Lancelotto Politi
Lancelotto Politi was an Italian Dominican canon lawyer, theologian and bishop.
The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia describes Catharinus as a "brilliant eccentric", and asserts that, despite frequent accusations of heresy, his teachings were always "within the bounds of orthodoxy".
Life
Politi was born at Siena. At sixteen, he became Doctor of Civil and Canon Law at the Siena Academy. After visiting many academies in Italy and France, he was appointed a professor at Siena. He had among his pupils Giovanni del Monte, afterward Pope Julius III, and Sixtus of Siena, a converted Jew who esteemed his master yet severely criticized some of his writings.In about 1513, he entered the Order of St. Dominic in the convent of St. Mark in Florence. There, he studied scripture and theology without a master. This may account for his independence and his defense of singular opinions, especially regarding predestination, the certitude of possessing grace, the residence of bishops in their dioceses, and the intention required in the minister of a sacrament.
He was a strenuous defender of Catholicism against Martin Luther and his followers and was prominent in the discussions of the Council of Trent, to which he was called by his former pupil, Cardinal del Monte, legate of Paul III. In the third public session, Catharinus pronounced a notable discourse, later published .
Notwithstanding attacks upon his teaching, he was appointed Bishop of Minori in 1546, and, in 1552, Archbishop of Conza, Province of Naples. Pope Julius III, the successor of Paul III, called Politi to Rome, intending, says Jacques Échard, to elevate him to the cardinalate, but he died before reaching Rome.
Pallavicino and other authorities declare that the Council of Trent did not condemn his singular opinions. He defended the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. According to Échard, he regretted towards the end of his life the vehemence with which he had combatted Cardinal Cajetan and Father Dominic Soto. He died at Naples.
Works
His principal works are:- Apologia pro veritate catholicæ et apostolicæ fldei ac doctrinæ, adversus impia ac pestifera Martini Lutheri dogmata
- Speculum hæreticorum, with two opuscula on original sin and justification
- Annotationes in commentaria Cajetani super sacram Scripturam
- Tractatus quæstionis quo jure episcoporum residentia debeatur
- Defensio catholicorum pro possibili certitudine gratiæ
- Es bonus corripuit editor ad hoc intendere usus invexit errorem
- Summa doctrinæ de prædestinatione
- Commentaria in omnes D. Pauli epistolas et alias septem canonicas
- Disputatio pro veritate immaculatæ conceptionis B. Virginis