St. Cajetan

Cajetan, also known as Gaetano, trained in law before becoming a priest. His concern for people in need included the establishment of a hospital at Vicenza, while his concern for the Church led him to pursue reform through the shared life and pastoral work of priests.

His service at the papal court preceded his more direct work of religious reform. Legal education and experience of public affairs made him familiar with the institutions he hoped to renew. The hospital for incurable patients demonstrates that his concerns extended beyond the internal discipline of the clergy.

The name Theatines derives from Carafa’s episcopal see of Chieti, known in Latin as Theate. The community grew slowly and was displaced by the sack of Rome in 1527. Its survival and later expansion required sustained work after the enthusiasm of its first foundation.

In 1524 he helped found the Theatines with companions including Giovanni Pietro Carafa, the future Pope Paul IV. Their vocation combined religious discipline with active ministry. After the sack of Rome, Cajetan’s work continued in other Italian cities, including Venice and Naples. He died in Naples in 1547 and was canonized in 1671.

Cajetan's work intersected with that of Jerome Emiliani in Venice, where he assisted the development of another congregation of clerics regular. This connection places him within a wider movement of Catholic renewal rather than a story limited to the growth of his own order. Religious reform could spread through advice and cooperation between founders with related but distinct responsibilities.

The form of life involved is also worth defining. Clerics regular were priests whose ministry was joined to a shared religious discipline. Cajetan hoped that the daily practices of a community would reshape pastoral conduct. His institutional contribution therefore lay partly in giving reform a durable setting: a priest's habits, companions, and obligations could support the changes he urged others to make.