Pope St.
Clement I
Pope Clement I (called CLEMENS ROMANUS to distinguish him from the
Alexandrian), is the first of the successors of St. Peter of whom
anything definite is known, and he is the first of the "Apostolic
Fathers". His feast is celebrated 23 November. He has left one genuine
writing, a letter to the Church of Corinth, and many others have been
attributed to him.
III. THE EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS
The Church of Corinth had been led by a few violent spirits into a
sedition against its rulers. No appeal seems to have been made to Rome,
but a letter was sent in the name of the Church of Rome by St. Clement
to restore peace and unity. He begins by explaining that his delay in
writing has been caused by the sudden calamities which, one after
another, had just been falling upon the Roman Church. The reference is
clearly to the persecution of Domitian. The former high reputation of
the Corinthian Church is recalled, its piety and hospitality, its
obedience and discipline. Jealousy had caused the divisions; it was
jealousy that led Cain, Esau, etc., into sin, it was jealousy to which
Peter and Paul and multitudes with them fell victims. The Corinthians
are urged to repent after the example of the Patriarchs, and to be
humble like Christ himself. Let them observe order, as all creation
does. A curious passage on the Resurrection is somewhat of an
interruption in the sequence: all creation proves the Resurrection, and
so does the phoenix, which every five hundred years consumes itself,
that its offspring may arise out of its ashes (23-6). Let us, Clement
continues, forsake evil and approach God with purity, clinging to His
blessing, which the Patriarchs so richly obtained, for the Lord will
quickly come with His rewards, let us look to Jesus Christ, our
High-Priest, above the angels at the right hand of the Father (36).
Discipline and subordination are necessary as in an army and in the
human body, while arrogance is absurd for man is nothing. The Apostles
foresaw feuds, and provided for a succession of bishops and deacons;
such, therefore cannot be removed at pleasure. The just have always
been persecuted. Read St. Paul's first epistle to you, how he condemns
party spirit. It is shocking that a few should disgrace the Church of
Corinth. Let us beg for pardon- nothing is more beautiful than charity;
it was shown by Christ when He gave His Flesh for our flesh, His
Soul-for our souls; by living in this love, we shall be in the number
of the saved through Jesus Christ, by Whom is glory to God for ever and
ever, Amen (58). But if any disobey, he is in great danger; but we will
pray that the Creator may preserve the number of His elect in the whole
world.--Here follows a beautiful Eucharistic prayer (59-61). The
conclusion follows: "We have said enough, on the necessity of
repentance, unity, peace, for we have been speaking to the faithful,
who have deeply studied the Scriptures, and will understand the
examples pointed out, and will follow them. We shall indeed be happy if
you obey. We have sent two venerable messengers, to show how great is
our anxiety for peace among you" (62-4). "Finally may the all-seeing
God and Master of Spirits and Lord of all flesh, who chose the Lord
Jesus Christ and us through Him for a peculiar people, grant unto every
soul that is called after His excellent and holy Name faith, fear,
peace, patience, long-suffering, temperance, chastity, and soberness,
that they may be well-pleasing unto His Name through our High Priest
and Guardian. Jesus Christ, through whom unto Him be glory and majesty,
might and honour, both now and for ever and ever, Amen. Now send ye
back speedily unto us our messengers Claudius Ephebus and Valerius
Bito, together with Fortunatus also, in peace and with joy, to the end
that they may the more quickly report the peace and concord which is
prayed for and earnestly desired by us, that we also may the more
speedily rejoice over your good order. The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you and with all men in all places who have been called
by God and through Him, through whom is glory and honour, power and
greatness and eternal dominion, unto Him, from the ages past and for
ever and ever. Amen." (64-5.)
The style of the Epistle is earnest and simple, restrained and
dignified, and sometimes eloquent. The Greek is correct, though not
classical. The quotations from the Old Testament are long and numerous.
The version of the Septuagint used by Clement inclines in places
towards that which appears in the New Testament, yet presents
sufficient evidence of independence; his readings are often with A, but
are less often opposed to B than are those in the New Testament;
occasionally he is found against the Septuagint with Theodotion or even
Aquila (see H. B. Swete, Introd. to the 0. T. in Greek, Cambridge
1900). The New Testament he never quotes verbally. Sayings of Christ
are now and then given, but not in the words of the Gospels. It cannot
be proved, therefore, that he used any one of the Synoptic Gospels. He
mentions St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, and appears to
imply a second. He knows Romans and Titus, and apparently cites several
other of St. Paul's Epistles. But Hebrews is most often employed of all
New Testament books. James, probably, and I Peter, perhaps, are
referred to. (See the lists of citations in Funk and Lightfoot,
Westcott, Introductions to Holy Scripture, such as those of Cornely,
Zahn, etc., and "The New Test. in the Apost. Fathers", by a Committee
of the Oxford Society of Hist. Theology, Oxford, 1906.) The tone of
authority with which the letter speaks is noteworthy, especially in the
later part (56, 58, etc.): "But if certain persons should be
disobedient unto the words spoken by Him through us let them understand
that they will entangle themselves in no slight transgression and
danger; but we shall be guiltless of this sin" (59). "It may, perhaps,
seem strange", writes Bishop Lightfoot, "to describe this noble
remonstrance as the first step towards papal domination. And yet
undoubtedly this is the case." (I, 70.)
|
 91 Romæ sancti
Anacléti, Papæ et Mártyris, qui, post sanctum
Cleméntem Ecclésiam Dei regens, eam glorióso
martyrio decorávit.
At Rome, St. Anacletus, pope and martyr, who
governed the Church of
God after St. Clement, and shed lustre upon it by a glorious martyrdom.
Pope St. Anacletus
The second successor of St. Peter. Whether he was the same
as Cletus, who is also called Anencletus
as well as Anacletus, has been the subject of endless discussion.
Irenaeus, Eusebius, Augustine, Optatus, use both names indifferently as
of one person. Tertullian omits him altogether. To add to the
confusion, the order is different. Thus Irenaeus has Linus, Anacletus,
Clement; whereas Augustine and Optatus put Clement before Anacletus. On
the other hand, the "Catalogus Liberianus", the "Carmen contra
Marcionem" and the "Liber Pontificalis", all most respectable for their
antiquity, make Cletus and Anacletus distinct from each other; while
the "Catalogus Felicianus" even sets the latter down as a Greek, the
former as a Roman. Among the moderns, Hergenröther (Hist. de
l'église,
I 542, note) pronounces for their identity. So also the Bollandist De
Smedt (Dissert. vii, 1). Döllinger (Christenth. u K., 315)
declares
that "they are, without doubt, the same person"and that "the 'Catalogue
of Liberius' merits little confidence before 230." Duchesne, "Origines
chretiennes", ranges himself on that side also but Jungmann (Dissert.
Hist. Eccl., I, 123) leaves the question in doubt. The chronology is,
of course, in consequence of all this, very undetermined, but Duchesne,
in his "Origines", says "we are far from the day when the years,
months, and days of the Pontifical Catalogue can be given with any
guarantee of exactness. But is it necessary to be exact about popes of
whom we know so little? We can accept the list of Irenaeus -- Linus,
Anacletus, Clement, Evaristus, Alexander, Xystus, Telesphorus, Hyginus,
Pius, and Anicetus. Anicetus reigned certainly in 154. That is all we
can say with assurance about primitive pontifical chronology." That he
ordained a certain number of priests is nearly all we have of positive
record about him, but we know he died a martyr, perhaps about 91. |
 98-107 Evaristus Pope St. Evaristus; Evaristus came of a Hellenic family, and
was the son of a Bethlehem Jew;
laid to rest in Vaticano, near the tomb of St. Peter; succeeded Clement in the episcopate of the
Roman Church
Date of birth unknown; died about 107. In the Liberian
Catalogue his name is given as Aristus. In papal catalogues of the
second century used by Irenaeus and Hippolytus, he appears as the
fourth successor of St. Peter, immediately after St Clement. The same
lists allow him eight years of reign, covering the end of the first and
the beginning of the second century (from about 98 or 99 to about 106
or 107).
The earliest historical sources offer no authentic data
about him. In his "Ecclesiastical History" Eusebius says merely that he
succeeded Clement in the episcopate of the Roman Church which fact was
already known from St. Irenæus. This order of succession is
undoubtedly correct. The "Liber Pontificalis" says that Evaristus came
of a Hellenic family, and was the son of a Bethlehem Jew. It also
attributes to him the allotment of definite churches as tituli to the
Roman presbyters, and the division of the city into seven diaconias or
deaconries; in this statement, however, the "Liber Pontificalis"
arbitrarily refers to the time of Evaristus a later institution of the
Roman Church.
More trustworthy is the assertion of the "Liber Pontificalis"
that he was laid to rest in Vaticano, near the tomb of St. Peter. The
martyrdom of Evaristus, though traditional, is not historically proven.
His feast occurs 26 Oct. The two decretals ascribed to him by
Pseudo-Isidore are forged.
<>107 ST EVARISTUS, Pope
AND MARTYR
ST EVARISTUS succeeded
St Clement in the see of Rome in the reign of Trajan and governed the
Church
about eight years, being the fourth successor of St Peter. The Liber Pontificalis says that he was the son
of a Hellenic Jew of Bethlehem, and, certainly incorrectly, that he
divided
Rome into several “titles” or parishes, assigning a priest to each and
appointed seven deacons for the city. He is usually accorded the title
of
martyr, but his martyrdom is not proved; it is probable that St
Evaristus was buried
near St Peter’s tomb in the Vatican.
There is a notice in
the Acta Sanctorum, October,
vol. xi, but the text and notes of
Duchesne’s edition of the Liber Pontificalis tell us
nearly all there is to be known. See, however, an
interesting
comment by Father von Nostiz-Rieneck on the “Brevierlektionen der
Päpate
Evaristos und Alexander I” in the Zeitschrift
für Katholische Theologie, vol. xxix (1905), pp. 159—165.
|
105-116 Pope St.
Alexander I Roman by birth ruled the Church in reign of Trajan
(98-117). attributes to him, but scarcely with accuracy, insertion in
the canon of the Qui Pridie, or words commemorative of the institution
of the Eucharist, such being certainly primitive and original in the
Mass. He is also said to have introduced the use of blessing water
mixed with salt for the purification of Christian homes from evil
influences (constituit aquam sparsionis cum sale benedici in
habitaculis hominum). Duchesne (Lib. Pont., I, 127) calls attention to
the persistence of this early Roman custom by way of a blessing in the
Gelasian Sacramentary that recalls very forcibly the actual Asperges
prayer at the beginning of Mass.
St. Irenaeus of Lyons, writing in the latter quarter of the second
century, reckons him as the fifth pope in succession from the Apostles,
though he says nothing of his martyrdom.
His pontificate is variously dated by critics, e.g. 106-115 (Duchesne)
or 109-116 (Lightfoot). In Christian antiquity he was credited with a
pontificate of about ten years (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. IV, i,) and there
is no reason to doubt that he was on the "catalogue of bishops" drawn
up at Rome by Hegesippus (Eusebius, IV, xxii, 3) before the death of
Pope Eleutherius (c. 189). According to a tradition extant in the Roman
Church at the end of the fifth century, and recorded in the Liber
Pontificalis he suffered a martyr's death by decapitation on the Via
Nomentana in Rome, 3 May.
The same tradition declares him to have been a Roman by birth and to
have ruled the Church in the reign of Trajan (98-117). It likewise
attributes to him, but scarcely with accuracy, the insertion in the
canon of the Qui Pridie, or words commemorative of the institution of
the Eucharist, such being certainly primitive and original in the Mass.
He is also said to have introduced the use of blessing water mixed with
salt for the purification of Christian homes from evil influences
(constituit aquam sparsionis cum sale benedici in habitaculis hominum).
Duchesne (Lib. Pont., I, 127) calls attention to the persistence of
this early Roman custom by way of a blessing in the Gelasian
Sacramentary that recalls very forcibly the actual Asperges prayer at
the beginning of Mass.
In 1855, a semi-subterranean cemetery of the holy martyrs Sts.
Alexander, Eventulus, and Theodulus was discovered near Rome, at the
spot where the above mentioned tradition declares the Pope martydom.
According to some archaeologists, this Alexander is identical with the
Pope, and this ancient and important tomb marks the actual site of the
Pope's martyrdom. Duchesne, however (op. cit., I, xci-ii) denies the
identity of the martyr and the pope, while admitting that the confusion
of both personages is of ancient date, probably anterior to the
beginning of the sixth century when the Liber Pontificalis was first
compiled [Dufourcq, Gesta Martyrum Romains (Paris, 1900), 210-211].
The difficulties raised in recent times by Richard Lipsius (Chronologie
der römischen Bischofe, Kiel, 1869) and Adolph Harnack (Die Zeit
des Ignatius u. die Chronologie der antiochenischen Bischofe, 1878)
concerning the earliest successors of St. Peter are ably discussed and
answered by F.S. (Cardinal Francesco Segna) in his "De successione
priorum Romanorum Pontificum" (Rome 1897); with moderation and learning
by Bishop Lightfoot, in his "Apostolic Fathers: St. Clement" (London,
1890) I, 201-345- especially by Duchesne in the introduction to his
edition of the "Liber Pontificalis" (Paris, 1886) I, i-xlviii and
lxviii-lxxiii. The letters ascribed to Alexander I by Pseudo-Isidore
may be seen in P.G., V, 1057 sq., and in Hinschius, "Decretales
Pseudo-Isidorianae" (Leipzig, 1863) 94-105. His remains are said to
have been transferred to Freising in Bavaria in 834 (Dummler, Poetae
Latini Aevi Carolini, Berlin, 1884, II, 120). His so-called "Acts" are
not genuine, and were compiled at a much later date (Tillemont, Mem.
II, 590 sqq; Dufourcq, op. cit., 210-211).
|
127 Sixtus I,
Pope
survived as pope for about 10 years before being killed by the Roman
authorities M (RM)
Romæ natális beáti Xysti Primi, Papæ et
Mártyris; qui, tempóribus Hadriáni
Imperatóris, summa cum laude rexit Ecclésiam, ac demum,
sub Antoníno Pio, ut sibi Christum lucrifáceret,
libénter mortem sustínuit temporálem.
At Rome, the birthday of blessed Pope
Sixtus the First, martyr, who ruled the Church with distinction during
the reign of Emperor Hadrian, and finally in the reign of Antoninus
Pius he gladly accepted temporal death in order to gain Christ for
himself. (also known as Xystus)
Born at Rome; After the death of Pope Alexander
I, when the emperor Trajan ruled the Roman Empire, it was virtually
certain that anyone who succeeded the pope would suffer martyrdom, for
this was an age when Christians were savagely persecuted. Sixtus I took
the office c. 117 knowing this, and survived as pope for about 10 years
before being killed by the Roman authorities.
As well as displaying great bravery, Sixtus I must have been much
concerned with the liturgy of the church as the Liber Pontificalis
details three ordinances. It anachronistically says that at the
Eucharist when the priests came to the words 'Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might; heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest,' Sixtus decreed that all the people in the
church should join in as well. (Unfortunately, this cannot be true
because the Sanctus was not added to the liturgy until a much later
date: it was not included in the Mass of Hippolytus. Therefore, it is
unclear how accurate the balance of the entry is.) It relates that he
issued a decree that only the clergy should touch the sacred vessels
and that bishops called to Rome should not be received back by their
diocese unless they present Apostolic papers.
The Roman Martyrology says that Sixtus I was killed by the pagan Romans
in the year 127 under Antonius the Pious, but there are no acta
(Attwater2, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia). |
125-136 pope St. Telesphorus
Romæ
sancti Telésphori, Papæ et Mártyris; qui, sub
Antoníno Pio, post multos labóres, pro Christi
confessióne, illústre martyrium duxit.
At Rome, in the time of Antoninus Pius, pope St. Telesphorus, who, after many
sufferings for the confession of Christ, underwent a glorious martyrdom.
Pope St. Telesphorus
(Lived about 125-136.)
St. Telesphorus was the
seventh Roman bishop in succession from the Apostles, and, according to
the testimony of St. Irenæus (Adv. hæreses, III, iii, 3),
suffered a glorious martyrdom. Eusebius (Hist. eccl., IV, vii, xiv)
places the beginning of his pontificate in the twelfth of Hadrian's
reign (128-129), his death in the first year of the reign of Antoninus
Pius (138-139). These statements, however, should be compared with
Lightfoot, "The Apostolic Fathers", I (London, 1899), 201 sq., section
on "Early Roman Successions", and Harnack, "Geschlichte der alchristl.
Literatur", pt. II, "Die Chronologie", I (Leipzing, 1879), 70 sq. In
the fragment of the letter of Irenæus of Lyons to Pope Victor
concerning the celebration of Easter (Eusebius, "Hist. eccl.," V,
xxiv), Telesphorus is mentioned as one of the Roman bishops who always
celebrated Easter on Sunday, without, however, abandoning church
fellowship with those communities that did not follow this custom. None
of the statements in the "Liber pontificalis" and other authorities of
a later date as to liturgical and other decisions of this pope are
genuine.
In the Roman Martyrology
his feast is given under 5 January; the Greek Church celebrates it on
22 February.
|
140-155
ST PIUS I, POPE AND MARTYR
Romæ
sancti Pii Primi,
Papæ et Mártyris; qui martyrio coronátus est in
persecutióne Marci Aurélii Antoníni.
At Rome, Pope Pius I, who was crowned with
martyrdom in the persecution of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
ST PIUS I, POPE AND MARTYR
This Pius succeeded St Hyginus in the see of Peter, and
the Liber
Pontificalis states that he was the son of one Rufinus and a native of
Aquileia; some authorities add further that he was a brother of that
Hernias who wrote the famous work called The Shepherd: if the account
of himself given by the author of this book be not a pious fiction, and
if his relationship to the pope be true, then St Pius will have been
likewise born a slave.
During his pontificate the Roman
church was troubled by the allied heresies of the Valentinians and
Marcionites; Pius accordingly had energetically to oppose these
heresies, and in these controversies the true faith had a great
champion in the Jewish convert St Justin Martyr, who was in Rome at
that time.
St Pius ordained twelve
bishops and eighteen priests and is said to have turned the Baths of
Novatus into a place for worship. That he is venerated
liturgically as a martyr seems to be due to Cardinal
Baronius: there is no early reference to his martyrdom. Nearly
all that is known concerning St Pius will be found in the text and
notes of Mgr. Duchesne's edition of the Liber Pontificalis, vol. i, pp. 132
seq., and in his Histoire ancienne
de I'Eglise, vol. i, pp. 236 seq. For the historical
situation cf. G. Bardy,
"L'Eglise romaine sous Le pontificat de S. Anicet" in Recherches de science rellgieuse,
vol. xvii (1927), pp. 481-511.
Pope St. Pius I
Date of birth unknown; pope from about 140 to about 154. According to
the earliest list of the popes, given by Irenaeus ("Adv. haer.", II,
xxxi; cf. Eusebius, "Hist. eccl.", V, vi), Pius was the ninth successor
of St. Peter. The dates given in the Liberian Catalogue for his
pontificate (146-61) rest on a false calculation of earlier
chroniclers, and cannot be accepted. The only chronological datum we
possess is supplied by the year of St. Polycarp of Smyrna's death,
which may be referred with great certainty to 155-6. On his visit to
Rome in the year before his death Polycarp found Anicetus, the
successor of Pius, bishop there; consequently, the death of Pius must
have occurred about 154. The "Liber Pontificalis" (ed. Duchesne, I,
132) says the father of Pius was Rufinus, and makes him a native of
Aquileia; this is, however, probably a conjecture of the author, who
had heard of Rufinus of Aquileia (end of fourth century). From a notice
in the "Liberian Catalogue" (in Duchesne, "Liber Pontificalis", I, 5),
which is confirmed by the Muratorian Fragment (ed. Preuschen,
"Analecta", I, Tübingen, 1910), we learn that a brother of this
pope, Hermas by name, published "The Shepherd" (see HERMAS). If the
information which the author gives concerning his personal conditions
and station (first a slave, then a freedman) were historical, we should
know more about the origin of the pope, his brother. It is very
possible that the story which Hermas relates of himself is a fiction.
During the pontificate of Pius the Roman Church was visited by various
heretics, who sought to propagate their false doctrine among the
faithful of the capital. The Gnostic Valentinus, who had made his
appearance under Pope Hyginus, continued to sow his heresy, apparently
not without success. The Gnostic Cerdon was also active in Rome at this
period, during which Marcion arrived in the capital (see MARCIONITES).
