Saint Cajetan

Infobox Saint
name=Saint Cajetan
birth_date=birth date|1480|10|01|mf=y
death_date=death date and age|1547|8|07|1480|10|01|mf=y
feast_day=August 7
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church


imagesize=200px
caption=Saint Cajetan
birth_place=Vicenza, Veneto, Republic of Venice (now Italy)
death_place=Naples, Campania, Kingdom of Naples
titles=Confessor
beatified_date=October 8, 1629
beatified_place=Rome
beatified_by=Pope Urban VIII
canonized_date=April 12, 1671
canonized_place=Rome
canonized_by=Pope Clement X
attributes=
patronage=workers; gamblers; job seekers; unemployed people; Albania; Italy; Ħamrun (Malta); Argentina; Brazil; El Salvador; Guatemala
major_shrine=
suppressed_date=
issues=
prayer=
prayer_attrib=

"For the cardinal, see Thomas Cajetan.""For Saint Cajetan Catanoso, see Gaetano Catanoso."

Saint Cajetan, born Gaetano dei Conti di Tiene, also "Thiene" (October 1, 1480 - August 7, 1547) is a Roman Catholic Church saint and founder of the order of the Clerics Regular, better known as the Theatines. He is not to be confused with his contemporary, Cardinal Thomas Cajetan.

Biography

St Cajetan was born at Vicenza, then part of the Republic of Venice. Cajetan's parents were Gaspar, Count of Thiene, and Maria Porto.

Predisposed to piety by his mother, he studied law in Padua, receiving his degree as "doctor utriusque juris" (i.e., in civil and canon law) at age 24. In 1506 he worked as a diplomat for Pope Julius II with whom he helped reconcile the Venetian Republic. But he was not ordained a priest until the year 1516.

Recalled to Vicenza in the following year by the death of his mother, he founded a hospital for incurables there. His interests were as much or more devoted to spiritual healing than the physical kind. He intended to form a group that would combine the spirit of monasticism with the exercises of the active ministry. The death of Pope Julius in 1513 led him to withdraw from the Papal Court, founding an order based on these ideals, "the Oratory of Divine Love."

This new congregation was canonically erected by Pope Clement VII in the year 1524. One of his four companions was Giovanni Pietro Carafa, the Bishop of Chieti, elected first superior of the order, who later became Pope as Paul IV. From the name of the city of Chieti (in _la. Theate), arose the name by which the order is known, the "Theatines". The order grew at a fairly slow pace: there were only twelve Theatines during the sack of Rome in 1527. That event is said to have seen them harassed by anti-Catholic forces, causing them to flee to Venice where Cajetan met Saint Jerome Emiliani, whom he assisted in the establishment of his Congregation of Clerks Regular. In 1533 he founded a house in Naples which aided those who wished to check the advances of Lutheranism. The year 1540 found him in Venice again and from there he extended his work to Verona.

Despite successes, he died of grief in Naples, in the Kingdom of Naples. He was beatified on October 8, 1629 by Pope Urban VIII. On April 12, 1671, Cajetan was canonized together with Rose of Lima, Luis Beltrán, Francisco de Borja and Felipe Benicio.

Saint Cajetan's feast day is celebrated on August 7. He is known as the patron saint of the unemployed, gamblers and of job seekers.

Churches named after St Cajetan

* [http://www.cajetan.org St Cajetan Roman Catholic Church] , Archdiocese of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
* [http://www.archden.org/parishes/parish.php? St Cajetan Parish] , Archdiocese of Denver, Denver, Colorado
*Parroquia de San Cayetano, Barrio de Liniers, Buenos Aires, Argentina
*Parroċċa ta' San Gejtanu, Ħamrun, Malta
*Knisja San Gejtanu, St. Thomas Bay, Marsaskala, Malta

Argentina

Saint Cajetan is one of the principal saints invoked in the Roman Catholic Church in Argentina. He is known in Argentina as the "Patron of Work" ( _es. "Patrón del trabajo"). The Church of San Cayetano in Buenos Aires, located in the Barrio (neighborhood) of Liniers is visited every August 7 by millions of devoted people asking for his intercession in obtaining gainful employment or to thank him for employment already obtained.

ee also

*Theatines
*Religion in Argentina

External links

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03145a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: "St Cajetan"]
* [http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/Statues/Founders/Cajetan/Cajetan.htm Statue of St Cajetan in St Peter's Basilica]
* [http://saints.sqpn.com/saintc31.htm Patron Saints Index: "Saint Cajetan"]
* [http://www.sancayetano.org.ar/vidadesc.htm Biography of St Cajetan] es icon