Saint Charles Borromeo, 1538–1584
November 4

Saint Charles was born into a wealthy Italian family. His uncle was Pope Pius IV. Charles became a priest, then a bishop, and finally a cardinal. He worked hard to correct the mistakes that had caused Protestants and Catholics to disagree during the Protestant Reformation. He believed that many of the problems and divisions happened because priests weren’t educated enough. He built many schools to train priests so they could be better teachers. He also helped write an important Catechism explaining what the Catholic Church teaches. When he had free time, Saint Charles liked to play pool!

Discuss: How do you accept those whose beliefs differ from yours?

Activity
Catechism
Verbal/Linguistic

Point out that in addition to the accomplishments mentioned above, Saint Charles founded a brotherhood to teach Christian doctrine to children.

• Locate the Catechism of the Catholic Church online.
• Examine the outline with your child.
• Together, pick a section to read from.
• From what you read, have your child select a quote that she/he would like to share with a friend or a younger sibling.
• Have him/her write the quote down. Discuss it and make sure your child is able to explain what it means.
• Invite her/him to share the quote and explanation with the person she/he chose.