While a cardinal, St. Robert Bellarmine participated in a conclave that would elect Pope Leo XI.
St. Robert Bellarmine is one of the most influential saints in the Catholic Church's 2,000-year history. He was extremely vital in the response of the Church to the Protestant Reformation, as he was able to clearly teach the central truths of the Catholic faith during a turbulent time in the world.
He was created a cardinal on March 3, 1599, by Pope Clement VIII, and before that he had been assigned as the Papal Theologian, consultor to the Holy Office and rector of the College of Confessors at St. Peter’s Basilica.
Many sought his counsel in Rome and his writings became an essential reference point for discussions about the Church's nature as well as the Church's unchangeable Tradition, which was being challenged at the time by various Protestant theologians.
With all of this in mind, it is interesting to note how he has connection to two Pope Leos, one during his life and the other 400 years later.
Pope Leo XI
After having been named a cardinal by Pope Clement VIII, it was only a few short years later that St. Robert Bellarmine would be ushered into a conclave to elect a new pope.
Pope Clement VIII died in 1605, and so it was up to St. Robert Bellarmine and 61 other cardinals to vote for the next pope.
Eventually the conclave settled on 70-year-old Alessandro Ottaviano, who was a close friend of St. Philip Neri. He took the name of Pope Leo XI, but unfortunately, fell sick shortly after being elected.
He died 26 days later, making his pontificate one of the shortest on record.
Pope Leo XIV
Fast forward roughly 400 years later, and another Pope Leo is elected who has a connection to St. Robert Bellarmine.
Pope Leo XIV's baptismal name is Robert Prevost, and he celebrates his "name day" each year on September 17, which is the feast of St. Robert Bellarmine.
The Vatican now honors September 17 as a holiday, recognizing Pope Leo XIV's baptismal patron saint.
