomas and the Thomists: The Achievement of Thomas Aquinas and his Interpreters by Romanus Cessario, OP, Fortress Press (July 15, 2017)