Excluded from communion by Pius, the latter founded his heretical body
(Irenaeus, "Adv. haer.", III, iii). But Catholic teachers also visited
the Roman Church, the most important being St. Justin, who expounded
the Christian teachings during the pontificate of Pius and that of his
successor. A great activity thus marks the Christian community in Rome,
which stands clearly conspicuous as the centre of the Church. The
"Liber Pontificalis" (ed. cit.) speaks of a decision of this pope to
the effect that Jewish converts to Christianity should be admitted and
baptized. What this means we do not know; doubtless the author of the
"Liber Pontificalis", here as frequently, refers to the pope a decree
valid in the Church of his own time. A later legend refers the
foundation of the two churches, the titulus Pudentis (ecclesia
Pudentiana) and the titulus Praxedis, to the time of this pope, who is
also supposed to have built a baptistry near the former and to have
exercised episcopal functions there (Acta SS., IV May, 299 sqq.; cf. de
Rossi, "Musaici delle chiese di Roma: S. Pudenziana, S. Prassede"). The
story, however, can lay no claim to historical credibility. These two
churches came into existence in the fourth century, although it is not
impossible that they replaced Christian houses, in which the faithful
of Rome assembled for Divine service before the time of Constantine;
the legend, however, should not be alleged as proof of this fact. In
many later writings (e.g. the "Liber Pontificalis") the "Pastor" or
"Shepherd" in the work of Hermas is erroneously accepted as the name of
the author, and, since a Roman priest Pastor is assigned an important
role in the foundation of these churches, it is quite possible that the
writer of the legend was similarly misled, and consequently interwove
Pope Pius into his legendary narrative (see PRAXEDES AND PUDENTIANA).
Two letters written to Bishop Justus of Vienne (P.L., V, 1125 sq.;
Jaffé, "Regesta", I, 2nd ed., pp. 7 sq.), ascribed to Pius, are
not authentic. The feast of St. Pius I is celebrated on 11 July.
|
167 to 175 Pope Soter
and Caius, Saints and Popes
They have their feast together on 22 April, on which day they appear in
most of the martyrologies, though Notker and a few others give Soter on
the 21st and Caius on the 19th or 21st.
Soter was pope for eight years, c. 167 to 175 (Harnack prefers
166-174). We possess a fragment of an interesting letter addressed to
him by St. Dionysius of Corinth, who writes: "From the beginning it has
been your custom to do good to all the brethren in many ways, and to
send alms to many churches in every city, refreshing the poverty of
those who sent requests, or giving aid to the brethren in the mines, by
the alms which you have had the habit of giving from old, Romans
keeping up the traditional custom of the Romans; which your blessed
Bishop Soter has not only preserved, but has even increased, by
providing the abundance which he has sent to the saints, and by further
consoling with blessed words with brethren who came to him, as a loving
father his children." "Today, therefore, we have kept the holy Lord's
day, on which we have read your letter, which we shall always have to
read and be admonished, even as the former letter which was written to
us by the ministry of Clement." (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., IV, xxiv.) The
letter which Soter had written in the name of his church is lost,
though Harnack and others have attempted to identify it with the
so-called "Second Epistle of Clement" (see CLEMENT OF ROME). The
reverence for the pope's paternal letter is to be noticed. The
traditional generosity of the Roman Church is again referred to by St.
Dionysius of Alexandria to Pope Dionysius in the middle of the third
century, and Eusebius says it still continued in his time. Nothing
further is known of this pope.
According to the Roman Martyrology, St. Sotor was martyred on April 22
on the Appian Way in Rome. He is buried in the church of St. Sixtus; in
the cemetery of St. Callistus, there is a cella (a memorial chapel)
dedicated to his memory. |
199 Victor I, Pope
African by birth, Victor succeeded Saint Eleutherius as pope c. 189 the
first to use Latin in the celebration of the liturgy (RM)
Probably an African by
birth, Victor succeeded Saint Eleutherius as
pope c. 189. During his pontificate Victor was embroiled in a dispute
with a group of Christians from the province of Asia who were in Rome.
They celebrated Easter on a date of their own choosing. Victor
threatened the Asiatics with excommunication in a Roman synod. He was
also faced with the arrival of Theodotus from Constantinople and his
teaching that Christ was only a man endowed with supernatural powers by
the Holy Spirit. He is reputed to have been the first to use Latin in
the celebration of the liturgy. It is not certain that he died a
martyr's death (Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
Victor I, Pope was
a native of Africa, succeeded St Eleutherius in the pontificate
about the year 189. Those virtues which had prepared him for that
dignity made him a true successor of the Apostles, and he vigorously
grappled with the difficulties of the times. Among these was a
group of Asiatic Christians at Rome who insisted on celebrating Easter
on a date that accorded with their own traditions, even if a week-day.
Certain Asiatic bishops interfered to
support them, and were threatened by the pope with
excommunication. St Irenaeus of Lyons and others protested
against this severity, pointing out that differences of disciplinary
custom had not hitherto been allowed to compromise Christian
brotherhood. The protest appears to have been successful; but St
Victor naturally insisted on maintaining uniformity of observance in
his own province without being meddled with by bishops
from outside it.
Other troubles were caused by the
arrival in Rome from Byzantium of a man called Theodotus, a
leather-merchant, who taught that Jesus Christ was only a
supernaturally endowed man.
Pope St Victor died before the
persecution of Septimius Severus began, and there is no good reason to
suppose he was martyred; but his energy and zeal exposed him to
persecutions for which alone he might deserve the honours of a martyr
which are accorded him liturgically.
This pope is named in the canon of the
Ambrosian Mass, he
is said by St Jerome to have been the lint in Rome to celebrate the
Mysteries in Latin, and he was formerly held in special veneration in
Scotland, being fabled to have sent missionaries thither.
The little we know of St Victor comes mainly from Eusebius
and the Liber
Pontificalis. It is the latter authority describes him as
a martyr. See also the Acta Sanctorum,
July, vol. vi, and Duchesne. History
of the Early Church, vol. i, cap. 16 |
283, to 22 April, 296
Pope Caius lived in the time of peace before the last
great persecution. He was pope for twelve years,
four months, and seven days, from 17 December, 283, to 22 April, 296,
according to the Liberian catalogue (Harnack, Chronol., I, 155, after
Lipsius and Lightfoot); Eusebius is wrong in giving him fifteen years.
He is mentioned in the fourth-century "Depositio Episcoporum"
(therefore not as a martyr): X kl maii Caii in Callisti. He was buried
in the chapel of the popes in that cemetary. Nothing whatever is known
of his life.
He lived in the time of
peace before the last great persecution.
|
217 Pope Saint
Zephyrinus was pope from 199 .
He was a Roman who had ruled as head bishop for close to 20 years, and
was elected to the Papacy upon the death of the previous pope, Victor.
Zephyrinus was succeeded, upon his death on December 20, 217, by his
principal advisor, Callixtus.
Pope St. Zephyrinus
(Reigned 198-217).
Date of birth unknown; died 20 Dec., 217. After the death of Pope
Victor in 198, Zephyrinus was elected his successor and consecrated.
The pope is described by Hippolytus in the "Philosophymena" (IX, xi) as
a simple man without education. This is evidently to be understood as
meaning that Zephyrinus had not taken the higher studies and had
devoted himself to the practical administration of the Church and not
to theological learning. Immediately after his elevation to the Roman
See, Zephyrinus called to Rome the confessor Callistus, who lived at
Antium and who had received a monthly pension from Pope Victor, and
intrusted him with the oversight of the coemeterium. It is evident that
shortly before this the Roman Christian community had, under Victor,
become the owner of a common place of burial on the Via Appia, and
Zephyrinus now placed Callistus over this cemetery which was given the
name of Callistus. Undoubtedly Callistus was also made a deacon of the
Roman Church by Zephyrinus. He was the confidential counsellor of the
pope, whom he succeeded. The positions of the Christians, which had
remained favourable in the first years of the government of Emperor
Septimus Severus (193-211), grew constantly worse, and in 202 or 203
the edict of persecution appeared which forbade conversion to
Christianity under the severest penalties. Nothing is known as to the
execution of the edict in Rome itself nor of the martyrs of the Roman
Church in this era.
More, however, is certain concerning the internal disputes in the Roman
Church over the doctrine of the Trinity. The adherents of the heretical
teacher Theodotus the Tanner had been excommunicated with their leader
by Pope Victor. They formed an independent heretical community at Rome
which was ruled by another Theodotus, the Money Changer, and
Aselepodotus. These men persuaded a confessor of Rome named Natalis,
who had acknowledged his faith without wavering before the heathen
judge and had suffered torture, to permit himself to be made the bishop
of the sect for a monthly payment of 170 denarii. Natalis, however,
received many warnings in dreams. At first he paid no attention to
these visions, but on one occasion he believed that he had been
severely tortured by angels and now he began to ponder the matter.
Early in the morning he put on a penitential garment, covered himself
with ashes, and threw himself with tears at the feet of Zephyrinus. He
confessed his wrong-doing and begged to be received again into the
communion of the Church, which was finally granted him (Eusebius,
"Hist. eccl.", V, xxxii). In the same era the adherents of Montanus
also worked with great energy at Rome. The Montanist Proculus (or
Proclus) published a work in defense of the new prophecies. A
refutation of Proclus in the form of a dialogue was written by a
learned and rigidly orthodox Roman Christian named Caius, wherein he
refers to the grave of St. Peter on the Vatican Hill and of St. Paul on
the Via Ostiensis. Caius rejects the Apocalypse of St. John, which he
regards as a work of the heretic Cerinthus. In opposition to Caius,
Hippolytus wrote his "Capita contra Caium" (cf. Eusebius, "Hist.
eccl.", III, xxviii; VI, xx).
Hippolytus was the most important theologian among the Roman presbyters
of this era. He was an avowed adherent of the doctrine of the Divine
Logos. He taught that the Divine Logos became man in Christ, that the
Logos differs in every thing from God, that he is the mediary between
God and the world of creatures. This doctrine in the form in which it
was set forth by Hippolytus and his school aroused many doubts, and
another theological school appeared in opposition to it. This latter
school was represented at Rome in this era by Cleomenes and
particularly by Sabellius. These men were rigid opponents of the
Theodotians, but were not willing to acknowledge the incarnation of the
Logos, and emphasized above all the absolute unity (monarchia) of God.
They explained the Incarnation of Christ in the sense that this was
another manifestation (modus) of God in His union with human nature.
Consequently they were called Modalists or Patripassians, as according
to them it was not the Son of God but the Father Who had been
crucified. The Christian common people held firmly, above all, to the
Unity of God and at the same time to the true Godhead of Jesus Christ.
Originally no distrust of this doctrine was felt among them. Pope
Zephyrinus did not interpose authoritatively in the dispute between the
two schools. The heresy of the Modalists was not at first clearly
evident, and the doctrine of Hippolytus offered many difficulties as
regards the tradition of the Church. Zephyrinus said simply that he
acknowledged only one God, and this was the Lord Jesus Christ, but it
was the Son, not the Father, Who had died. This was the doctrine of the
tradition of the Church. Hippolytus urged that the pope should approve
of a distinct dogma which represented the Person of Christ as actually
different from that of the Father and condemned the opposing views of
the Monarchians and Patripassians. However, Zephyrinus would not
consent to this. The result was that Hippolytus grew constantly more
irritated and angry against he pope and particularly against the deacon
Callistus whom, as the councillor of the pope, he made responsible for
the position of the latter. When after the death of Zephyrinus
Callistus was elected Roman bishop, Hippolytus withdrew from the Church
with his scholars, caused a schism, and made himself a rival bishop.
Zephyrinus was buried in a separate sepulchral chamber over the
cemetery of Calistus on the Via Appia (cf. Wilpert, "Die papstgruber
und die Suciliengruft in der Katakombe des hl. Kallistus", Freiburg,
1909, 91 sqq.). The "Liber Pontificalis" attributes two Decrees to
Zephyrinus; one on the ordination of the clergy and the other on the
Eucharistic Liturgy in the title churches of Rome. The author of the
biography has ascribed these Decrees to the pope arbitrarily and
without historical basis.
|
Pope Callistus
(Calixtus) I 218 - 223
(Written by most Latins, Augustine, Optatus, etc. CALLIXTUS
or CALIXTUS).
Martyr, died c. 223. His contemporary, Julius Africanus,
gives the date of his accession as the first (or second?) year of
Elagabalus, i.e., 218 or 219. Eusebius and the Liberian catalogue agree
in giving him five years of episcopate. His Acts are spurious, but he
is the earliest pope found the fourth-century "Depositio Martirum", and
this is good evidence that he was really a martyr, although he lived in
a time of peace under Alexander Severus, whose mother was a Christian.
We learn from the "Historiae Augustae" that a spot on which he had
built an oratory was claimed by the tavern-keepers, popinarii, but the
emperor decided that the worship of any god was better than a tavern.
This is said to have been the origin of Sta. Maria in Trastevere, which
was built, according to the Liberian catalogue, by Pope Julius, . In
fact the Church of St. Callistus is close by, containing a well into
which legend says his body was thrown, and this is probably the church
he built, rather than the more famous basilica. He was buried in the
cemetery of Calepodius on the Aurelian Way, and his anniversary is
given by the "Depositio Martirum" (Callisti in viâ Aureliâ
miliario III) and by the subsequent martyrologies on 14 October, on
which day his feast is still kept. His relics were translated in the
ninth century to Sta. Maria in Trastevere.
Our chief knowledge of
this pope is from his bitter enemies, Tertullian and the antipope who
wrote the "Philosophumena", no doubt Hippolytus. Their calumnies are
probably based on facts. According to the "Philosophumena" (c. ix)
Callistus was the slave of Carpophorus, a Christian of the household of
Caesar. His master entrusted large sums of money to Callistus, with
which he started a bank in which brethren and widows lodged money, all
of which Callistus lost. He took to flight. Carpophorus followed him to
Portus, where Callistus had embarked on a ship. Seeing his master
approach in a boat, the slave jumped into the sea, but was prevented
from drowning himself, dragged ashore, and consigned to the punishment
reserved for slaves, the pistrinum, or hand-mill. The brethren,
believing that he still had money in his name, begged that he might be
released. But he had nothing, so he again courted death by insulting
the Jews at their synagogue. The Jews haled him before the prefect
Fuscianus. Carpophorus declared that Callistus was not to be looked
upon as a Christian, but he was thought to be trying to save his slave,
and Callistus was sent to the mines in Sardinia. Some time after this,
Marcia, the mistress of Commodus, sent for Pope Victor and asked if
there were any martyrs in Sardinia. He gave her the list, without
including Callistus. Marcia sent a eunuch who was a priest (or "old
man") to release the prisoners. Callistus fell at his feet, and
persuaded him to take him also. Victor was annoyed; but being a
compassionate man, he kept silence. However, he sent Callistus to
Antium with a monthly allowance. When Zephyrinus became pope, Callistus
was recalled and set over the cemetery belonging to the Church, not a
private catacomb; it has ever since borne Callistus's name. He obtained
great influence over the ignorant, illiterate, and grasping Zephyrinus
by bribes. We are not told how it came about that the runaway slave
(now free by Roman law from his master, who had lost his rights when
Callistus was condemned to penal servitude to the State) became
archdeacon and then pope.
Döllinger and De Rossi have demolished this
contemporary scandal. To begin with, Hippolytus does not say that
Callistus by his own fault lost the money deposited with him. He
evidently jumped from the vessel rather to escape than to commit
suicide. That Carpophorus, a Christian, should commit a Christian slave
to the horrible punishment of the pistrinum does not speak well for the
master's character. The intercession of the Christians for Callistus is
in his favour. It is absurd to suppose that he courted death by
attacking a synagogue; it is clear that he asked the Jewish
money-lenders to repay what they owed him, and at some risk to himself.
The declaration of Carpophorus that Callistus was no Christian was
scandalous and untrue. Hippolytus himself shows that it was as a
Christian that Callistus was sent to the mines, and therefore as a
confessor, and that it was as a Christian that he was released. If Pope
Victor granted Callistus a monthly pension, he need not suppose that he
regretted his release. It is unlikely that Zephyrinus was ignorant and
base. Callistus could hardly have raised himself so high without
considerable talents, and the vindictive spirit exhibited by Hippolytus
and his defective theology explain why Zephyrinus placed his confidence
rather in Callistus than in the learned disciple of Irenaeus.
The orthodoxy of Callistus
is challenged by both Hippolytus and Tertullian on the ground that in a
famous edict he granted Communion after due penance to those who had
committed adultery and fornication. It is clear that Callistus based
his decree on the power of binding and loosing granted to Peter, to his
successors, and to all in communion with them: "As to thy decision",
cries the Montanist Tertullian, "I ask, whence dost thou usurp this
right of the Church? If it is because the Lord said to Peter: Upon this
rock I will build My Church, I will give thee the keys of the kingdom
of heaven', or whatsoever though bindest or loosest on earth shall be
bound or loosed in heaven', that thou presumest that this power of
binding and loosing has been handed down to thee also, that is to every
Church in communion with Peter's (ad omnem ecclesiam Petri propinquam,
i.e. Petri ecclesiae propinquam), who art thou that destroyest and
alterest the manifest intention of the Lord, who conferred this on
Peter personally and alone?" (De Pudicitia, xxi.) The edict was an
order to the whole Church (ib., i): "I hear that an edict has been
published, and a peremptory one; the bishop of bishops, which means the
Pontifex Maximus, proclaims: I remit the crimes of adultery and
fornication to those who have done penance." Doubtless Hippolytus and
Tertullian were upholding a supposed custom of earlier times, and the
pope in decreeing a relaxation was regarded as enacting a new law. On
this point it is unnecessary to justify Callistus. Other complaints of
Hippolytus are that Callistus did not put converts from heresy to
public penance for sins committed outside the Church (this mildness was
customary in St. Augustine's time); that he had received into his
"school" (i.e. The Catholic Church) those whom Hippolytus had
excommunicated from "The Church" (i.e., his own sect); that he declared
that a mortal sin was not ("always", we may supply) a sufficient reason
for deposing a bishop. Tertullian (De Exhort. Castitatis, vii) speaks
with reprobation of bishops who had been married more than once, and
Hippolytus charges Callistus with being the first to allow this,
against St. Paul's rule. But in the East marriages before baptism were
not counted, and in any case the law is one from which the pope can
dispense if necessity arise. Again Callistus allowed the lower clergy
to marry, and permitted noble ladies to marry low persons and slaves,
which by the Roman law was forbidden; he had thus given occasion for
infanticide. Here again Callistus was rightly insisting on the
distinction between the ecclesiastical law of marriage and the civil
law, which later ages have always taught.. Hippolytus also declared
that rebaptizing (of heretics) was performed first in Callistus's day,
but he does not state that Callistus was answerable for this. On the
whole, then, it is clear that the Catholic church sides with Callistus
against the schismatic Hippolytus and the heretic Tertullian. Not a
word is said against the character of Callistus since his promotion,
nor against the validity of his election.
Hippolytus, however, regards Callistus as a heretic. Now
Hippolytus's own Christology is most imperfect, and he tells us that
Callistus accused him of Ditheism. It is not to be wondered at, then,
if he calls Callistus the inventor of a kind of modified Sabellianism.
In reality it is certain that Zephyrinus and Callistus condemned
various Monarchians and Sabellius himself, as well as the opposite
error of Hippolytus. This is enough to suggest that Callistus held the
Catholic Faith. And in fact it cannot be denied that the Church of Rome
must have held a Trinitarian doctrine not far from that taught by
Callistus's elder contemporary Tertullian and by his much younger
contemporary Novatian--a doctrine which was not so explicitly taught in
the greater part of the East for a long period afterwards. The
accusations of Hippolytus speak for the sure tradition of the Roman
Church and for its perfect orthodoxy and moderation. If we knew more of
St. Callistus from Catholic sources, he would probably appear as one of
the greatest of the popes.
|
236-250, Pope Saint Fabian succeeded Saint Antheros
governed as bishop of Rome 14 peaceful years
Died
250. On January 10, his martyrdom under Decius. He was a layman, who,
according to Eusebius, was chosen because a dove flew in through a
window during the election and settled on his head. This 'sign' united
the votes of the clergy and people for this layman and stranger.
