Saint Charles Borromeo

Cardinal and Archbishop of Milan
(1538–1584)

Saint Charles Borromeo was born on October 2, 1538, at Arona on Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, the second son of Count Gilbert Borromeo and Margherita de' Medici. He received an excellent education and was appointed to major ecclesiastical offices at the age of twenty-two by his uncle, Pope Pius IV, including the office of Cardinal Secretary of State and the archdiocese of Milan, before he had even been ordained a priest. The loss of his elder brother in 1562 moved Charles to a decisive change of life, from the comfortable world of a Renaissance cardinal to the austere life of a committed pastor.

He was ordained a priest and bishop in 1563 and played a central role in completing the Council of Trent, serving on several conciliar commissions and using his great influence at the papal court to keep the council on track. After the close of the council in 1563 he devoted himself entirely to implementing its decrees, particularly in the archdiocese of Milan, which he was finally able to visit in 1565.

What followed was one of the most remarkable exercises of episcopal pastoral energy in the history of the post-Tridentine Church. He held eleven diocesan synods and six provincial councils, revised the liturgy, established seminaries for the formation of priests, reformed the religious orders of his diocese, and visited personally the most remote and difficult parishes. During a severe plague in 1576 he remained in Milan when the civil authorities fled, organising relief for the sick, personally ministering to the dying, and selling all his possessions to provide food and medicine for the poor.

He died on November 3, 1584, worn out by his labours at the age of forty-six. He was canonised by Paul V in 1610 and is venerated as one of the great pastoral bishops of the Counter-Reformation. His feast is celebrated on November 4th.