Saint Cajetan

Who they were

Gaetano was born at Thiene near Vicenza in 1480 to a family of counts and took a doctorate in law at 24. In 1506 he became secretary to Pope Julius II, where he admired the great artists of the time and saw the moral misery of the papal court: 'Rome, once holy, is now a Babylon.' He understood that the best reform begins with oneself.

He founded the Theatines, priests living in poverty to renew the clergy. At Naples he won the people over by prayer and care for the poor, and in 1539 founded, with Morinoni, the Monte di Pietà to rescue the poor from usurers, from which the Banco di Napoli grew. He worked between Venice and Naples, where he died on 7 August 1547.

The miracles

The miracles examined for his causes are not described in the sources we have used.

Why that counted as sanctity

Cajetan reformed the Church by beginning with himself and his fellow priests, and trusted Providence to care for the poor, fighting the usury that crushed them.