Pope St. Fabian (FABIANUS) Pope (236-250), the
extraordinary circumstances of whose election is related by Eusebius
(Hist. Eccl., VI, 29). After the death of Anterus he had come to Rome,
with some others, from his farm and was in the city when the new
election began. While the names of several illustrious and noble
persons were being considered, a dove suddenly descended upon the head
of Fabian, of whom no one had even thought. To the assembled brethren
the sight recalled the Gospel scene of the descent of the Holy Spirit
upon the Saviour of mankind, and so, divinely inspired, as it were,
they chose Fabian with joyous unanimity and placed him in the Chair of
Peter.
During his reign of fourteen years there was a lull in
the storm
of persecution. Little is known of his pontificate. The "Liber
Pontificalis" says that he divided Rome into seven districts, each
supervised by a deacon, and appointed seven subdeacons, to collect, in
conjunction with other notaries, the "acta" of the martyrs, i.e. the
reports of the court-proceedings on the occasion of their trials (cf.
Eus., VI, 43). There is a tradition that he instituted the four minor
orders. Under him considerable work was done in the catacombs. He
caused the body of Pope St. Pontianus to be exhumed, in Sardinia, and
transferred to the catacomb of St. Callistus at Rome. Later accounts,
more or less trustworthy, attribute to him the consecration (245) of
seven bishops as missionaries to Gaul, among them St. Denys of Paris
(Greg. of Tours, Hist. Francor., I, 28, 31). St. Cyprian mentions (Ep.,
59) the condemnation by Fabian for heresy of a certain Privatus (Bishop
of Lambaesa) in Africa. The famous Origen did not hesitate to defend,
before Fabian, the orthodoxy of his teaching (Eus. Hist. Eccl., VI,
34). Fabian died a martyr (20 Jan., 250) at the beginning of the Decian
persecution, and was buried in the Crypt of the Popes in the catacomb
of St. Callistus, where in recent times (1850) De Rossi discovered his
Greek epitaph (Roma Sotterranea II, 59): "Fabian, bishop and martyr."
The decretals ascribed to him in Pseudo-Isidore are apocryphal.
|
235 Pope Saint
Pontian or Pontianus, was pope from July 21, 230 to September 28.
ST PONTIAN, POPE AND MARTYR
PONTIAN, who is said to
have been
Roman, followed St Urban I as bishop of Rome about the year 230. The
only known event of his pontificate is the synod held at Rome that
confirmed the condemnation already pronounced at Alexandria of certain
doctrines attributed to Origen. At the beginning of the persecution by
the Emperor Maximinus the pope was exiled to Sardinia, an island
described as nociva,
"unhealthy“, whereby perhaps the mines were meant; here he resigned his
office. How much longer he lived and the manner of his death are not
known: traditionally life was beaten out of him with sticks. Some years
later Pope St Fabian translated his body to the cemetery of St
Callistus in Rome, where in 1909 his original epitaph was found:
PONTIANOC EPICK MPT, the last word having been added later,
In the fourth-century Depositio
Martyrum the name of St Pontian is coupled with that of Hippolytus, and
August 13 is the day assigned for the commemoration: Idus Aug. Ypoliti
in Tiburtina et Pontiani in Callisti.” Fr Delehaye has discussed the
whole matter very fully in his CMH, pp. 439—440. See also Marucchi in Nuovo Bullettino for 1909, pp.
35—50 Wilpert, Die Papstgraber und
die Caciliengruft (1909), pp. 17—I8 and E. Caspar, Geschichte des Papsttums, vol.
1(1930), pp. 44 seq.
Pope
St. Pontian
Dates of
birth
and death unknown. The "Liber Pontificalis" (ed. Duchesne, I, 145)
gives Rome as his native city and calls his father Calpurnius. With him
begins the brief chronicle of the Roman bishops of the third century,
of which the author of the Liberian Catalogue of the popes made use in
the fourth century and which gives more exact data for the lives of the
popes. According to this account Pontian was made pope 21 July, 230,
and reigned until 235. The schism of Hippolytus continued during his
episcopate; towards the end of his pontificate there was a
reconciliation between the schismatic party and its leader with the
Roman bishop. After the condemnation of Origen at Alexandria (231-2), a
synod was held at Rome, according to Jerome (Epist. XXXII, iv) and
Rufinus (Apol. contra Hieron., II, xx), which concurred in the
decisions of the Alexandrian synod against Origen; without doubt this
synod was held by Pontian (Hefele, Konziliengeschichte, 2nd ed., I, 106
sq.). In 235 in the reign of Maximinus the Thracian began a persecution
directed chiefly against the heads of the Church. One of its first
victims was Pontian, who with Hippolytus was banished to the unhealthy
island of Sardinia. To make the election of a new pope possible,
Pontian resigned 28 Sept., 235, the Liberian Catalogue says "discinctus
est". Consequently Anteros was elected in his stead. Shortly before
this or soon afterwards Hippolytus, who had been banished with Pontian,
became reconciled to the Roman Church, and with this the schism he had
caused came to an end. How much longer Pontian endured the sufferings
of exile and harsh treatment in the Sardinian mines is unknown.
According to old and no longer existing Acts of martyrs, used by the
author of the "Liber Pontificalis", he died in consequence of the
privations and inhuman treatment he had to bear. Pope Fabian (236-50)
had the remains of Pontian and Hippolytus brought to Rome at a later
date and Pontian was buried on 13 August in the papal crypt of the
Catacomb of Callistus. In 1909 the original epitaph was found in the
crypt of St. Cecilia, near the papal crypt. The epitaph, agreeing with
the other known epitaphs of the papal crypt, reads: PONTIANOS, EPISK.
MARTUR (Pontianus, Bishop, Martyr). The word mártur was added
later and
is written in ligature [cf. Wilpert, "Die Papstgräber und die
Cäciliengruft in der Katakombe des hl. Kalixtus" (Freiburg, 1909),
1
sq., 17 sq., Plate III]. He is placed under 13 Aug. in the list of the
"Depositiones martyrum" in the chronographia of 354. The Roman
Martyrology gives his feast on 19 Nov.
|
253 Pope Cornelius; predecessor, Fabian, put to death by
Decius, 250. March, 251 persecution slackened, owing to
absence of the emperor, (two rivals had arisen); 16 bishops at Rome elected Cornelius against his will was;
"What fortitude in his acceptance of the episcopate, what strength
of mind, what firmness of faith, that he took his seat intrepid in the
sacerdotal chair, at a time when the tyrant in his hatred of bishops
was making unspeakable threats, when he heard with far more patience
that a rival prince was arising against him, than that a bishop of God
was appointed at Rome" (Cyprian,
Ep. lv, 24). Is he not, asks St.
Cyprian, to be
numbered among the glorious confessors and martyrs who sat so long
awaiting the sword or the cross or the stake and every other torture?
Cornelius Martyr (251 to 253).
We may accept the statement of the Liberian catalogue that he reigned
two years, three months, and ten days, for Lipsius, Lightfoot, and
Harnack have shown that this list is a first-rate authority for this
date. His predecessor, Fabian, was put to death by Decius, 20 January,
250. About the beginning of March, 251 the persecution slackened, owing
to the absence of the emperor, against whom two rivals had arisen. It
was possible to assemble sixteen bishops at Rome, and Cornelius was
elected though against his will (Cyprian, Ep. lv, 24), "by the judgment
of God and of Christ, by the testimony of almost all the clergy, by the
vote of the people then present, by the consent of aged priests and of
good men, at a time when no one had been made before him, when the
place of Fabian, that is the place of Peter, and the step of the
sacerdotal chair were vacant". "What fortitude in his acceptance of the
episcopate, what strength of mind, what firmness of faith, that he took
his seat intrepid in the sacerdotal chair, at a time when the tyrant in
his hatred of bishops was making unspeakable threats, when he heard
with far more patience that a rival prince was arising against him,
than that a bishop of God was appointed at Rome" (ibid., 9). Is he not,
asks St. Cyprian, to be numbered among the glorious confessors and
martyrs who sat so long awaiting the sword or the cross or the stake
and every other torture?
A few weeks later the Roman priest Novatian made himself antipope, and
the whole Christian world was convulsed by the schism at Rome. But the
adhesion of St. Cyprian secured to Cornelius the hundred bishops of
Africa, and the influence of St. Dionysius the Great, Bishop of
Alexandria, brought the East within a few months to a right decision.
In Italy itself the pope got together a synod of sixty bishops. (See
NOVATIAN.) Fabius, Bishop of Antioch, seems to have wavered. Three
letters to him from Cornelius were known to Eusebius, who gives
extracts from one of them (Hist. Eccl., VI, xliii), in which the pope
details the faults in Novatian's election and conduct with considerable
bitterness. We incidentally learn that in the Roman Church there were
forty-six priests, seven deacons, seven subdeacons, forty-two acolytes,
fifty-two ostiarii, and over one thousand five hundred widows and
persons in distress. From this Burnet estimated the number of
Christians in Rome at fifty thousand, so also Gibbon; but Benson and
Harnack think this figure possibly too large. Pope Fabian had made
seven regions; it appears that each had one deacon, one subdeacon and
six acolytes.
Of the letters of Cornelius to Cyprian two have come down
to us, together with nine from Cyprian to the pope. Mgr. Merrati has
shown that in the true text the letters of Cornelius are in the
colloquial "vulgar-Latin" of the day, and not in the more classical
style affected by the ex-orator Cyprian and the learned philosopher
Novatian. Cornelius sanctioned the milder measures proposed by St.
Cyprian and accepted by his Carthaginian council of 251 for the
restoration to communion, after varying forms of penance, of those who
had fallen during the Decian persecution (see CYPRIAN).
Beginning 252 a new persecution suddenly broke out.
Cornelius was exiled to Centumcellæ (Civita Vecchia). There were
no defections among the Roman Christians; all were confessors. The pope
"led his brethren in confession", writes Cyprian (Ep. lx, ad Corn.),
with a manifest reference to the confession of St. Peter. "With one
heart and one voice the whole Roman Church confessed. Then was seen,
dearest Brother, that faith which the blessed Apostle praised in you
(Romans 1:8); even then he foresaw in spirit your glorious fortitude
and firm strength."
In June Cornelius died a martyr, as St. Cyprian repeatedly
calls him. The Liberian catalogue has ibi cum gloriâ dormicionem
accepit, and this may mean that he died of the rigours of his
banishment, though later accounts say that he was beheaded. St. Jerome
says that Cornelius and Cyprian suffered on the same day in different
years, and his careless statement has been generally followed. The
feast of St. Cyprian was in fact kept at Rome at the tomb of Cornelius,
for the fourth century "Depositio Martirum" has "XVIII kl octob
Cypriani Africæ Romæ celebratur in Callisti". St. Cornelius
was not buried in the chapel of the popes, but in an adjoining
catacomb, perhaps that of a branch of the noble Cornelii. His
inscription is in Latin: CORNELIUS* MARTYR* whereas those of Fabian and
Lucius are in Greek (Northcote and Brownlow, "Roma sotteranea", I, vi).
His feast is kept with that of St. Cyprian on 14 September, possibly
the day of his translation from Centumcellæ to the catacombs.
|
254-257 Pope St.
Stephen I; defence of the
validity of heretical baptism against the mistaken opinion of St.
Cyprian and other bishops of Africa and Asia; In his days the vestments worn by the
clergy at Mass and other
church services did not differ in shape or material from those
ordinarily worn by the laity. Stephen, however, is said by the "Liber
Pontificalis" to have ordained that the vestments which had been used
for ecclesiastical purposes were not to be employed for daily wear; An assembly of African bishops which he
convoked renewed the
condemnation of Basilides and Martial, and exhorted the people to enter
into communion with their successors. At the same time they were at
pains to point out that Stephen had acted as he had done because
"situated at a distance, and ignorant of the true facts of the case" he
had been deceived by Basilides. Anxious to preserve the tradition of
his predecessors in matters of practical charity, as well as of faith,
Stephen, we are told, relieved in their necessities "all the provinces
of Syria and Arabia".
Although there is some doubt as to the dates connected
with the pontificate of Stephen, it is generally believed that he was
consecrated 12 May, 254, and that he died 2 August, 257. According to
the most ancient catalogues, he was a Roman by birth, and the son of
Jovius, and there is no reason to doubt the assertion of the "Liber
Pontificalis" that Lucius I, when about to be martyred, made over the
care of the Church to his archdeacon Stephen (254). Most of what we
know regarding Pope Stephen is connected directly or indirectly with
the severe teachings of the heretic Novatus.
Concerning his most important work, his defence of the
validity of heretical baptism against the mistaken opinion of St.
Cyprian and other bishops of Africa and Asia, there is no need to speak
now, as the history of this important controversy will be found under
BAPTISM and SAINT CYPRIAN OF CARTHAGE.
Suffice it here to call attention to certain newly
discovered letters on the subject by St. Dionysius of Alexandria ("Eng.
Hist. Rev.", Jan., 1910, 111 sq.), and to note, with the late
Archbishop Benson of Canterbury, that Stephen "triumphed, and in him
the Church of Rome triumphed, as she deserved" [E.W. Benson, "Cyprian,
His Life, His Times, His Works", VIII (London), 1897, 3].
In the early part of his pontificate Stephen was
frequently urged by Faustinus, Bishop of Lyons, to take action against
Marcian, Bishop of Arles, who, attaching himself to doctrines of
Novatus, denied communion to the penitent lapsi. For some reason
unknown to us Stephen did not move. The bishops of Gaul accordingly
turned to Cyprian, and begged him to write to the pope. This the saint
did in a letter which is our sole source of information regarding this
affair (Epp. lxix, lxviii). The Bishop of Carthage entreats Stephen to
imitate his martyred predecessors, and to instruct the bishops of Gaul
to condemn Marcian, and to elect another bishop in his stead. As no
more is said by St. Cyprian on this affair, it is supposed that the
pope acted in accordance with his wishes, and that Marcian was deposed.
The case of the Spanish bishops Martial and Basilides also
brought Stephen in connection with St. Cyprian. As libellatici they had
been condemned by bishops of their province for denying the Faith. At
first they acknowledged their guilt, but afterwards appealed to Rome,
and, deceived by their story, Stephen exerted himself to secure their
restoration. Accordingly some of their fellow bishops took their part,
but the others laid the case before St. Cyprian. An assembly of African
bishops which he convoked renewed the condemnation of Basilides and
Martial, and exhorted the people to enter into communion with their
successors. At the same time they were at pains to point out that
Stephen had acted as he had done because "situated at a distance, and
ignorant of the true facts of the case" he had been deceived by
Basilides. Anxious to preserve the tradition of his predecessors in
matters of practical charity, as well as of faith, Stephen, we are
told, relieved in their necessities "all the provinces of Syria and
Arabia".
In his days the vestments worn by the clergy at Mass and
other church services did not differ in shape or material from those
ordinarily worn by the laity. Stephen, however, is said by the "Liber
Pontificalis" to have ordained that the vestments which had been used
for ecclesiastical purposes were not to be employed for daily wear. The
same authority adds that he finished his pontificate by martyrdom, but
the evidence for this is generally regarded as doubtful. He was buried
in the cemetery of St. Calixtus, whence his body was transferred by
Paul I to a monastery which he had founded in his honour.
|
255 St. Venantius
Bishop martyr prelate serving Dalmatia, Croatia
Eódem die sancti Venántii,
Epíscopi et
Mártyris. The same day, St.
Venantius, bishop and martyr.
Executed during the persecutions of the Church by the Roman
Empire.
His
relics were translated from Split (Spalato), Dalmatia, to the Lateran
Basilica in Rome under Pope John IV (r. 640-642).
Venantius of Spalato BM (RM). Saint Venantius was a
Dalmatian bishop whose body was brought to the Lateran at Spalato by
Pope John IV in 641 (Benedictines). |
 258 Pope
St. Sixtus II Elected 31 Aug.,
257, martyred at Rome, 6
Aug., 258
(XYSTUS).
During the pontificate of his predecessor, St. Stephen, a
sharp
dispute had arisen between Rome and the African and Asiatic Churches,
concerning the rebaptism of heretics, which had threatened to end in a
complete rupture between Rome and the Churches of Africa and Asia Minor
(see SAINT CYPRIAN OF CARTHAGE). Sixtus II, whom Pontius (Vita Cyprian,
cap. xiv) styles a good and peaceful priest (bonus et pacificus
sacerdos), was more conciliatory than St. Stephen and restored friendly
relations with these Churches, though, like his predecessor, he upheld
the Roman usage of not rebaptizing heretics.
His origin is unknown. The "Liber Pontificalis" says
that he
was a Greek by birth, but this is probably a mistake, originating from
the false assumption that he was identical with a Greek philosopher of
the same name, who was the author of the so-called "Sentences" of
Xystus.
Shortly before the pontificate of Sixtus II the
Emperor Valerian issued his first edict of persecution, which made it
binding upon the Christians to participate in the national cult of the
pagan gods and forbade them to assemble in the cemeteries, threatening
with exile or death whomsoever was found to disobey the order. In some
way or other, Sixtus II managed to perform his functions as chief
pastor of the Christians without being molested by those who were
charged with the execution of the imperial edict. But during the first
days of August, 258, the emperor issued a new and far more cruel edict
against the Christians, the import of which has been preserved in a
letter of St. Cyprian to Successus, the Bishop of Abbir Germaniciana
(Ep. lxxx). It ordered bishops, priests, and deacons to be summarily
put to death ("episcopi et presbyteri et diacones incontinenti
animadvertantur"). Sixtus II was one of the first to fall a victim to
this imperial enactment ("Xistum in cimiterio animadversum sciatis
VIII. id. Augusti et cum eo diacones quattuor"—Cyprian, Ep. lxxx). In
order to escape the vigilance of the imperial officers he assembled his
flock on 6 August at one of the less-known cemeteries, that of
Prætextatus, on the left side of the Appian Way, nearly opposite
the cemetery of St. Callistus. While seated on his chair in the act of
addressing his flock he was suddenly apprehended by a band of soldiers.
There is some doubt whether he was beheaded forthwith, or was first
brought before a tribunal to receive his sentence and then led back to
the cemetery for execution. The latter opinion seems to be the more
probable.
The inscription
which Pope Damasus (366-84) placed on his tomb in the cemetery of St.
Callistus may be interpreted in either sense. The entire inscription is
to be found in the works of St. Damasus (P.L., XIII, 383-4, where it is
wrongly supposed to be an epitaph for Pope Stephen I), and a few
fragments of it were discovered at the tomb itself by de Rossi (Inscr.
Christ., II, 108). The "Liber Pontificalis" mentions that he was led
away to offer sacrifice to the gods ("ductus ut sacrificaret
demoniis"—I, 155). St. Cyprian states in the above-named letter, which
was written at the latest one month after the martyrdom of Sixtus, that
"the prefects of the City were daily urging the persecution in order
that, if any were brought before them, they might be punished and their
property confiscated". The pathetic meeting between St. Sixtus II and
St. Lawrence, as the former was being led to execution, of which
mention is made in the unauthentic "Acts of St. Lawrence" as well as by
St. Ambrose (Officiorum, lib. I, c. xli, and lib. II, c. xxviii) and
the poet Prudentius (Peristephanon, II), is probably a mere legend.
Entirely contrary to truth is the statement of Prudentius (ibid., lines
23-26) that Sixtus II suffered martyrdom on the cross, unless by an
unnatural trope the poet uses the specific word cross ("Jam Xystus
adfixus cruci") for martyrdom in general, as Duchesne and Allard (see
below) suggest. Four deacons, Januarius, Vincentius, Magnus, and
Stephanus, were apprehended with Sixtus and beheaded with him at the
same cemetery. Two other deacons, Felicissimus and Agapitus, suffered
martyrdom on the same day. The feast of St. Sixtus II and these six
deacons is celebrated on 6 August, the day of their martyrdom. The
remains of Sixtus were transferred by the Christians to the papal crypt
in the neighbouring cemetery of St. Callistus. Behind his tomb was
enshrined the bloodstained chair on which he had been beheaded. An
oratory (Oratorium Xysti) was erected above the cemetery of St.
Prætextatus, at the spot where he was martyred, and was still
visited by pilgrims of the seventh and the eighth century.
For some time Sixtus II was believed to be the author of the
so-called "Sentences", or "Ring of Sixtus", originally written by a
Pythagorean philosopher and in the second century revised by a
Christian. This error arose because in his introduction to a Latin
translation of these "Sentences". Rufinus ascribes them to Sixtus of
Rome, bishop and martyr. It is certain that Pope Sixtus II is not their
author (see Conybeare, "The Ring of Pope Xystus now first rendered into
English, with an historical and critical commentary", London, 1910).
