Hands Respectful and Clean: Cajetan and the Reformation

William Paul Haas

Abstract

Cardinal Cajetan, the sixteenth century Dominican friar, became progressively more immersed in the religious and political turmoil that led to the Protestant Reformation. He struggled to understand the thrust of Luther’s new way of thinking and to bring the Church to deal with the need for radical reform in all aspects of the Church’s life. After his first meeting in person with Martin Luther, he turned from his former theological pursuits and concentrated on the study of those scriptures which spoke to the needs of reform. As an advisor to four popes, he may have failed in most of his initiatives, but he stands as a persuasive example of the courageous intellectual who was not afraid to look squarely at the predicaments of the Church and to urge an honest commitment to change things for the better.