Gaspar Contarini was born to a noble family in Venice. After considering a religious vocation, he came to believe his calling was to serve Christ while remaining in the secular world. He became the Venetian ambassador to the Vatican.  

An early advocate of Church reform, Contarini in 1510 published a tract critical of the worldliness of many bishops. In an audience with Clement VII, he advised the pope to give less regard to the management of the Papal States and to think of ways of heading off the impending divisions within Christendom. When the pope noted that the world respected only power, he replied, “If your Holiness were to consider all the contents of Holy Scripture, he would see that nothing is stronger and more vigorous than truth, virtue, and goodness.”  

In 1534 a new pope, Paul II, named Contarini, while still a layman, to the College of Cardinals and authorized him to investigate areas for reform. His report presented a scathing inventory of corruption and abuse, mostly emanating from the sale of Church offices. (A copy found its way to Martin Luther, who published it as a confirmation of his critique of Rome.) Hopes for reconciliation between the Church and the Protestants rested on a conference in Regensburg in 1541. Contarini worked through an agreement on many of the essential theological points, but when word leaked, he was denounced by hard-liners on both sides, and the conference dissolved in failure. By this time, sadly, the possibility of reconciliation had passed. Contarini died on August 24, 1542.  

“I believe it is our part to strive by goodwill and well-doing to put our opponents to shame of themselves for separating from brethren who are filled with love.” —Cardinal Gaspar Contarini