Harnack (Texte und Untersuchungen zur altchrist. Literatur, XIII, XX)
ascribes to him the treatise "Ad Novatianum", but his opinion has been
generally rejected (see Rombold in "Theol. Quartalschrift", LXXII,
Tübingen, 1900). Some of his letters are printed in P.L., V,
79-100. A newly discovered letter was published by Conybeare in
"English Hist. Review", London, 1910.
|
264-5 Dionysius
of Alexandria (Bishop from 247-8
to
264-5.)
Called "the Great" by Eusebius, St. Basil, and others, was
undoubtedly, after St. Cyprian, the most eminent bishop of the third
century. Like St. Cyprian he was less a great theologian than a great
administrator. Like St. Cyprian his writings usually took the form of
letters. Both saints were converts from paganism; both were engaged in
the controversies as to the restoration of those who had lapsed in the
Decian persecution, about Novatian, and with regard to the iteration of
heretical baptism; both corresponded with the popes of their day. Yet
it is curious that neither mentions the name of the other. A single
letter of Dionysius has been preserved in Greek canon law. For the rest
we are dependent on the many citations by Eusebius, and, for one phase,
to the works of his great successor St. Athanasius.
Dionysius was an old man
when he died, so that his birth will fall about 190, or earlier. He is
said to have been of distinguished parentage. He became a Christian
when still young. At a later period, when he was warned by a priest of
the danger he ran in studying the books of heretics, a vision–so he
informs us–assured him that he was capable of proving all things, and
that this faculty had in fact been the cause of his conversion. He
studied under Origen. The latter was banished by Demetrius about 231,
and Heraclas took his place at the head of the catechetical school. On
the death of Demetrius very soon afterwards, Heraclas became bishop,
and Dionysius took the headship of the famous school. It is thought
that he retained this office even when he himself had succeeded
Heraclas as bishop. In the last year of Philip, 249, although the
emperor himself was reported to be a Christian, a riot at Alexandria,
roused by a popular prophet and poet, had all the effect of a severe
persecution. It is described by Dionysius in a letter to Fabius of
Antioch. The mob first seized an old man named Metras, beat him with
clubs when he would not deny his faith, pierced his eyes and face with
reeds, dragged him out of the city, and stoned him. Then a woman named
Quinta, who would not sacrifice, was drawn along the rough pavement by
the feet, dashed against millstones, scourged, and finally stoned in
the same suburb. The houses of the faithful were plundered. Not one, so
far as the bishop knew, apostatized. The aged virgin, Apollonia, after
her teeth had been knocked out, sprang of her own accord into the fire
prepared for her rather than utter blasphemies. Serapion had all his
limbs broken, and was dashed down from the upper story of his own
house. It was impossible for any Christian to go into the streets, even
at night, for the mob was shouting that all who would not blaspheme
should be burnt. The riot was stopped by the civil war, but the new
Emperor Decius instituted a legal persecution in January, 250. St.
Cyprian describes how at Carthage the Christians rushed to sacrifice,
or at least to obtain false certificates of having done so. Similarly
Dionysius tells us that at Alexandria many conformed through fear,
others on account of official position, or persuaded by friends; some
pale and trembling at their act, others boldly asserting that they had
never been Christians. Some endured imprisonment for a time; others
abjured only at the sight of tortures; others held out until the
tortures conquered their resolution. But there were noble instances of
constancy. Julian and Kronion were scourged through the city on camels,
and then burnt to death. A soldier, Besas, who protected them from the
insults of the people, was beheaded. Macar, a Libyan, was burnt alive.
Epimachus and Alexander, after long imprisonment and many tortures,
were also burnt, with four women. The virgin Ammomarion also was long
tortured. The aged Mercuria and Dionysia, a mother of many children,
suffered by the sword. Heron, Ater, and Isidore, Egyptians, after many
tortures were given to the flames. A boy of fifteen, Dioscorus, who
stood firm under torture, was dismissed by the judge for very shame.
Nemesion was tortured and scourged, and then burnt between two robbers.
A number of soldiers, and with them an old man named Ingenuus, made
indignant signs to one who was on his trial and about to apostatize.
When called to order they cried out that they were Christians with such
boldness that the governor and his assessors were taken aback; they
suffered a glorious martyrdom. Numbers were martyred in the cities and
villages. A steward named Ischyrion was pierced through the stomach by
his master with a large stake because he refused to sacrifice. Many
fled, wandered in the deserts and the mountains, and were cut off by
hunger, thirst, cold, sickness, robbers, or wild beasts. A bishop named
Chæremon escaped with his s&úmbios (wife?) to the
Arabian mountain, and was no more heard of. Many were carried off as
slaves by the Saracens and some of these were later ransomed for large
sums.
Some of the lapsed had been readmitted to Christian
fellowship by the martyrs. Dionysius urged upon Fabius, Bishop of
Antioch, who was inclined to join Novatian, that it was right to
respect this judgment delivered by blessed martyrs "now seated with
Christ, and sharers in His Kingdom and assessors in His judgment". He
adds the story of an old man, Serapion, who after a long and blameless
life had sacrificed, and could obtain absolution from no one. On his
death-bed he sent his grandson to fetch a priest. The priest was ill,
but he gave a particle of the Eucharist to the child, telling him to
moisten it and place it in the old man's mouth. Serapion received it
with joy, and immediately expired. Sabinus, the prefect, sent a
frumentarius (detective) to search for Dionysius directly the decree
was published; he looked everywhere but in Dionysius's own house, where
the saint had quietly remained. On the fourth day he was inspired to
depart, and he left at night, with his domestics and certain brethren.
But it seems that he was soon made prisoner, for soldiers escorted the
whole party to Taposiris in the Mareotis. A certain Timotheus, who had
not been taken with the others, informed a passing countryman, who
carried the news to a wedding-feast he was attending. All instantly
rose up and rushed to release the bishop. The soldiers took to flight,
leaving their prisoners on their uncushioned litters. Dionysius,
believing his rescuers to be robbers, held out his clothes to them,
retaining only his tunic. They urged him to rise and fly. He begged
them to leave him, declaring that they might as well cut off his head
at once, as the soldiers would shortly do so. He let himself down on
the ground on his back; but they seized him by the hands and feet and
dragged him away, carrying him out of the little town, and setting him
on an ass without a saddle. With two companions, Gaius and Peter, he
remained in a desert place in Libya until the persecution ceased in
251. The whole Christian world was then thrown into confusion by the
news that Novatian claimed the Bishopric of Rome in opposition to Pope
Cornelius. Dionysius at once took the side of the latter, and it was
largely by his influence that the whole East, after much disturbance,
was brought in a few months into unity and harmony. Novatian wrote to
him for support. His curt reply has been preserved entire: Novatian can
easily prove the truth of his protestation that he was consecrated
against his will by voluntarily retiring; he ought to have suffered
martyrdom rather than divide the Church of God; indeed it would have
been a particularly glorious martyrdom on behalf of the whole Church
(such is the importance attached by Dionysius to a schism at Rome); if
he can even now persuade his party to make peace, the past will be
forgotten; if not, let him save his own soul. St. Dionysius also wrote
many letters on this question to Rome and to the East; some of these
were treatises on penance. He took a somewhat milder view than Cyprian,
for he gave greater weight to the "indulgences" granted by the martyrs,
and refused forgiveness in the hour of death to none.
After the persecution the pestilence. Dionysius describes it
more graphically than does St. Cyprian, and he reminds us of Thucydides
and Defoe. The heathen thrust away their sick, fled from their own
relatives, threw bodies half dead into the streets; yet they suffered
more than the Christians, whose heroic acts of mercy are recounted by
their bishop. Many priests, deacons, and persons of merit died from
succouring others, and this death, writes Dionysius, was in no way
inferior to martyrdom. The baptismal controversy spread from Africa
throughout the East. Dionysius was far from teaching, like Cyprian,
that baptism by a heretic rather befouls than cleanses; but he was
impressed by the opinion of many bishops and some councils that
repetition of such a baptism was necessary, and it appears that he
besought Pope Stephen not to break off communion with the Churches of
Asia on this account. He also wrote on the subject to Dionysius of
Rome, who was not yet pope, and to a Roman named Philemon, both of whom
had written to him. We know seven letters from him on the subject, two
being addressed to Pope Sixtus II. In one of these he asks advice in
the case of a man who had received baptism a long time before from
heretics, and now declared that it had been improperly performed.
Dionysius had refused to renew the sacrament after the man had so many
years received the Holy Eucharist; he asks the pope's opinion. In this
case it is clear that the difficulty was in the nature of the
ceremonies used, not in the mere fact of their having been performed by
heretics. We gather than Dionysius himself followed the Roman custom,
either by the tradition of his Church, or else out of obedience to the
decree of Stephen. In 253 Origen died; he had not been at Alexandria
for many years. But Dionysius had not forgotten his old master, and
wrote a letter in his praise to Theotecnus of Cæsarea.
An Egyptian bishop, Nepos,
taught the Chiliastic error that there would be a reign of Christ upon
earth for a thousand years, a period of corporal delights; he founded
this doctrine upon the Apocalypse in a book entitled "Refutation of the
Allegorizers". It was only after the death of Nepos that Dionysius
found himself obliged to write two books "On the Promises" to
counteract this error. He treats Nepos with great respect, but rejects
his doctrine, as indeed the Church has since done, though it was taught
by Papias, Justin, Irenæus, Victorinus of Pettau, and others. The
diocese proper to Alexandria was still very large (though Heraclas is
said to have instituted new bishoprics), and the Arsinoite nome formed
a part of it. Here the error was very prevalent, and St. Dionysius went
in person to the villages, called together the priests and teachers,
and for three days instructed them, refuting the arguments they drew
from the book of Nepos. He was much edified by the docile spirit and
love of truth which he found. At length Korakion, who had introduced
the book and the doctrine, declared himself convinced. The chief
interest of the incident is not in the picture it gives of ancient
Church life and of the wisdom and gentleness of the bishop, but in the
remarkable disquisition, which Dionysius appends, on the authenticity
of the Apocalypse. It is a very striking piece of "higher criticism",
and for clearness and moderation, keenness and insight, is hardly to be
surpassed. Some of the brethren, he tells us, in their zeal against
Chiliastic error, repudiated the Apocalypse altogether, and took it
chapter by chapter to ridicule it, attributing the authorship of it to
Cerinthus (as we know the Roman Gaius did some years earlier).
Dionysius treats it with reverence, and declares it to be full of
hidden mysteries, and doubtless really by a man called John. (In a
passage now lost, he showed that the book must be understood
allegorically.) But he found it hard to believe that the writer could
be the son of Zebedee, the author of the Gospel and of the Catholic
Epistle, on account of the great contrast of character, style and "what
is called working out". He shows that the one writer calls himself
John, whereas the other only refers to himself by some periphrasis. He
adds the famous remark, that "it is said that there are two tombs in
Ephesus, both of which are called that of John". He demonstrates the
close likeness between the Gospel and the Epistle, and points out the
wholly different vocabulary of the Apocalypse; the latter is full of
solecisms and barbarisms, while the former are in good Greek. This
acute criticism was unfortunate, in that it was largely the cause of
the frequent rejection of the Apocalypse in the Greek-speaking
Churches, even as late as the Middle Ages. Dionysius's arguments
appeared unanswerable to the liberal critics of the nineteenth century.
Lately the swing of the pendulum has brought many, guided by Bousset,
Harnack, and others, to be impressed rather by the undeniable points of
contact between the Gospel and the Apocalypse, than by the differences
of style (which can be explained by a different scribe and interpreter,
since the author of both books was certainly a Jew), so that even Loisy
admits that the opinion of the numerous and learned conservative
scholars "no longer appears impossible". But it should be noted that
the modern critics have added nothing to the judicious remarks of the
third-century patriarch.
The Emperor Valerian,
whose accession was in 253, did not persecute until 257. In that year
St. Cyprian was banished to Curubis, and St. Dionysius to Kephro in the
Mareotis, after being tried together with one priest and two deacons
before Æmilianus, the prefect of Egypt. He himself relates the
firm answers he made to the prefect, writing to defend himself against
a certain Germanus, who had accused him of a disgraceful flight.
Cyprian suffered in 258, but Dionysius was spared, and returned to
Alexandria directly sentence against original--> when toleration was
decreed by Gallienus in 260. But not to peace, for in 261-2 the city
was in a state of tumult little less dangerous than a persecution. The
great thoroughfare which traversed the town was impassable. The bishop
had to communicate with his flock by letter, as though they were in
different countries. It was easier, he writes, to pass from East to
West, than from Alexandria to Alexandria. Famine and pestilence raged
anew. The inhabitants of what was still the second city of the world
had decreased so that the males between fourteen and eighty were now
scarcely so numerous as those between forty and seventy had been not
many years before. A controversy arose in the latter years of Dionysius
of which the half-Arian Eusebius has been careful to make no mention.
All we know is from St. Athanasius. Some bishops of the Pentapolis of
Upper Libya fell into Sabellianism and denied the distinctness of the
Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. Dionysius wrote some four letters
to condemn their error, and sent copies to Pope Sixtus II (257-8). But
he himself fell, so far as words go, into the opposite error, for he
said the Son is a poíema (something made) and distinct in
substance, xénos kat’ oùsian, from the Father, even as is
the husbandman from the vine, or a shipbuilder from a ship. These words
were seized upon by the Arians of the fourth century as plain Arianism.
But Athanasius defended Dionysius by telaling the sequel of the
history. Certain brethren of Alexandria, being offended at the words of
their bishop, betook themselves to Rome to Pope St. Dionysius (259-
268), who wrote a letter, in which he declared that to teach that the
Son was made or was a creature was an impiety equal, though contrary,
to that of Sabellius. He also wrote to his namesake of Alexandria
informing him of the accusation brought against him. The latter
immediately composed books entitled "Refutation" and "Apology"; in
these he explicitly declared that there never was a time when God was
not Father, that Christ always was, being Word and Wisdom and Power,
and coeternal, even as brightness is not posterior to the light from
which it proceeds. He teaches the "Trinity in Unity and the Unity in
Trinity"; he clearly implies the equality and eternal procession of the
Holy Ghost. In these last points he is more explicit than St.
Athanasius himself is elsewhere, while in the use of the word
consubstantial, ‘omoo&úsios, he anticipates Nicæa, for
he bitterly complains of the calumny that he had rejected the
expression. But however he himself and his advocate Athanasius may
attempt to explain away his earlier expressions, it is clear that he
had been incorrect in thought as well as in words, and that he did not
at first grasp the true doctrine with the necessary distinctness. The
letter of the pope was evidently explicit and must have been the cause
of the Alexandrian's clearer vision. The pope, as Athanasius points
out, gave a formal condemnation of Arianism long before that heresy
emerged. When we consider the vagueness and incorrectness in the fourth
century of even the supporters of orthodoxy in the East, the decision
of the Apostolic See will seem a marvellous testimony to the doctrine
of the Fathers as to the unfailing faith of Rome.
We find Dionysius issuing yearly, like the later bishops of
Alexandria, festal letters announcing the date of Easter and dealing
with various matters. When the heresy of Paul of Samosata, Bishop of
Antioch, began to trouble the East, Dionysius wrote to the Church of
Antioch on the subject, as he was obliged to decline the invitation to
attend a synod there, on the score of his age and infirmities. He died
soon afterwards. St. Dionysius is in the Roman Martyrology on 17 Nov.,
but he is also intended, with the companions of his flight in the
Decian persecution, by the mistaken notice on 3 Oct.: Dionysius,
Faustus, Gaius, Peter, and Paul, Martyrs(!). The same error is found in
Greek menologies.
|
 283 Pope St. Eutychianus January, 275, until 7 December, 283
Romæ beáti Eutychiáni Papæ, qui per
divérsa loca trecéntos quadragínta duos
Mártyres manu sua sepelívit; quibus et ipse deínde
sociátus, sub Numeriáno Imperatóre, martyrio
coronátus est, et in cœmetério Callísti
sepúltus.
At Rome, blessed Eutychian, pope, who with his own
hand buried three hundred and forty-two martyrs in various
places. He himself was joined with them, crowned with martyrdom
under Emperor Numerian, and was buried in the cemetery of Callistus.
283 Pope St. Eutychianus
January, 275, until 7 December, 283 the last pope buried in
the catacombs of St. Callixtus
He succeeded
Pope Felix I a few days after the latter's death, and governed the
Church from January, 275, until 7 December, 283. We know no details of
his pontificate. The rite for blessing the produce of the fields,
ascribed to him by the "Liber Pontificalis", undoubtedly belongs to a
later period. The statement also that he promulgated rules for the
burial of martyrs and buried many of them with his own hands, has but
slight claim to acceptance, since after the death of Aurelian (275) the
Church enjoyed a long respite from persecution. It is highly probable
that Eutychianus died not die a martyr. The fourth-century Roman
Calendar mentions him (8 December) in the "Depositio Episcoporum", but
not in its list of martyrs. His remains were placed in the papal chapel
in the Catacomb of Callistus. When this famous crypt was discovered the
fragments of the epitaph of Eutychianus were found, i.e. his name (in
Greek letters): EUTYCHIANOS EPIS(KOPOS). His feast is celebrated on 8
December. |
308-309 Pope St.
Marcellus I; a clear historical
tradition in support of his declaration that
the ecclesiastical administration in Rome was reorganized by this pope
after the great persecution;
His date of birth unknown; elected pope in May or June, 308;
died in 309. For some time after the death of Marcellinus in 304 the
Diocletian persecution continued with unabated severity. After the
abdication of Diocletian in 305, and the accession in Rome of Maxentius
to the throne of the Caesars in October of the following year, the
Christians of the capital again enjoyed comparative peace.
Nevertheless, nearly two years passed before a new Bishop of Rome was
elected. Then in 308, according to the "Catalogus Liberianus", Pope
Marcellus first entered on his office: "Fuit temporibus Maxenti a cons.
X et Maximiano usque post consulatum X et septimum" ("Liber
Pontificalis", ed. Duchesne, I, 6-7). This abbreviated notice is to be
read: "A cons. Maximiano Herculio X et Maximiano Galerio VII [308]
usque post cons. Maxim. Herc. X et Maxim. Galer. VII [309]" (cf. de
Rossi, "Inscriptiones christ. urbis Romæ", I, 30).
At Rome, Marcellus found the Church in the greatest
confusion. The meeting-places and some of the burial-places of the
faithful had been confiscated, and the ordinary life and activity of
the Church was interrupted. Added to this were the dissensions within
the Church itself, caused by the large number of weaker members who had
fallen away during the long period of active persecution and later,
under the leadership of an apostate, violently demanded that they
should be readmitted to communion without doing penance.
According to the "Liber Pontificalis" Marcellus divided
the territorial administration of the Church into twenty-five districts
(tituli), appointing over each a presbyter, who saw to the preparation
of the catechumens for baptism and directed the performance of public
penances. The presbyter was also made responsible for the burial of the
dead and for the celebrations commemorating the deaths of the martyrs.
The pope also had a new burial-place, the Cœmeterium Novellœ on the Via
Salaria (opposite the Catacomb of St. Priscilla), laid out. The "Liber
Pontificalis" (ed. Duchesne, I, 164) says: "Hic fecit cymiterium
Novellae via Salaria et XXV titulos in urbe Roma constituit quasi
diœcesis propter baptismum et pœnitentiam multorum qui convertebantur
ex paganis et propter sepulturas martyrum". At the beginning of the
seventh century there were probably twenty-five titular churches in
Rome; even granting that, perhaps, the compiler of the "Liber
Pontificalis" referred this number to the time of Marcellus, there is
still a clear historical tradition in support of his declaration that
the ecclesiastical administration in Rome was reorganized by this pope
after the great persecution.
The work of the pope was, however, quickly interrupted by the
controversies to which the question of the readmittance of the lapsi
into the Church gave rise. As to this, we gather some light from the
poetic tribute composed by Damasus in memory of his predecessor and
placed over his grave (De Rossi, "Inscr. christ. urbis Romæ", II,
62, 103, 138; cf. Idem, "Roma sotterranea", II, 204-5). Damasus relates
that the truth-loving leader of the Roman Church was looked upon as a
wicked enemy by all the lapsed, because he insisted that they should
perform the prescribed penance for their guilt. As a result serious
conflicts arose, some of which ended in bloodshed, and every bond of
peace was broken. At the head of this band of the unfaithful and
rebellious stood an apostate who had denied the Faith even before the
outbreak of persecution.
