We have just celebrated the feast of Saint Charles Borromeo, the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, a Confessor of the Faith, the patron saint of the city of Milan and of the Ambrosian Diocese. A saint who, like all the saints proclaimed by the Church before the conciliar revolution, today would be pointed out as divisive, intolerant, and fundamentalist by the tenant of Santa Marta, who is considered to be the successor of those popes who wanted this great prelate to come to Rome, first as a member of the Holy Office and Secretary of State – under his uncle Pius IV – and then as a consultant to the Council of Trent and an executor of the reform that it implemented at the end of the sixteenth century, under the reign of Saint Pius V.

He was president of the commission of theologians appointed by the pope to draw up the Catechismus Romanus together with some of the great figures of the Catholic counter-reformation, such as Saint Peter Canisius, Saint Turibius of Mogrovejo, and Saint Robert Bellarmine. He worked on the revision of the Missal, the Breviary, and the sacred liturgical music; he was involved in the foundation of the seminaries – an eminently Tridentine institution – and in the defense of holy orders, priestly celibacy, and marriage. He was a very zealous pastor, generous towards the poor and the sick, an implacable opponent of the Reformed and Protestant heretics, and was charitable and welcoming towards the English Catholics who took refuge in Italy to escape the persecutions of Queen Elizabeth I.

In short, Saint Charles was in his own right a true "conciliar" bishop, who tirelessly promoted the spirit of the "post-conciliar period" both in the universal Church and in the Ambrosian Church. I imagine that, formulated like this, this statement might cause some astonishment; but if we pay attention to it, the role of this holy bishop with respect to the Council of Trent was similar to that which, four hundred years later, other bishops and prelates played in the council called by John XXIII. Similar, but diametrically opposite in its goal and purpose. And it is in this that we can understand the difference that exists between being good shepherds faithful to Christ and being mercenaries in the pay of the enemy. In this we can see the difference between the good and faithful servant who makes fruitful use of the talents received from his Lord and the evil servant who buries them (Lk 19:22).

What therefore constitutes the difference between Saint Charles Borromeo – and along with him all the holy Confessors of the Faith – and the current episcopate? The difference is charity, that is, the love of God above all things and the love of one's neighbor for love of Him.