The tyrannical Maxentius had the pope seized and sent into
exile. This took place at the end of 308 or the beginning of 309
according to the passages cited above from the "Catalogus Liberianus",
which gives the length of the pontificate as no more than one year, six
(or seven) months, and twenty days. Marcellus died shortly after
leaving Rome, and was venerated as a saint. His feast-day was 16
January, according to the "Depositio episcoporum" of the "Chronography"
of 354 and every other Roman authority. Nevertheless, it is not known
whether this is the date of his death or that of the burial of his
remains, after these had been brought back from the unknown quarter to
which he had been exiled. He was buried in the catacomb of St.
Priscilla where his grave is mentioned by the itineraries to the graves
of the Roman martyrs as existing in the basilica of St. Silvester (De
Rossi, "Roma sotterranea", I, 176)
A fifth-century "Passio Marcelli", which is included in the legendary
account of the martyrdom of St. Cyriacus (cf. Acta Sanct., Jan., II,
369) and is followed by the "Liber Pontificalis", gives a different
account of the end of Marcellus. According to this version, the pope
was required by Maxentius, who was enraged at his reorganization of the
Church, to lay aside his episcopal dignity and make an offering to the
gods. On his refusal, he was condemned to work as a slave at a station
on the public highway (catabulum). At the end of nine months he was set
free by the clergy; but a matron named Lucina having had her house on
the Via Lata consecrated by him as "titulus Marcelli" he was again
condemned to the work of attending to the horses brought into the
station, in which menial occupation he died. All this is probably
legendary, the reference to the restoration of ecclesiastical activity
by Marcellus alone having an historical basis. The tradition related in
the verses of Damasus seems much more worthy of belief. The feast of
St. Marcellus, whose name is to this day borne by the church at Rome
mentioned in the above legend, is still celebrated on 16 January. There
still remains to be mentioned Mommsen's peculiar view that Marcellus
was not really a bishop, but a simple Roman presbyter to whom was
committed the ecclesiastical administration during the latter part of
the period of vacancy of the papal chair. According to this view, 16
January was really the date of Marcellunus's death, the next occupant
of the chair being Eusebius (Neues Archiv, 1896, XXI, 350-3). This
hypothesis has, however, found no support.
|
314 Pope St. Miltiades {
also written Melchiades), a native of Africa} 310 or 311; died 10 or 11 January,
314
The year of his
birth is not known; he was elected pope in either 310 or 311; died 10
or 11 January, 314.
After the banishment of Pope Eusebius, the Roman See was
vacant for some time, probably because of the complications which has
arisen on account of the apostates (lapsi), and which were not cleared
up by the banishment of Eusebius and Heraclius. On 2 July, 310 or 311,
Miltiadea (the name is also written Melchiades), a native of Africa,
was elevated to the papacy. There is some uncertainty as to the exact
year, as the "Liberian Catalogue of the Popes" (Duchesne, "Liber
Pontificalis", I, 9) gives 2 July, 311, as the date of the consecration
of the new pope (ex die VI non. iul. a cons. Maximiliano VIII solo,
quod fuit mense septembri Volusiano et Rufino); but in contradiction to
this the death of the pope is said to have occurred on 2 January, 314,
and the duration of the pontificate is given as three years, six months
and eight days; possibly owing to the mistake of a copyist, we ought to
read "ann. II" instead of "ann. III"; and therefore the year of his
elevation to the papacy was most probably 311.
About this time (311 or 310), an edict of toleration
signed by the Emperors Galerius, Licinius, and Constantine, put an end
to the great persecution of the Christians, and they were permitted to
live as such, and also to reconstruct their places of religious worship
(Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl.", VIII, xvii; Lactantius, "De mortibus
persecutorum", xxxiv). Only in those countries of the Orient which were
under the sway of Maximinus Daia did the Christians continue to be
persecuted. The emperor now gave Pope Miltiades in Rome the right to
receive back, through the prefect of the city, all ecclesiastical
buildings and possessions which had been confiscated during the
persecutions. The two Roman deacons, Strato and Cassianus, were ordered
by the pope to discuss this matter with the prefect, and to take over
the church properties (Augustinus, "Breviculus collationis cum
Donatistis", iii, 34); it thus became possible to reorganize thoroughly
the ecclesiastical administration and the religious life of the
Christians in Rome.
Miltiades
caused the remains of his predecessor, Eusebius, to be brought back
from Sicily to Rome, and had them interred in a crypt in the Catacombs
of St. Callistus. In the following year the pope witnessed the final
triumph of the Cross, through the defeat of Maxentius, and the entry
into Rome of the Emperor Constantine (now converted to Christianity),
after the victory at the Milvian Bridge (27 October, 312). Later the
emperor presented the Roman Church with the Lateran Palace, which then
became the residence of the pope, and consequently also the seat of the
seat of the central administration of the Roman Church. The basilica
which adjoined the palace or was afterwards built there became the
principal church of Rome. In 313 the Donatists came to Constantine with
a request to nominate bishops from Gaul as judges in the controversy of
the African episcopate regarding the consecration in Carthage of the
two bishops, Cæcilian and Majorinus. Constantine wrote about this
to Miltiades, and also to Marcus, requesting the pope with three
bishops from Gaul to give a hearing in Rome, to Cæcilian and his
opponent, and to decide the case. On 2 October, 313, there assembled in
the Lateran Palace, under the presidency of Miltiades, a synod of
eighteen bishops from Gaul and Italy, which, after thoroughly
considring the Donatist controversy for three days, decided in favor of
Cæcilian, whose election and consecration as Bishop of Carthage
was declared to be legitimate. In the biography of Miltiades, in the
"Liber Pontificalis", it is stated that at the time Manichæans
were found in Rome; this was quite possible as Manichæism began
to be spread in the West in the fourth century. The same source
attributes to this pope a decree which absolutely forbade the
Christians to fast on Sundays or on Thursdays, "because these days were
observed by the heathen as a holy fast". This reason is remarkable; it
comes most likely from the author of the "Liber Pontificalis" who with
this alleged decree traces back a Roman custom of his own time to an
ordinance of Miltiades. The "Liber Pontificalis" is probably no less
arbitrary in crediting this pope with a decree to the effect that the
Oblation consecrated at the Solemn Mass of the pope (by which is meant
the Eucharistic Bread) should be taken to the different churches in
Rome. Such a custom actually existed in Rome (Duchesne, "Christian
Worship," London, 1903, 185); but there is nothing definite to show
that it was introduced byMiltiades, as the "Liber Pontificalis"
asserts.
After his death, on 10 or 11 January (the Liberian
Catalogue" give it as III id. jan.; the "Depositio Episcoporum" as IIII
id. jan.), 314, Miltiades was laid to rest in the Catacomb of St.
Callistus and he was venerated as a saint. De Rossi regards as highly
probably his [this] location of this pope's burial-chamber (Roma
Sotterranea, II, 188 sq.). His feast was celebrated in the fourth
century, on 10 January, according to the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum".
In the present "Roman Martyrology" it occurs on 10 December.
|
336 Pope St. Mark; Constantine the Great's letter, which
summoned a conference of
bishops for the investigation of the Donatist dispute, is directed to
Pope Miltiades and one Mark (Eusebius, Church History X.5). This Mark
was evidently a member of the Roman clergy, either priest or first
deacon, and is perhaps identical with the pope. The date of Mark's
election (18 Jan., 336) is given in the Liberian Catalogue of popes
(Duchesne, "Liber Pontificalis", I, 9), and is historically certain; so
is the day of his death (7 Oct.), which is specified in the same way in
the "Depositio episcoporum" of Philocalus's "Chronography", the first
edition of which appeared also in 336.
Date of birth unknown; consecrated 18 Jan., 336; d. 7 Oct.,
336. After the death of Pope Sylvester, Mark was raised to the Roman
episcopal chair as his successor. The "Liber Pontificalis" says that he
was a Roman, and that his father's name was Priscus. Constantine the
Great's letter, which summoned a conference of bishops for the
investigation of the Donatist dispute, is directed to Pope Miltiades
and one Mark (Eusebius, Church History X.5). This Mark was evidently a
member of the Roman clergy, either priest or first deacon, and is
perhaps identical with the pope. The date of Mark's election (18 Jan.,
336) is given in the Liberian Catalogue of popes (Duchesne, "Liber
Pontificalis", I, 9), and is historically certain; so is the day of his
death (7 Oct.), which is specified in the same way in the "Depositio
episcoporum" of Philocalus's "Chronography", the first edition of which
appeared also in 336. Concerning an interposition of the pope in the
Arian troubles, which were then so actively affecting the Church in the
East, nothing has been handed down. An alleged letter of his to St.
Athanasius is a later forgery. Two constitutions are attributed to Mark
by the author of the "Liber Pontificalis" (ed. Duchesne, I, 20).
According to the one, he invested the Bishop of Ostia with the pallium,
and ordained that this bishop was to consecrate the Bishop of Rome. It
is certain that, towards the end of the fourth century, the Bishop of
Ostia did bestow the episcopal consecration upon the newly-elected
pope; Augustine expressly bears witness to this (Breviarium
Collationis, III, 16). It is indeed possible that Mark had confirmed
this privilege by a constitution, which does not preclude the fact that
the Bishop of Ostia before this time usually consecrated the new pope.
As for the bestowal of the pallium, the account cannot be established
from sources of the fourth century, since the oldest memorials which
show this badge, belong to the fifth and sixth centuries, and the
oldest written mention of a pope bestowing the pallium dates from the
sixth century (cf. Grisar, "Das römische Pallium und die altesten
liturgischen Schärpen", in "Festschrift des deutschen Campo Santo
in Rom", Freiburg im Br., 1897, 83-114).
The "Liber Pontificalis" remarks further of Marcus: "Et constitutum de
omni ecclesia ordinavit"; but we do not know which constitution this
refers to. The building of two basilicas is attributed to this pope by
the author of the "Liber Pontificalis". One of these was built within
the city in the region "juxta Pallacinis"; it is the present church of
San Marco, which however received its present external shape by later
alterations. It is mentioned in the fifth century as a Roman title
church, so that its foundation may without difficulty be attributed to
St. Mark. The other was outside the city; it was a cemetery church,
which the pope got built over the Catacomb of Balbina, between the Via
Appia and the Via Ardeatina (cf. de Rossi, "Roma sotterranea", III,
8-13; "Bullettino di arch. crist.", 1867, 1 sqq.; Wilpert,
"Topographische Studien uber die christlichen Monumente der Appia und
der Ardeatina", in "Rom. Quartalschrift", 1901, 32-49). The pope
obtained from Emperor Constantine gifts of land and liturgical
furniture for both basilicas. Mark was buried in the Catacomb of
Balbina, where he had built the cemetery church. His grave is expressly
mentioned there by the itineraries of the seventh century (de Rossi,
"Roma sotterranea", I, 180-1). The feast of the deceased pope was given
on 7 Oct. in the old Roman calendar of feasts, which was inserted in
the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum"; it is still kept on the same date.
In an ancient manuscript a laudatory poem is preserved (unfortunately
in a mutilated text), which Pope Damasus had composed on a Saint Marcus
(de Rossi, "Inscriptiones christ. urbis Romae.", II, 108; Ihm, "Damasi
epigrammata", Leipzig, 1895, 17, no. 11). De Rossi refers this to Pope
Mark, but Duchesne (loc. cit., 204), is unable to accept this view.
Since the contents of the poem are of an entirely general nature,
without any particularly characteristic feature from the life of Pope
Mark, the question is not of great importance.
|
336
St. Julius elected Pope to
succeed Pope St. Mark on February 6, 337 built several basilicas and
churches in Rome declared that Athanasius was the rightful bishop of
Alexandria and reinstated him
(337-352 ).
The immediate successor of Pope Silvester, Arcus, ruled the
Roman
Church for only a very short period — from 18 January to 7 October, 336
— and after his death the papal chair remained vacant for four months.
What occasioned this comparatively long vacancy is unknown. On 6 Feb.,
337, Julius, son of Rustics and a native of Rome, was elected pope. His
pontificate is chiefly celebrated for his judicious and firm
intervention in the Arian controversies, about which we have abundant
sources of information. After the death of Constantine the Great (22
May, 337), his son Constantine II, Governor of Gaul, permitted the
exiled Athanasius to return to his See of Alexandria (see ATHANASIUS).
The Arians in Egypt, however, set up a rival bishop in the person of
Pistus, and sent an embassy to Julius asking him to admit Pistus into
communion with Rome, and delivering to the pope the decisions of the
Council of Tyre (335) to prove that Athanasius had been validly
deposed. On his side Athanasius likewise sent envoys to Rome to deliver
to Julius a synodal letter of the Egyptian bishops, containing a
complete justification of their patriarch. On the arrival of the
Athanasian envoys in Rome, Macarius, the head of the Arian
representatives, left the city; the two remaining Arian envoys, with
the Athanasian deputies, were summoned by Pope Julius. The Arian envoys
now begged the pope to assemble a great synod before which both parties
should present their case for decision.
Julius convened the synod
at Rome, having dispatched two envoys to bear
a letter of invitation to the Eastern bishops. Under the leadership of
Eusebius, who had been raised from Nicomedia to the See of
Constantinople, the Arian bishops had meanwhile held a council at
Antioch, and elected George of Cappadocia Bishop of Alexandria in the
place of Pistus. George was intruded forcibly into his see, and
Athanasius, being again exiled, made his way to Rome. Many other
Eastern bishops removed by the Arian party, among them Marcellus of
Ancyra, also came to Rome. In a letter couched in haughty terms,
however, the Arian bishops of the party of Eusebius refused to attend
the synod summoned by Julius. The synod was held in the autumn of 340
or 341, under the presidency of the pope, in the titular church of the
presbyter Vitus. After a detailed examination of the documents,
Athanasius and Marcellus of Ancyra, who had made a satisfactory
profession of faith, were exonerated and re-established in their
episcopal rights. Pope Julius communicated this decision in a very
notable and able letter to the bishops of the Eusebian party. In this
letter he justifies his proceedings in the case, defends in detail his
action in reinstating Athanasius, and animadverts strongly on the
non-appearance of the Eastern bishops at the council, the convening of
which they themselves had suggested. Even if Athanasius and his
companions were somewhat to blame, the letter runs, the Alexandrian
Church should first have written to the pope. "Can you be ignorant,"
writes the pope, "that this is the custom, that we should be written to
first, so that from here what is just may be defined" (Julii ep. ad
Antiochenos, c. xxii). After his victory over his brother Constantine
II, Emperor Constans was ruler over the greater part of the Empire. He
was entirely orthodox in his views, and, at the request of the pope and
other Western bishops, interceded with his brother Constantius, Emperor
of the East, in favour of the bishops who had been deposed and
persecuted by the Arian party. Both rulers agreed that there should be
convened a general council of the Western and Eastern bishops at
Sardica, the principal city of the Province of Dacia Mediterranea (the
modern Sofia). It took place in the autumn of 342 or 343, Julius
sending as his representatives the priests Archidamus and Philoxenus
and the deacon Leo. Although the Eastern bishops of the Arian party did
not join in the council, but held their assembly separate and then
departed, the synod nevertheless accomplished its task. Through the
important canons iii, iv, and v (vii in the Latin text) of this
council, the procedure against accused bishops was more exactly
regulated, and the manner of the papal intervention in the condemnation
of bishops was definitely established.
At the close of its transactions the synod communicated its
decisions
to the pope in a dutiful letter. Notwithstanding the reaffirmation of
his innocence by the Synod of Sardica, St. Athanasius was not restored
to his see by Emperor Constantius until after the death of George, the
rival Bishop of Alexandria, in 346. Pope Julius took this occasion to
write a letter, which is still extant, to the priests, deacons, and the
faithful of Alexandria, to congratulate them on the return of their
great pastor. The two bishops Ursacius of Singidunum and Valens of
Mursia, who, on account of their Arianism, had been deposed by the
Council of Sardica, now made a formal recantation of their error to
Julius, who, having summoned them to an audience and received a signed
confession of faith, restored to them their episcopal sees. Concerning
the inner life of the Roman Church during the pontificate of Julius we
have no exact information; all agree, however, that there was a rapid
increase in the number of the faithful in Rome, where Julius had two
new basilicas erected: the titular church of Julius (now S. Maria in
Trastevere) and the Basilica Julia (now the Church of the Twelve
Apostles). Beside these he built three churches over cemeteries outside
the walls of Rome: one on the road to Porto, a second on the Via
Aurelia, and a third on the Via Flaminia at the tomb of the martyr St.
Valentine. The ruins of the last-mentioned have been discovered. The
veneration of the faithful for the tombs of the martyrs continued to
spread rapidly. Under the pontificate of Julius, if not earlier,
catalogues of feast-days of saints came into use — the Roman
feast-calendar of Philocalus dates from the year 336.
|
335 St.
Sylvester
Pope (25 yrs) council of Aries and Nicea stand aside and let
events take their course, when asserting one’s authority would only
lead to useless tension and strife.
St. Sylvester, born in Rome,
was ordained by Pope St.
Marcellinus during the peace that preceded the persecutions of Diocletian. He passed
through those days of terror, witnessed the abdication of Diocletian and Maximian,
and saw the triumph of Constantine in
the year 312. Two years later he succeeded St. Melchiades as Bishop of Rome.
In the same year, he sent four legates to represent him at
the great
Council of the Western Church, held at Aries.
He confirmed it's decision and imparted them to the Church.
The Council
of Nicea was assembled during his reign, in the year 325, but
not
being able to assist at it in person, on account of his great age, he
sent his legates, who headed the list of subscribers to its decrees,
preceding the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch.
St. Sylvester was Pope for
twenty-four years and eleven months.
When you think of this
pope, you think of the Edict
of Milan, the emergence
of the Church from the catacombs, the building of the great basilicas,
Saint John Lateran, Saint Peter’s and others, the Council of Nicaea and other
critical events.
But for the most part,
these
events were planned or brought about by
Emperor Constantine.
A great store of legends
has grown up around the man who was pope at
this most important time, little can be established
historically. We know for sure that his papacy lasted from 314 until
his death in 335.
Reading between the lines
of history, we are assured that only a very
strong and wise man could have preserved the essential independence of
the Church in the face of the overpowering figure of the Emperor
Constantine. The bishops in general remained loyal to the Holy See and
at times expressed apologies to Sylvester for undertaking important
ecclesiastical projects at the urging of Constantine.
Comment: It takes
deep humility and courage in the face of
criticism for a leader to stand aside and let events take their course,
when asserting one’s authority would only lead to useless tension and
strife.
Sylvester teaches a
valuable
lesson for Church leaders,
politicians, parents and others in authority.
|
366 384 Pope
Saint
Damasus I commissioned Saint Jerome translate Scriptures in Latin
All lovers of Scripture have reason to celebrate this day.
Damasus was
the pope who commissioned Saint Jerome to translate the Scriptures into
Latin, the Vulgate version of the Bible.
Pope Saint Damasus I (RM) December 11
Pope St. Damasus I
tt=21
Born about 304; died 11 December, 384. His father, Antonius, was
probably a Spaniards; the name of his mother, Laurentia, was not known
until quite recently. Damasus seems to have been born at Rome; it is
certain that he grew up there in the service of the church of the
martyr St. Laurence. He was elected pope in October, 366, by a large
majority, but a number of over-zealous adherents of the deceased
Liberius rejected him, chose the deacon Ursinus (or Ursicinus), had the
latter irregularly consecrated, and resorted to much violence and
bloodshed in order to seat him in the Chair of Peter. Many details of
this scandalous conflict are related in the highly prejudiced "Libellus
Precum" (P.L., XIII, 83-107), a petition to the civil authority on the
part of Faustinus and Marcellinus, two anti-Damasan presbyters (cf.
also Ammianus Marcellinus, Rer. Gest., XXVII, c. iii). Valentinian
recognized Damasus and banished (367) Ursinus to Cologne, whence he was
later allowed to return to Milan, but was forbidden to come to Rome or
its vicinity. The party of the antipope (later at Milan an adherent of
the Arians and to the end a contentious pretender) did not cease to
persecute Damasus. An accusation of adultery was laid against him (378)
in the imperial court, but he was exonerated by Emperor Gratian himself
(Mansi, Coll. Conc., III, 628) and soon after by a Roman synod of
forty-four bishops (Liber Pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, s.v.; Mansi, op.
cit., III, 419) which also excommunicated his accusers.
Damasus defended with vigour the Catholic Faith in a time of dire and
varied perils. In two Roman synods (368 and 369) he condemned
Apollinarianism and Macedonianism; he also sent his legates to the
Council of Constantinople (381), convoked against the aforesaid
heresies. In the Roman synod of 369 (or 370) Auxentius, the Arian
Bishop of Milan, was excommunicated; he held the see, however, until
his death, in 374, made way for St. Ambrose. The heretic Priscillian,
condemned by the Council of Saragossa (380) appealed to Damasus, but in
vain. It was Damasus who induced Saint Jerome to undertake his famous
revision of the earlier Latin versions of the Bible (see VULGATE). St.
Jerome was also his confidential secretary for some time (Ep. cxxiii,
n. 10). An important canon of the New Testament was proclaimed by him
in the Roman synod of 374. The Eastern Church, in the person of St.
Basil of Cæsarea, besought earnestly the aid and encouragement of
Damasus against triumphant Arianism; the pope, however, cherished some
degree of suspicion against the great Cappadocian Doctor. In the matter
of the Meletian Schism at Antioch, Damasus, with Athanasius and Peter
of Alexandria, sympathized with the party of Paulinus as more sincerely
representative of Nicene orthodoxy; on the death of Meletius he sought
to secure the succession for Paulinus and to exclude Flavian (Socrates,
Church History V.15). He sustained the appeal of the Christian senators
to Emperor Gratian for the removal of the altar of Victory from the
Senate House (Ambrose, Ep. xvii, n. 10), and lived to welcome the
famous edict of Theodosius I, "De fide Catholica" (27 Feb., 380), which
proclaimed as the religion of the Roman State that doctrine which St.
Peter had preached to the Romans and of which Damasus was supreme head
(Cod. Theod., XVI, 1, 2).
When, in 379, Illyricum was detached from the Western Empire, Damasus
hastened to safeguard the authority of the Roman Church by the
appointment of a vicar Apostolic in the person of Ascholius, Bishop of
Thessalonica; this was the origin of the important papal vicariate long
attached to that see. The primacy of the Apostolic See, variously
favoured in the time of Damasus by imperial acts and edicts, was
strenuously maintained by this pope; among his notable utterances on
this subject is the assertion (Mansi, Coll. Conc., VIII, 158) that the
ecclesiastical supremacy of the Roman Church was based, not on the
decrees of councils, but on the very words of Jesus Christ (Matthew
16:18). The increased prestige of the early papal decretals, habitually
attributed to the reign of Siricius (384-99), not improbably belongs to
the reign of Damasus ("Canones Romanorum ad Gallos"; Babut, "La plus
ancienne décrétale", Paris, 1904). This development of
the papal office, especially in the West, brought with it a great
increase of external grandeur. This secular splendour, however,
affected disadvantageously many members of the Roman clergy, whose
worldly aims and life, bitterly reproved by St. Jerome, provoked (29
July, 370) and edict of Emperor Valentinian addressed to the pope,
forbidding ecclesiastics and monks (later also bishops and nuns) to
pursue widows and orphans in the hope of obtaining from them gifts and
legacies. The pope caused the law to be observed strictly.
Damasus restored his own church (now San Lorenzo in Damaso) and
provided for the proper housing of the archives of the Roman Church
(see VATICAN ARCHIVES). He built in the basilica of St. Sebastian on
the Appian Way the (yet visible) marble monument known as the
"Platonia" (Platona, marble pavement) in honour of the temporary
transfer to that place (258) of the bodies of Sts. Peter and Paul, and
decorated it with an important historical inscription (see Northcote
and Brownlow, Roma Sotterranea). He also built on the Via Ardeatina,
between the cemeteries of Callistus and Domitilla, a basilicula, or
small church, the ruins of which were discovered in 1902 and 1903, and
in which, according to the "Liber Pontificalis", the pope was buried
with his mother and sister. On this occasion the discoverer, Monsignor
Wilpert, found also the epitaph of the pope's mother, from which it was
learned not only that her name was Laurentia, but also that she had
lived the sixty years of her widowhood in the special service of God,
and died in her eighty-ninth year, having seen the fourth generation of
her descendants. Damasus built at the Vatican a baptistery in honour of
St. Peter and set up therein one of his artistic inscriptions (Carmen
xxxvi), still preserved in the Vatican crypts. This subterranean region
he drained in order that the bodies buried there (juxta sepulcrum beati
Petri) might not be affected by stagnant or overflowing water. His
extraordinary devotion to the Roman martyrs is now well known, owing
particularly to the labours of Giovanni Battista De Rossi. For a good
account of his architectural restoration of the catacombs and the
unique artistic characters (Damasan Letters) in which his friend Furius
Dionysius Filocalus executed the epitaphs composed by Damasus, see
Northcote and Brownlow, "Roma Sotterranea" (2nd ed., London, 1878-79).
The dogmatic content of the Damasan epitaphs (tituli) is important
(Northcote, Epitaphs of the Catacombs, London, 1878). He composed also
a number of brief epigrammata on various martyrs and saints and some
hymns, or Carmina, likewise brief. St. Jerome says (Ep. xxii, 22) that
Damasus wrote on virginity, both in prose and in verse, but no such
work has been preserved. For the few letters of Damasus (some of them
spurious) that have survived, see P.L., XIII, 347-76, and Jaffé,
"Reg. Rom. Pontif." (Leipzig, 1885), nn. 232-254.
Born c. 304; died in Rome in 384. In short, St.
Damasus was
a pope
whose authority was challenged but who had great literary taste.
Damasus appears to have been born in Rome--the son of a priest of
Spanish extraction. He never married but became a deacon in the Spanish
church of St. Laurence, where his father served.
When Pope Liberius died in
366, Damasus, then about 60, was chosen
bishop of Rome. His election was highly contested, and a minority
elected an antipope, Ursinus, whom they supported with violence. The
opposition was put down by great cruelty by the civil authorities, and
Ursinus was exiled by Emperor Valentinian. The opposition was not put
down immediately, however, and as late as 378, a synod cleared Damasus
of a charge of incontinence cast against him by his opponents.
He enforced Valentinian's edict of 370 forbidding gifts by
widows and
orphans to bishops. He was also a vigorous opponent of Arianism,
Apollinarianism, and other heresies. He sent legates to the Council of
Constantinople in 381, which accepted papal teaching, again condemned
Arianism, and denounced the view of Macedonius that the Holy Spirit is
not divine. The place of the Church was stabilized when, in 380,
orthodox Christianity was recognized by the emperors Gratian and
Theodosius I as the religion of the Roman state.
Damasus also devoted much effort to gathering the relics and
resting
places of Roman martyrs, and to restoring the sacred catacombs, and to
drawing up instructions for their care. He composed many beautiful
epitaphs--many of which still exist--for the tombs of the martyrs and
encouraged pilgrimages to the tombs. Unfortunately, these epitaphs have
little historical value because the true histories of many Roman
martyrs were already lost or nearly forgotten by that time.
He had placed in the papal crypt of the cemetery of St.
Callistus a
general epitaph that ends, "I, Damasus, wished to be buried here, but I
feared to offend the ashes of these holy ones." He was buried with his
mother and sister at a small church he had built on the Via Ardeatina.
By far the most influential action of Damasus was his
patronage of
Saint Jerome. He commissioned Jerome to write his Biblical commentaries
and to revise the Latin text of the Bible, which yielded the Vulgate
version of the Bible. St. Jerome, who served as his secretary for a
time, called him "an incomparable man." (Elsewhere I read that St.
Jerome left Rome when Damasus was elected in preference to
himself--Jerome was too irascible to be pope.)
As a biblical scholar, Damasus published the canon of the
Holy
Scripture, specifying the authentic books of the Bible as decreed by a
council in Rome in 374. He also saw to the collection and housing of
papal archives (Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia, White).
In art St. Damasus is a pope holding a ring. Sometimes he is
shown with
St. Jerome; or restoring sacred buildings (Roeder). Or, he may hold a
screen with "Gloria Patri," etc., upon it; or be shown with a church
door behind him (White). St. Damasus is the patron saint of
archaeologists (White).
|
384-399 Pope St. Siricius; lector then Roman Church deacon during Liberius (352-66) pontificate; After death of Damasus, Siricius
unanimously elected successor: A
letter, questions asked on 15 different
points concerning baptism, penance, church discipline, and the celibacy
of the clergy, came to Rome addressed to Pope Damasus by Bishop
Himerius of Tarragona, Spain. Siricius answered this letter on 10
February, 385, and gave decisions,
exercising full consciousness his supreme power of authority in
the Church (Coustant, "Epist. Rom. Pont.", 625 sq.). This letter of
Siricius is of special importance because it is the oldest completely
preserved papal decretal (edict for the authoritative decision of
questions of discipline and canon law). In all decrees the
pope speaks with consciousness of his supreme ecclesiastical authority
and his pastoral care over all the churches. Siricius was obliged
to take stand against heretical movements; Jovinian & 8 followers condemned
/excluded from communion with the Church; Bishop Bonosus of Sardica (390), accused of
errors in
the Trinity dogma & false doctrine that Mary was
not always a virgin; He sharply
condemned episcopal accusers of Priscillian because of that execution; took severe measures against
Manichæans at Rome; In the
East Siricius interposed to settle the Meletian schism at Antioch; At
Rome Siricius with basilica over the grave of St. Paul on Via Ostiensis
rebuilt by the emperor as a basilica of five aisles during pontificate
of Siricius dedicated by in him 390; Siricius's name is
still to be found on a pillar not destroyed in the fire of 1823, and
now stands in the vestibule of the side entrance to the transept.
Born about 334; died 26 November, 399, Siricius was a native of Rome;
his father's name was Tiburtius. Siricius entered the service of the
Church at an early age and, according to the testimony of the
inscription on his grave, was lector and then deacon of the Roman
Church during the pontificate of Liberius (352-66). After the death of
Damasus, Siricius was unanimously elected his successor (December, 384)
and consecrated bishop probably on 17 December. Ursinus, who had been a
rival to Damasus (366), was alive and still maintained his claims.
However, the Emperor Valentinian III, in a letter to Pinian (23 Feb.,
385), gave his consent to the election that had been held and praised
the piety of the newly-elected bishop; consequently no difficulties
arose. Immediately upon his elevation Siricius had occasion to assert
his primacy over the universal Church. A letter, in which questions
were asked on fifteen different points concerning baptism, penance,
church discipline, and the celibacy of the clergy, came to Rome
addressed to Pope Damasus by Bishop Himerius of Tarragona, Spain.
Siricius answered this letter on 10 February, 385, and gave the
decisions as to the matters in question, exercising with full
consciousness his supreme power of authority in the Church (Coustant,
"Epist. Rom. Pont.", 625 sq.). This letter of Siricius is of special
importance because it is the oldest completely preserved papal decretal
(edict for the authoritative decision of questions of discipline and
canon law). It is, however, certain that before this earlier popes had
also issued such decretals, for Siricius himself in his letter mentions
"general decrees" of Liberius that the latter had sent to the
provinces; but these earlier ones have not been preserved. At the same
time the pope directed Himerius to make known his decrees to the
neighbouring provinces, so that they should also be observed there.
This pope had very much at heart the maintenance of Church discipline
and the observance of canons by the clergy and laity. A Roman synod of
6 January, 386, at which eighty bishops were present, reaffirmed in
nine canons the laws of the Church on various points of discipline
(consecration of bishops, celibacy, etc.). The decisions of the council
were communicated by the pope to the bishops of North Africa and
probably in the same manner to others who had not attended the synod,
with the command to act in accordance with them. Another letter which
was sent to various churches dealt with the election of worthy bishops
and priests. A synodal letter to the Gallican bishops, ascribed by
Coustant and others to Siricius, is assigned to Pope Innocent I by
other historians (P.L., XIII, 1179 sq.). In all his decrees the pope
speaks with the consciousness of his supreme ecclesiastical authority
and of his pastoral care over all the churches.
Siricius was also obliged
to take a stand against heretical movements.
A Roman monk Jovinian came forward as an opponent of fasts,
good works, and the higher merit of celibate life. He found some
adherents among the monks and nuns of Rome. About 390-392 the pope held
a synod at Rome, at which Jovinian and eight of his followers were
condemned and excluded from communion with the Church. The decision was
sent to St. Ambrose, the great Bishop of Milan and a friend of
Siricius. Ambrose now held a synod of the bishops of upper Italy which,
as the letter says, in agreement with his decision also condemned the
heretics.
Other heretics including Bishop Bonosus of Sardica (390), who was
also accused of errors in the dogma of the Trinity, maintained the
false doctrine that Mary was not always a virgin. Siricius and Ambrose
opposed Bonosus and his adherents and refuted their false views. The
pope then left further proceedings against Bonosus to the Bishop of
Thessalonica and the other Illyrian bishops.
Like his predecessor Damasus, Siricius also took part in
the Priscillian controversy.
He sharply condemned episcopal accusers of Priscillian, who brought the
matter before the secular court and prevailed upon the usurper Maximus
to condemn to death and execute Priscillian and followers. Maximus
sought to justify his action by sending to the pope the proceedings in
the case. Siricius, however, excommunicated Bishop Felix of Trier who
supported Ithacius, accuser of Priscillian, and in whose city the
execution took place. The pope addressed a letter to Spanish bishops in
which he stated conditions under which converted Priscillians were to
be restored to communion with the Church.
According to the life in the "Liber Pontificalis" (ed. Duchesne, I,
216), Siricius also took severe measures against Manichæans at
Rome. However, as Duchesne remarks (loc. cit., notes) it cannot be
assumed from the writings of the converted Augustine, who was a
Manichæan when he went to Rome (383), that Siricius took any
particular steps against them: Augustine would certainly have commented
on this if such had been the case. The mention in the "Liber
Pontificalis" belongs properly to the life of Pope Leo I.
Neither is it probable, as Langen thinks (Gesch. der
röm. Kirche, I, 633), that Priscillians are to be understood by
this mention of Manichæans, although probably Priscillians were
at times called Manichæans in the writings of that age. Western
emperors, including Honorius and Valentinian III, issued laws against
Manichæans, whom they declared to be political offenders, and
took severe action against the members of this sect (Codex Theodosian,
XVI, V, various laws).
In the East Siricius interposed to settle the Meletian
schism at Antioch; this schism had continued notwithstanding the death
in 381 of Meletius at the Council of Constantinople. The followers of
Meletius elected Flavian as his successor, while the adherents of
Bishop Paulinus, after the death of this bishop (388), elected
Evagrius. Evagrius died in 392 and through Flavian's management no
successor was elected. By the mediation of St. John Chrysostom and
Theophilus of Alexandria an embassy, led by Bishop Acacius of Beroea,
was sent to Rome to persuade Siricius to recognize Flavian and to
readmit him to communion with the Church.
At Rome the name of Siricius is particularly connected with the
basilica over the grave of St. Paul on the Via Ostiensis which was
rebuilt by the emperor as a basilica of five aisles during the
pontificate of Siricius and was dedicated by the pope in 390.
The name of Siricius is still to be found on one of the
pillars that was not destroyed in the fire of 1823, and which now
stands in the vestibule of the side entrance to the transept. Two of
his contemporaries describe the character of Siricius disparagingly.
Paulinus of Nola, who on his visit to Rome in 395 was treated in a
guarded manner by the pope, speaks of the urbici papæ superba
discretio, the haughty policy of the Roman bishop (Epist., V, 14). This
action of the pope is, however, explained by the fact that there had
been irregularities in the election and consecration of Paulinus (Buse,
"Paulin von Nola", I, 193). Jerome, for his part, speaks of the "lack
of judgment" of Siricius (Epist., cxxvii, 9) on account of the latter's
treatment of Rufinus of Aquileia, to whom the pope had given a letter
when Rufinus left Rome in 398, which showed that he was in communion
with the Church. The reason, however, does not justify the judgment
which Jerome expressed against the pope; moreover, Jerome in his
polemical writings often exceeds the limits of propriety. All that is
known of the labours of Siricius refutes the criticism of the caustic
hermit of Bethlehem. The "Liber Pontificalis" gives an incorrect date
for his death; he was buried in the cæmeterium of Priscilla on
the Via Salaria. The text of the inscription on his grave is known (De
Rossi, "Inscriptiones christ. urbis Romæ", II, 102, 138). His
feast is celebrated on 26 November. His name was inserted in the Roman
Martyrology by Benedict XIV.
|
401 Anastasius
I,
Pope condemnation of Origen Saint Jerome helped him in his own
way
Saints Augustine and Paulinus of Nola praised his model of sanctity (RM)
Born in Rome; died there in 401. Anastasius, the son of Maximus, was
elected pope on November 27, 399, and ruled the Church for two years.
His pontificate was marked by his condemnation of Origen in order to
stop the errors of those who followed and expanded upon Origen's
teachings, his urging the African bishops to continue their opposition
to Donatism, and his personal holiness and piety.
Saint Jerome helped him in his own way, and Saints Augustine and
Paulinus of Nola praised his model of sanctity. It is from Pope
Anastasius that priests have the instruction to read the Gospels
standing and bowing their heads. The laus in the Roman Martyrology
reads: "At Rome, the death of Pope Saint Anastasius I, a man of extreme
poverty and apostolic solicitude. Saint Jerome in his writings saith
that Rome did not deserve to possess him for long. . . ."
(Benedictines, Delaney, Encyclopedia).
|
417 St.
Innocent I
401-417
Date of birth unknown; died 12 March, 417. Before his
elevation to the Chair of Peter, very little is known concerning the
life of this energetic pope, so zealous for the welfare of the whole
Church. According to the "Liber Pontificalis" he was a native of
Albano; his father was called Innocentius. He grew up among the Roman
clergy and in the service of the Roman Church. After the death of
Anastasius (Dec., 401) he was unanimously chosen Bishop of Rome by the
clergy and people. Not much has come down to us concerning his
ecclesiastical activities in Rome. Nevertheless one or two instances of
his zeal for the purity of the Catholic Faith and for church discipline
are well attested. He took several churches in Rome from the Novatians
(Socrates, Hist. Eccl., VII, ii) and caused the Photinian Marcus to be
banished from the city. A drastic decree, which the Emperor Honorius
issued from Rome (22 Feb., 407) against the Manicheans, the Montanists,
and the Priscillianists (Codex Theodosianus, XVI, 5, 40), was very
probably not issued without his concurrence. Through the munificence of
Vestina, a rich Roman matron, Innocent was enabled to build and richly
endow a church dedicated to Sts. Gervasius and Protasius; this was the
old Titulus Vestin&#aelig; which still stands under the name of San
Vitale. The siege and capture of Rome by the Goths under Alaric
(408-10) occurred in his pontificate. When, at the time of the first
siege, the barbarian leader had declared that he would withdraw only on
condition that the Romans should arrange a peace favourable to him, an
embassy of the Romans went to Honorius, at Ravenna, to try, if
possible, to make peace between him and the Goths. Pope Innocent also
joined this embassy. But all his endeavours to bring about peace
failed. The Goths then recommenced the siege of Rome, so that the pope
and the envoys were not able to return to the city, which was taken and
sacked in 410. From the beginning of his pontificate, Innocent often
acted as head of the whole Church, both East and West.
In his letter to
Archbishop Anysius of Thessalonica, in which he informed the latter of
his own election to the See of Rome, he also confirmed the privileges
which had been bestowed upon the archbishop by previous popes. When
Eastern Illyria fell to the Eastern Empire (379) Pope Damasus had
asserted and preserved the ancient rights of the papacy in those parts,
and his successor Siricius had bestowed on the Archbishop of
Thessalonica the privilege of confirming and consecrating the bishops
of Eastern Illyria. These prerogatives were renewed by Innocent (Ep.
i), and by a later letter (Ep. xiii, 17 June, 412) the pope entrusted
the supreme administration of the dioceses of Eastern Illyria to
Archbishop Rufus of Thessalonica, as representative of the Holy See. By
this means the papal vicariate of Illyria was put on a sound basis, and
the archbishops of Thessalonica became vicars of the popes. On 15 Feb.,
404, Innocent sent an important decretal to Bishop Victricius of Rouen
(Ep. ii), who had laid before the pope a list of disciplinary matters
for decision. The points at issue concerned the consecration of
bishops, admissions into the ranks of the clergy, the disputes of
clerics, whereby important matters (caus&#aelig; majores) were to
be brought from the episcopal tribunal to the Apostolic See, also the
ordinations of the clergy, celibacy, the reception of converted
Novatians or Donatists into the Church, monks, and nuns. In general,
the pope indicated the discipline of the Roman Church as being the norm
for the other bishops to follow. Innocent directed a similar decretal
to the Spanish bishops (Ep. iii) among whom difficulties had arisen,
especially regarding the Priscillianist bishops. The pope regulated
this matter and at the same time settled other questions of
ecclesiastical discipline.
Similar letters,
disciplinary in content, or decisions of important cases, were sent to
Bishop Exuperius of Toulouse (Ep. vi), to the bishops of Macedonia (Ep.
xvii), to Decentius, Bishop of Gubbio (Ep. xxv), to Felix, Bishop of
Nocera (Ep. xxxviii). Innocent also addressed shorter letters to
several other bishops, among them a letter to two British bishops,
Maximus and Severus, in which he decided that those priests who, while
priests, had begotten children should be dismissed from their sacred
office (Ep. xxxix). Envoys were sent by the Synod of Carthage (404) to
the Bishop of Rome, or the bishop of the city where the emperor was
staying, in order to provide for severer treatment of the Montanists.
The envoys came to Rome, and Pope Innocent obtained from the Emperor
Honorius a strong decree against those African sectaries, by which many
adherents of Montanism were induced to be reconciled with the Church.
The Christian East also claimed a share of the pope's energy. St. John
Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, who was persecuted by the Empress
Eudoxia and the Alexandrian patriarch Theophilus, threw himself on the
protection of Innocent. Theophilus had already informed the latter of
the deposition of John, following on the illegal Synod of the Oak (ad
quercum). But the pope did not recognize the sentence of the synod,
summoned Theophilus to a new synod at Rome, consoled the exiled
Patriarch of Byzantium, and wrote a letter to the clergy and people of
Constantinople in which he animadverted severely on their conduct
towards their bishop (John), and announced his intention of calling a
general synod, at which the matter would be sifted and decided.
Thessalonica was suggested as the place of assembly. The pope informed
Honorius, Emperor of the West, of these proceedings, whereupon the
latter wrote three letters to his brother, the Eastern Emperor
Arcadius, and besought Arcadius to summon the Eastern bishops to a
synod at Thessalonica, before which the Patriarch Theophilus was to
appear. The messengers who brought these three letters were ill
received, Arcadius being quite favourable to Theophilus. In spite of
the efforts of the pope and the Western emperor, the synod never took
place. Innocent remained in correspondence with the exiled John; when,
from his place of banishment the latter thanked him for his kind
solicitude, the pope answered with another comforting letter, which the
exiled bishop received only a short time before his death (407) (Epp.
xi, xii). The pope did not recognize Arsacius and Atticus, who had been
raised to the See of Constantinople instead of the unlawfully deposed
John.
After John's death,
Innocent desired that the name of the deceased patriarch should be
restored to the diptychs, but it was not until after Theophilus was
dead (412) that Atticus yielded. The pope obtained from many other
Eastern bishops a similar recognition of the wrong done to St. John
Chrysostom. The schism at Antioch, dating from the Arian conflicts, was
finally settled in Innocent's time. Alexander, Patriarch of Antioch,
succeeded, about 413-15, in gaining over to his cause the adherents of
the former Bishop Eustathius; he also received into the ranks of his
clergy the followers of Paulinus, who had fled to Italy and had been
ordained there. Innocent informed Alexander of these proceedings, and
as Alexander restored the name of John Chrysostom to the diptychs, the
pope entered into communion with the Antiochene patriarch, and wrote
him two letters, one in the name of a Roman synod of twenty Italian
bishops, and one in his own name (Epp. xix and xx). Acacius, Bishop of
Ber&#aelig;a, one of the most zealous opponents of Chrysostom, had
sought to obtain re-admittance to communion with the Roman Church
through the aforesaid Alexander of Antioch. The pope informed him,
though Alexander, of the conditions under which he would resume
communion with him (Ep. xxi). In a later letter Innocent decided
several questions of church discipline (Ep. xxiv).
The pope also informed the
Macedonian bishop Maximian and the priest Bonifatius, who had
interceded with him for the recognition of Atticus, Patriarch of
Constantinople, of the conditions, which were similar to those required
of the above-mentioned Patriarch of Antioch (Epp. xxii and xxiii). In
the Origenist and Pelagian controversies, also, the pope's authority
was invoked from several quarters. St. Jerome and the nuns of Bethlehem
were attacked in their convents by brutal followers of Pelagius, a
deacon was killed, and a part of the buildings was set on fire. John,
Bishop of Jerusalem, who was on bad terms with Jerome, owing to the
Origenist controversy, did nothing to prevent these outrages. Through
Aurelius, Bishop of Carthage, Innocent sent St. Jerome a letter of
condolence, in which he informed him that he would employ the influence
of the Holy See to repress such crimes; and if Jerome would give the
names of the guilty ones, he would proceed further in the matter. The
pope at once wrote an earnest letter of exhortation to the Bishop of
Jerusalem, and reproached him with negligence of his pastoral duty. The
pope was also compelled to take part in the Pelagian controversy. In
415, on the proposal of Orosius, the Synod of Jerusalem brought the
matter of the orthodoxy of Pelagius before the Holy See. The synod of
Eastern bishops held at Diospolis (Dec., 415), which had been deceived
by Pelagius with regard to his actual teaching and had acquitted him,
approached Innocent on behalf of the heretic. On the report of Orosius
concerning the proceedings at Diospolis, the African bishops assembled
in synod at Carthage, in 416, and confirmed the condemnation which had
been pronounced in 411 against C&#aelig;lestius, who shared the
views of Pelagius. The bishops of Numidia did likewise in the same year
in the Synod of Mileve. Both synods reported their transactions to the
pope and asked him to confirm their decisions. Soon after this, five
African bishops, among them St. Augustine, wrote a personal letter to
Innocent regarding their own position in the matter of Pelagianism.
Innocent in his reply praised the African bishops, because, mindful of
the authority of the Apostolic See, they had appealed to the Chair of
Peter; he rejected the teachings of Pelagius and confirmed the
decisions drawn up by the African Synods (Epp. xxvii-xxxiii). The
decisions of the Synod of Diospolis were rejected by the pope. Pelagius
now sent a confession of faith to Innocent, which, however, was only
delivered to his successor, for Innocent died before the document
reached the Holy See. He was buried in a basilica above the catacomb of
Pontianus, and was venerated as a saint. He was a very energetic and
active man, and a highly gifted ruler, who fulfilled admirably the
duties of his office.
|
417-418 St. Zosimus Pope A Greek
Item Romæ sancti Zósimi,
Papæ et Confessóris. In the
same city, St. Zosimus, pope and confessor.
he succeeded Pope St. Innocent I (r. 401-417) on March 18,
417. He
devoted most of his brief reign to advancing the cause of papal
supremacy, albeit with very little success.
While personally blameless in his private life, Zosimus did have a
tactless and hasty personality, so much so that he found himself
embroiled in various clashes with prelates throughout the Church. In
fact he died while preparing to excommunicate a group of troublesome
clerics.
Zosimus wrote
Episiola Thactaria, condemning Pelagianism.
Since he was much disliked in Rome, his passing on December 27 brought
celebrations in the streets. |
432 Celestine I Pope
treatise against semi-Pelagianism (RM)
Born in
Campania, Italy; died at Rome, July 27, 432; feast day formerly
on July 27 and/or August 1. Saint Celestine was a deacon in Rome when
he was elected pope on September 20, 422, to succeed Saint
Boniface.
He was a staunch
supporter of Saint
Germanus of Auxerre
in the fight
against
Pelagianism, and a friend
of Saint
Augustine
with
whom he corresponded, and which demonstrates that the bishop of Rome
was the central authority even at that early date.
Augustine
exhorts Celestine not to fall under the spell of Bishop
Antony of Fussala, who had been convicted by a council
at Numidia
of
tyranny and violence against his flock. Augustine was particularly
concerned because he had originally nominated Antony for episcopal
consecration. Antony appealed to Celestine's predecessor, who, unaware
of the decision of the synod, pressed for Antony's reinstatement.
The
matter was not fully settled at Boniface's death, but at Augustine's
urging, Celestine deposed the unseemly prelate.
Celestine
also wrote to the bishops of Vienne and Narbonne in Gaul to
correct several abuses, and ordered, among other things, that
absolution should never be refused to the dying who sincerely asked for
it. He stated that repentance does not depend on timing but rather on
the heart. In the beginning of this letter he says:
"By no limits
of
place is my pastoral vigilance confined: it extends itself to all
places where Christ is adored."
After
receiving two artful letters from Patriarch Nestorius of
Constantinople, and further information from Patriarch Saint
Cyril of Alexandria regarding
the errors proposed by the first, Celestine convened a council in Rome,
in 430, to condemn Nestorianism. He threatened Nestorius with
excommunication if he did not desist from his heretical teaching.
In
431, Celestine sent three legates to and appointed Cyril president of
the General Council of Ephesus, which formally condemned the heresy.
Saint
Prosper of Aquitaine
recorded that, acting on Saint
Palladius's suggestion, Celestine sent Saint Germanus of Auxerre to
Britain in 429 to deal with Pelagianism
there.
He also wrote a
treatise against semi-Pelagianism and, in 431,
sent Palladius to Ireland to evangelize that people. Some scholars
think that Celestine may also have sent Patrick there, but this is
unlikely.
Saint
Celestine was buried in the cemetery of Priscilla in a tomb
decorated with paintings representing the Council of Ephesus. Later his
relics were translated into the church of Saint
Praxedes.
His ancient original
epitaph testifies that he was an excellent bishop, honored and beloved
of every one, who for the sanctity of his life now enjoys the sight of
Jesus Christ, and the eternal honors of the saints; however, very
little is known of person named Celestine (Attwater, Benedictines,
Delaney, Husenbeth). In art, Saint
Celestine is a pope with a dove, dragon, and flame
(Roeder).
Pope Saint Celestine I was pope from 422 until April 6, 432.
Celestine I was a Roman and was supposed to have been a near relative
of the Roman Emperor Valentinian III. Nothing is known of his early
history except that his father's name was Priscus. He is said to have
lived for a time at Milan with St. Ambrose. The first notice, however,
concerning him that is known is in a document of Pope Innocent I, in
the year 416, where he is spoken of as Celestine the Deacon.
Various portions of the liturgy are attributed to him, but without any
certainty on the subject. Though he did not attend personally, he sent
delegates to the Council of Ephesus in which the Nestorians were
condemned, in 431. Four letters written by him on that occasion, all
dated March 15, 431, together with a few others, to the African
bishops, to those of Illyria, of Thessalonica, and of Narbonne, are
extant in retranslations from the Greek, the Latin originals having
been lost.
St. Celestine actively persecuted the Pelagians, and was zealous for
orthodoxy. He sent Palladius to Ireland to serve as a bishop in 431.
Bishop Patricius (Saint Patrick) continued this missionary work. Pope
Celestine raged against the Novatians in Rome, imprisoning their
bishop, and forbidding their worship. He was zealous in refusing to
tolerate the smallest innovation on the constitutions of his
predecessors, and is recognized by the Church as a saint.
St. Celestine died on April 6, 432. He was buried in the cemetery of
St. Priscilla in the Via Salaria, but his body, subsequently moved, now
lies in the Basilica di Santa Prassede.
|
440 Pope Saint
Sixtus III was pope from July 31, 432 to August 18, .
The name of Sixtus is often connected with a great building boom in
Rome: Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill was dedicated during his
pontificate and he built Santa Maria Maggiore, whose dedication to Mary
the Mother of God reflected his acceptance of the Ecumenical council of
Ephesus which closed in 431. At that council the debate over Christ's
human and divine natures turned on whether Mary could be called the
"Mother of Jesus" as a human only or the "Mother of Christ" as both God
and Man. The council gave her the Greek title Theotokos ("God-bearer"),
and the dedication of the large church in Rome is a response to that.
Prior to being made pope
Sixtus was a patron of Pelagius, who was later
condemned as a heretic. [1]
One of his main concerns was in
restoring peace between Cyril of
Alexandria and the Syrians.
He also maintained the rights of the pope over
Illyria and the position
of the archbishop of Thessalonica as head of the Illyrian church.
Pope St. Sixtus III (XYSTUS).
Consecrated 31 July, 432; d. 440. Previous to his accession he was
prominent among the Roman clergy and in correspondence with St.
Augustine. He reigned during the Nestorian and Pelagian controversies,
and it was probably owing to his conciliatory disposition that he was
falsely accused of leanings towards these heresies. As pope he approved
the Acts of the Council of Ephesus and endeavoured to restore peace
between Cyril of Alexandria and John of Antioch. In the Pelagian
controversy he frustrated the attempt of Julian of Eclanum to be
readmitted to communion with the Catholic Church. He defended the
pope's right of supremacy over Illyricum against the local bishops and
the ambitious designs of Proclus of Constantinople. At Rome he restored
the Basilica of Liberius, now known as St. Mary Major, enlarged the
Basilica of St. Lawrence-Without-the-Walls, and obtained precious gifts
from the Emperor Valentinian III for St. Peter's and the Lateran
Basilica. The work which asserts that the consul Bassus accused him of
crime is a forgery. He is the author of eight letters (in P.L., L, 583
sqq.), but he did not write the works "On Riches", "On False Teachers",
and "On Chastity" ("De divitiis", "De malis doctoribus", "De
castitate") attributed to him. His feast is kept on 28 March.
|
 440 Sancti
Leónis
Papæ Primi, cognoménto Magni, Confessóris et
Ecclésiæ Doctóris, cujus dies natális
recólitur quarto Idus Novémbris.
In the Latin Church
the feast day of the great pope is held on 11
April, and in the Eastern Church on 18 February.
Leo's pontificate, next to that
of St. Gregory I, is the most
significant and important in Christian antiquity.
At a time when the
Church was experiencing the greatest obstacles to her progress in
consequence of the hastening disintegration of the Western Empire,
while the Orient was profoundly agitated over dogmatic controversies,
this great pope, with far-seeing sagacity and powerful hand, guided the
destiny of the Roman and Universal Church. According to the "Liber
Pontificalis" (ed. Mommsen, I, 101 sqq., ed. Duchesne, I, 238
sqq.),
Leo was a native of Tuscany and his father's name was Quintianus. Our
earliest certain historical information about Leo reveals him a deacon
of the Roman Church under Pope
Celestine I (422-32). Even during this
period he was known outside of Rome, and had some relations with Gaul,
since Cassianus in 430 or 431 wrote at Leo's suggestion his work "De
Incarnatione Domini contra Nestorium" (Migne, P.L., L, 9 sqq.),
prefacing it with a letter of dedication to Leo. About this time Cyril
of Alexandria appealed to Rome against the pretensions of Bishop
Juvenal of Jerusalem. From an assertion of Leo's in a letter of later
date (ep. cxvi, ed. Ballerini, I, 1212; II, 1528), it is not very clear
whether Cyril wrote to him in the capacity of Roman deacon, or to Pope
Celestine. During the pontificate of Sixtus III (422-40), Leo was sent
to Gaul by Emperor Valentinian III to settle a dispute and bring about
a reconciliation between Aëtius, the chief military commander of
the
province, and the chief magistrate, Albinus. This commission is a proof
of the great confidence placed in the clever and able deacon by the
Imperial Court. Sixtus III died on 19 August, 440, while Leo was in
Gaul, and the latter was chosen his successor.
Returning to Rome, Leo
was consecrated on 29 September of the same year, and governed the
Roman Church for the next twenty-one years. |
468 St. Hilary,
Pope
from 461-468 guardian of Church unity sent decree to Eastern bishops
validating decisions of General Councils Nicaea Ephesus and Chalcedon.
Hilary consolidated the Church in Sandi, Africa, and Gaul
Rom
æ sancti Hílari, Papæ et
Confessóris. At Rome, St. Hilary, pope and
confessor.
He was born in Sardinia, Italy, and was a papal legate to
the Robber
Council of Ephesus in 449, barely escaping with his life from
this
affair. Hilary was used by Pope
St. Leo I the
Great on many assignments. When Leo died, Hilary was elected
pope and consecrated on November 19, 461. He worked diligently to
strengthen the Church in France and Spain, calling councils in 462 and
465. Hilary also rebuilt many Roman churches and erected the chapel of
St. John Lateran. He also publicly rebuked Emperor Anthemius in St.
Peter’s for supporting the Macedonian heresy and sent a decree to the
Eastern bishops validating the decisions of the General Councils of
Nicaea, Ephesus, and Chalcedon. Hilary consolidated the Church in
Sandi, Africa, and Gaul. He died in Rome on February 28.
Pope Saint Hilarus
[Also spelled HILARIUS]
Elected 461; the date of his death is given as 28 Feb., 468. After the
death of Leo I, an archdeacon named Hilarus, a native of Sardinia,
according to the "Liber Pontificalis", was chosen to succeed him, and
in all probability received consecration on 19 November, 461. Together
with Julius, Bishop of Puteoli, Hilarus acted as legate of Leo I at the
"Robber Synod" of Ephesus in 449. There he fought vigorously for the
rights of the Roman See and opposed the condemnation of Flavian of
Constantinople (see FLAVIAN, SAINT). He was therefore exposed to the
violence of Dioscurus of Alexandria, and saved himself by flight. In
one of his letters to the Empress Pulcheria, found in a collection of
letters of Leo I ("Leonis I Epistolae", num. xlvi., in P.L., LIV, 837
sq.), Hilarus apologizes for not delivering to her the pope's letter
after the synod; but owing to Dioscurus, who tried to hinder his going
either to Rome or to Constantinople, he had great difficulty in making
his escape in order to bring to the pontiff the news of the result of
the council. His pontificate was marked by the same vigorous policy as
that of his great predecessor. Church affairs in Gaul and Spain claimed
his special attention. Owing to political disorganization in both
countries, it was important to safeguard the hierarchy by strengthening
church government. Hermes, a former archdeacon of Narbonne, had
illegally acquired the bishopric of that town. Two Gallican prelates
were dispatched to Rome to lay before the pope this and other matters
concerning the Church in Gaul. A Roman synod held on 19 November, 462,
passed judgment upon these matters, and Hilarus made known the
following decisions in an Encyclical sent to the provincial bishops of
Vienne, Lyons, Narbonne, and the Alps: Hermes was to remain Titular
Bishop of Narbonne, but his episcopal faculties were withheld. A synod
was to be convened yearly by the Bishop of Arles, for those of the
provincial bishops who were able to attend; but all important matters
were to be submitted to the Apostolic See. No bishop could leave his
diocese without a written permission from the metropolitan; in case
such permission be withheld he could appeal to the Bishop of Arles.
Respecting the parishes (paroeciae) claimed by Leontius of Arles as
belonging to his jurisdiction, the Gallican bishops could decide, after
an investigation. Church property could not be alienated until a synod
had examined into the cause of sale.
Shortly after this the pope found himself involved in another diocesan
quarrel. In 463 Mamertus of Vienne had consecrated a Bishop of Die,
although this Church, by a decree of Leo I, belonged to the
metropolitan Diocese of Arles. When Hilarus heard of it he deputed
Leontius of Arles to summon a great synod of the bishops of several
provinces to investigate the matter. The synod took place and, on the
strength of the report given him by Bishop Antonius, he issued an edict
dated 25 February, 464, in which Bishop Veranus was commissioned to
warn Mamertus that, if in the future he did not refrain from irregular
ordinations, his faculties would be withdrawn. Consequently the
consecration of the Bishop of Die must be sanctioned by Leontius of
Arles. Thus the primatial privileges of the See of Arles were upheld as
Leo I had defined them. At the same time the bishops were admonished
not to overstep their boundaries, and to assemble in a yearly synod
presided over by the Bishop of Arles. The metropolitan rights of the
See of Embrun also over the dioceses of the Maritime Alps were
protected against the encroachments of a certain Bishop Auxanius,
particularly in connection with the two Churches of Nice and Cimiez.
In Spain, Silvanus, Bishop of Calahorra, had, by his episcopal
ordinations, violated the church laws. Both the Metropolitan Ascanius
and the bishops of the Province of Tarragona made complaint of this to
the pope and asked for his decision. Before an answer came to their
petition, the same bishops had recourse to the Holy See for an entirely
different matter. Before his death Nundinarius, Bishop of Barcelona,
expressed a wish that Irenaeus might be chosen his successor, although
he had himself made Irenaeus bishop of another see. The request was
granted, a Synod of Tarragona confirming the nomination of Irenaeus,
after which the bishops sought the pope's approval. The Roman synod of
19 Nov., 465, took the matters up and settled them. This is the oldest
Roman synod whose original records have been handed down to us. It was
held in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. After an address of the
pope, and the reading of the Spanish letters, the synod decided that
the church laws must not be tampered with. In addition to this Hilarus
sent a letter to the bishops of Tarragona, declaring that no
consecration was valid without the sanction of the Metropolitan
Ascanius; and no bishop was permitted to be transferred from one
diocese to another, so that some one else must be chosen for Barcelona
in place of Irenaeus. The bishops consecrated by Silvanus would be
recognized if they had been appointed to vacant sees, and otherwise met
the requirements of the Church. The "Liber Pontificalis" mentions an
Encyclical that Hilarus sent to the East, to confirm the Oecumenical
Councils of Nicaea, Ephesus, and Chalcedon, and the dogmatic letter of
Leo I to Flavian, but the sources at our disposal furnish us no further
information. In Rome Hilarus worked zealously for the integrity of the
Faith. The Emperor Anthemius had a favourite named Philotheus, who was
a believer in the Macedonian heresy and attended meetings in Rome for
the promulgation of this doctrine, 476. On one of the emperor's visits
to St. Peter's, the pope openly called him to account for his
favourite's conduct, exhorting him by the grave of St. Peter to promise
that he would do all in his power to check the evil. Hilarus erected
several churches and other buildings in Rome. Two oratories in the
baptistery of the Lateran, one in honour of St. John the Baptist, the
other of St. John the Apostle, are due to him. After his flight from
the "Robber Synod" of Ephesus, Hilarus had hidden himself in the crypt
of St. John the Apostle, and he attributed his deliverance to the
intercession of the Apostle. Over the ancient doors of the oratory this
inscription is still to be seen: "To St. John the Evangelist, the
liberator of Bishop Hilarus, a Servant of Christ". He also erected a
chapel of the Holy Cross in the baptistery, a convent, two public
baths, and libraries near the Church of St. Laurence Outside the Walls.
He built another convent within the city walls. The "Liber
Pontificalis" mentions many votive offerings made by Hilarus in the
different churches. He died after a pontificate of six years, three
months, and ten days.
He was buried in the church
of St. Laurence Outside the Walls. His feast day is celebrated on 17
November.
|
 492 ST. FELIX III Pope helped to get the Church in Africa on its
feet
483 - 492
St. Felix II has the extraordinary distinction of being not only a pope
and saint himself, but the great-grandfather of another pope and saint,
Gregory the Great. Felix had been married, but his wife had died before
he became a priest. He was a member of an old Roman family of
senatorial rank.
No sooner was he elected pope than Felix faced the vexing problem posed
by Emperor Zeno's ill-considered attempt to unify the East by
compromise. One of the evils which result from politicians meddling in
church matters is the tendency to make a deal. And that is just what
Zeno did. Alarmed by the hold that the Monophysites had on Egypt and
Syria, Zeno issued his famous Henoticon (act of union) and ordered all
to subscribe to it. This Henoticon was a creed drawn up by Acacius, the
hitherto orthodox patriarch of Constantinople, and Peter, the
Monophysite patriarch of Alexandria. It was orthodox in what it said,
but implicitly it condoned the Monophysite heresy by omitting the
decision of the Council of Chalcedon and the letter of Pope Leo to
Flavian. Like so many compromises it pleased few. The more ardent
Monophysites refused to follow their leader, Peter, and Pope Felix
denounced it. With true spiritual independence, he warned the Emperor
not to interfere in theological matters and "to allow the Catholic
Church to govern itself by its own laws."
Pope Felix sent legates to Constantinople to summon Acacius to Rome,
but to his dismay the Pope discovered that his legates had approved the
election of the Monophysite Peter as patriarch of Alexandria and had
communicated with heretics--in short, had sold him out. Felix held a
synod at Rome in 484 at which he excommunicated the untrustworthy
legates. He also excommunicated Acacius, but the patriarch remained
stubborn. Thus started the Acacian schism in which Constantinople was
officially separated from the Roman Church over the Henoticon. Even
after Acacius died, the schism dragged on until the next century.
In the last years of this pontificate Theodoric led
his Ostrogoths
into Italy to defeat Odovakar and take over the rule of Italy--all in
the name of Emperor Zeno. Though an Arian, Theodoric treated the Church
well. It was different in Africa, where in the early years of his reign
Felix heard anguished cries for help from the hapless Catholics.
Hunneric, the Arian Vandal, ruthlessly harried the poor African
Catholics. Pope Felix got Emperor Zeno to bring his influence to bear
on the fierce Vandal, but this accomplished little. After Hunneric
died, the persecution slackened, and the Pope then helped to get the
Church in Africa on its feet. He followed the usual papal policy of
mildness towards weak brethren who had given way in the storm.
Pope St. Felix died March
1, 492. He is buried in St. Paul's on the Ostian Way.
See Duchesne's edition
of
the Liber pontificalis, vol. i, pp. 252-253;
DCB.,
vol. ii, pp. 482-485, s.v. Felix III; and works of
general
ecclesiastical history.
|
492-496 Pope St. Gelasius I feast Nov 21 conspicuous for his spirit of prayer,
penance, and study. He took
great delight in the company of monks, and was a true father to the poor
Died at Rome, 19 Nov., 496. Gelasius, as he himself states
in his letter to the Emperor Anastasius (Ep. xii, n. 1), was Romanus
natus. The assertion of the "Liber Pontificalis" that he was natione
Afer is consequently taken by many to mean that he was of African
origin, though Roman born. Others, however, interpreting natione Afer
as "African by birth", explain Romanus natus as "born a Roman citizen".
Before his election as pope, 1 March, 492, Gelasius had been much
employed by his predecessor, Felix II (or III), especially in drawing
up ecclesiastical documents, which has led some scholars to confuse the
writings of the two pontiffs.
On his election to the papacy, Gelasius at once showed his strength of
character and his lofty conception of his position by his firmness in
dealing with the adherents of Acacius (see ACACIUS, PATRIARCH OF
CONSTANTINOPLE). Despite all the efforts of the otherwise orthodox
patriarch, Euphemius of Constantinople, and the threats and wiles by
which the Emperor Anastasius tried to obtain recognition from the
Apostolic See, Gelasius, though hard-pressed by difficulties at home,
would make no peace that compromised in the slightest degree the rights
and honor of the Chair of Peter. The constancy with which he combated
the pretensions, lay and ecclesiastical, of the New Rome; the
resoluteness with which he refused to allow the civil or temporal
pre-eminence of a city to determine its ecclesiastical rank; the
unfailing courage with which he defended the rights of the "second" and
the "third" sees, Alexandria and Antioch, are some of the most striking
features of his pontificate. It has been well said that nowhere at this
period can be found stronger arguments for the primacy of Peter's See
than in the works and writings of Gelasius. He is never tired of
repeating that Rome owes its ecclesiastical princedom not to an
oecumenical synod nor to any temporal importance it may have possessed,
but to the Divine institution of Christ Himself, Who conferred the
primacy over the whole Church upon Peter and his successors. (Cf.
especially his letters to Eastern bishops and the decretal on the
canonical and apocryphal books.) In his dealing with the emperor he is
at one with the great medieval pontiffs. "There are two powers by which
chiefly this world is ruled: the sacred authority of the priesthood and
the authority of kings. And of these the authority of the priests is so
much the weightier, as they must render before the tribunal of God an
account even for the kings of men." Gelasius's pontificate was too
short to effect the complete submission and reconciliation of the
ambitious Church of Byzantium. Not until Hormisdas (514-23) did the
contest end in the return of the East to its old allegiance. Troubles
abroad were not the only occasions to draw out the energy and strength
of Gelasius. The Lupercalia, a superstitious and somewhat licentious
vestige of paganism at Rome, was finally abolished by the pope after a
long contest. Gelasius's letter to Andromachus, the senator, covers the
main lines of the controversy.
A stanch upholder of the old traditions, Gelasius nevertheless knew
when to make exceptions or modifications, such as his decree obliging
the reception of the Holy Eucharist under both kinds. This was done as
the only effective way of detecting the Manichæans, who, though
present in Rome in large numbers, sought to divert attention from their
hidden propaganda by feigning Catholicism. As they held wine to be
impure and essentially sinful, they would refuse the chalice and thus
be recognized. Later, with the change of conditions, the old normal
method of receiving Holy Communion under the form of bread alone
returned into vogue. To Gelasius we owe the ordinations on the ember
days (Ep. xv), as well as the enforcement of the fourfold division of
all ecclesiastical revenues, whether income from estates or voluntary
donations of the faithful, one portion for the poor, another for the
support of the churches and the splendour of Divine service, a third
for the bishop, and the fourth for the minor clergy. Though some
writers ascribe the origin of this division of church funds to
Gelasius, still the pontiff speaks of it (Ep. xiv, n. 27) as dudum
rationabiliter decretum, having been for some time in force. Indeed,
Pope Simplicius (475, Ep. i, n. 2) imposed the obligation of
restitution to the poor and the Church upon a certain bishop who had
failed in this duty; consequently it must have been already regarded as
at least a custom of the Church. Not content with one enunciation of
this charitable obligation, Gelasius frequently inculcates it in his
writings to bishops. For a long time the fixing of the Canon of the
Scriptures was attributed to Gelasius, but it seems now more probably
the work of Damasus (367-85). As Gelasius, however, in a Roman synod
(494), published his celebrated catalogue of the authentic writings of
the Fathers, together with a list of apocryphal and interpolated works,
as well as the proscribed books of the heretics (Ep. xlii), it was but
natural to prefix to this catalogue the Canon of the Scriptures as
determined by the earlier Pontiff, and thus in the course of time the
Canon itself came to be ascribed to Gelasius. In his zeal for the
beauty and majesty of Divine service, Gelasius composed many hymns,
prefaces, and collects, and arranged a standard Mass-book, though the
Missal that has commonly gone by his name, the "Sacramentarium
Gelasianum", belongs properly to the next century. How much of it is
the work of Gelasius is still a moot question. Though pope but for four
years and a half, he exerted a deep influence on the development of
church polity, of the liturgy and ecclesiastical discipline. A large
number of his decrees have been incorporated into the Canon Law.
In his private life Gelasius was above all conspicuous for his spirit
of prayer, penance, and study. He took great delight in the company of
monks, and was a true father to the poor, dying empty-handed as a
result of his lavish charity. Dionysius Exiguus in a letter to his
friend, the priest Julian (P.L., LXVII, 231), gives a glowing account
of Gelasius as he appeared to his contemporaries.
As a writer Gelasius takes high rank for his period. His style is
vigorous and elegant, though occasionally, obscure. Comparatively
little of his literary work has come down to us, though he is said to
have been the most prolific writer of all the pontiffs of the first
five centuries. There are extant forty-two letters and fragments of
forty-nine others, besides six treatises, of which three are concerned
with the Acacian schism, one with the heresy of the Pelagians, another
with the errors of Nestorius and Eutyches, while the sixth is directed
against the senator Andromachus and the advocates of the Lupercalia.
The best edition is that of Thiel.
The feast of St. Gelasius is kept on 21 Nov., the anniversary of his
interment, though many writers give this as the day of his death.
|
523-526 Pope St. John
I inherited the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of
Christ. Italy had been ruled for 30 years by an emperor who espoused
the heresy, though he treated the empire’s Catholics with toleration.
His policy changed at about the time the young John was elected pope.
When the eastern emperor began imposing severe measures on
the Arians
of his area, the western emperor forced John to head a delegation to
the East to soften the measures against the heretics. Little is known
of the manner or outcome of the negotiations—designed to secure
continued toleration of Catholics in the West.
When John returned to Rome, he found the emperor had begun to suspect
his friendship with his eastern rival.
On his way home, John was imprisoned when he reached Ravenna because
the emperor suspected a conspiracy against his throne. Shortly after
his imprisonment, John died, apparently from the treatment he had
received.
Comment: We
cannot choose the issues for which we have to
suffer and perhaps
die. John I suffered because of a power-conscious emperor. Jesus
suffered because of the suspicions of those who were threatened by his
freedom, openness and powerlessness. “If you find that the world hates
you, know it has hated me before you.”
Quote: “Martyrdom makes disciples like their Master,
who
willingly
accepted death for the salvation of the world, and through it they are
made like him by the shedding of blood. Therefore, the Church considers
it the highest gift and supreme test of love. And while it is given to
few, all however must be prepared to confess Christ before humanity and
to follow him along the way of the cross amid the persecutions which
the Church never lacks” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, 42,
Austin Flannery translation).
Pope St. John I
Died at Ravenna on 18 or 19 May (according to the most popular
calculation), 526. A Tuscan by birth and the son of Constantius, he
was, after an interregnum of seven days, elected on 13 August, 523, and
occupied the Apostolic see for two years, nine months, and seven days.
We know nothing of the matter of his administration, for his Bullarium
contains only the two letters addressed to an Archbishop Zacharias and
to the bishops of Italy respectively, and it is very certain that both
are apocryphal.
We possess information -- though unfortunately very vague
-- only about
his journey to Constantinople, a journey which appears to have had
results of great importance, and which was the cause of his death. The
Emperor Justin, in his zeal for orthodoxy, had issued in 523 a severe
decree against the Arians, compelling them, among other things, to
surrender to the Catholics the churches which they occupied. Theodoric,
King of the Ostrogoths and of Italy, the ardent defender of Arianism,
keenly resented these measures directed against his coreligionists in
the Orient, and was moreover highly displeased at seeing the progress
of a mutual understanding between the Latin and Greek Churches, such as
might favour certain secret dealings between the Roman senators and the
Byzantine Court, aiming at the re-establishment of the imperial
authority in Italy. To bring pressure to bear upon the emperor, and
force him to moderate his policy of repression in regard to the
heretics, Theodoric sent to him early in 525 an embassy composed of
Roman senators, of which he obliged the pope to assume the direction,
and imposed on the latter the task of securing a withdrawal of the
Edict of 523 and -- if we are to believe "Anonymous Valesianus" -- of
even urging the emperor to facilitate the return to Arianism of the
Arians who had been converted.
There has been much discussion as to the part played by
John I in this
affair. The sources which enable us to study the subject are far from
explicit and may be reduced to four in number: "Anonymous Valesianus",
already cited; the "Liber Pontificalis"; Gregory of Tours's "Liber in
gloria martyrum"; and the "Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiæ
Ravennatis". But it is beyond question that the pope could only counsel
Justin to use gentleness and discretion towards the Arians; his
position as head of the Church prevented his inviting the emperor to
favour heresy. That this analysis of the situation is correct is
evident from the reception which the pope was accorded in the East -- a
reception which certainly would not have been kindly, had the Roman
ambassadors opposed the emperor and this Catholic subjects in their
struggle waged against the Arian sect. The inhabitants of
Constantinople went out in throngs to meet John. The Emperor Justin on
meeting him prostrated himself, and, some time afterwards, he had
himself crowned by the pope. All the patriarchs of the East made haste
to manifest their communion in the Faith with the supreme pontiff; only
Timothy of Alexandria, who had shown himself hostile to the Council of
Chalcedon, held aloof. Finally, the pope, exercising his right of
precedence over Epiphanius, Patriarch of Constantinople, solemnly
officiated at St. Sophia in the Latin Rite on Easter Day, 19 April,
526. Immediately afterwards he made his way back to the West.
If this brilliant reception of John I by the emperor, the clergy, and
the faithful of the Orient proves that he had not been wanting in his
task as supreme pastor of the Church, the strongly contrasting
behaviour of Theodoric towards him on his return is no less evident
proof. This monarch, enraged at seeing the national party reviving in
Italy, had just stained his hands with the murder of Boethius, the
great philosopher, and of Symmachus his father-in-law. He was
exasperated against the pope, whose embassy had obtained a success very
different from that which he, Theodoric, desired and whom, moreover, he
suspected of favouring the defenders of the ancient liberty of Rome. As
soon as John, returning from the East, had landed in Italy, Theodoric
caused him to be arrested and incarcerated at Ravenna. Worn out by the
fatigues of the journey, and subjected to severe privations, John soon
died in prison.
His body was transported to Rome and buried in the Basilica of St.
Peter. In his epitaph there is no allusion to his historical role. The
Latin Church has placed him among its martyrs, and commemorates him on
27 May, the ninth lesson in the Roman Breviary for that date being
consecrated to him.
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526-530 Pope St. Felix IV; On 18 May, 526, Pope John I died in prison
at Ravenna, a victim of
the angry suspicions of Theodoric, the Arian king of the Goths. When,
through the powerful influence of this ruler, the cardinal-priest,
Felix of Samnium, son of Castorius, was brought forward in Rome as
John's successor, the clergy and laity yielded to the wish of the
Gothic king and chose Felix pope. He was consecrated Bishop of Rome 12
July, 526, and took advantage of the favor he enjoyed at the court of
Theodoric to further the interests of the Roman Church, discharging the
duties of his office in a most worthy manner. Felix
also took part in the so-called Semipelagian conflict in
Southern Gaul concerning the nature and efficiency of grace. He sent to
the bishops of those parts a series of "Capitula", regarding grace and
free will, compiled from Scripture and the Fathers. These capitula were
published as canons at the Synod of Orange (529). In addition Felix
approved the work of Caesarius of Arles against Faustus of Riez on
grace and free will (De gratia et libero arbitrio).
On 18 May, 526, Pope John I died in prison at Ravenna, a victim of the
angry suspicions of Theodoric, the Arian king of the Goths. When,
through the powerful influence of this ruler, the cardinal-priest,
Felix of Samnium, son of Castorius, was brought forward in Rome as
John's successor, the clergy and laity yielded to the wish of the
Gothic king and chose Felix pope. He was consecrated Bishop of Rome 12
July, 526, and took advantage of the favor he enjoyed at the court of
Theodoric to further the interests of the Roman Church, discharging the
duties of his office in a most worthy manner.
On 30 August, 526, Theodoric died, and, his grandson
Athalaric being a minor, the government was conducted by Athalaric's
mother Amalasuntha, daughter of Theodoric and favorably disposed
towards the Catholics. To the new ruler the Roman clergy addressed a
complaint on the usurpation of their privileges by the civil power. A
royal edict, drawn up by Cassiodorus in terms of the deepest respect
for the papal authority, confirmed the ancient custom that every civil
or criminal charge of a layman against a cleric should be submitted to
the pope, or to an ecclesiastical court appointed by him. A fine of ten
pounds of gold was imposed as a punishment for the violation of this
order, and the money thus obtained was to be distributed amongst the
poor by the pope (Cassiodorus, "Variae", VIII, n. 24, ed. Mommsen,
"Mon. Germ. Hist.: Auctores antiquiss.", XII, 255)
The pope received as a gift from Amalasuntha two ancient edifices in
the Roman Forem, the Temple of Romulus, son of the Emperor Maxentius,
and the adjoining Templum sacroe urbis, the Roman land registry office.
The pope converted the buildings into the Church of SS. Cosmas and
Damian, which still exists and in the apse of which is preserved the
large and magnificent mosaic executed by order of Felix, the figure of
the pope, however, being a later restoration (see COSMAS AND DAMIAN).
Felix also took part in the so-called Semipelagian
conflict in Southern Gaul concerning the nature and efficiency of
grace. He sent to the bishops of those parts a series of "Capitula",
regarding grace and free will, compiled from Scripture and the Fathers.
These capitula were published as canons at the Synod of Orange (529).
In addition Felix approved the work of Caesarius of Arles against
Faustus of Riez on grace and free will (De gratia et libero arbitrio).
Rendered anxious by the political dissensions of the Romans,
many of whom stood for the interests of Byzantium, while others
supported Gothic Rule, Felix IV, when he fell seriously ill in the year
530, wished to ensure the peace of the Roman Church by naming his
successor. Having given over to Archdeacon Boniface his pallium, he
made it known publicly that he had chosen Boniface to succeed him, and
that he had apprised the court of Ravenna of his action ("Neues
Archiv", XI, 1886, 367; Duchesne, "Liber Pontificalis", I, 282, note
4). Felix IV died soon afterwards, but in the papal election which
followed his wishes were disregarded (see BONIFACE II). The feast of
Felix IV is celebrated on 30 January. The day of his death is
uncertain, but it was probably towards the end of September, 530.
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536-37 Pope St. Silverius
Dates of birth and death unknown. He was the son of Pope Hormisdas who
had been married before becoming one of the higher clergy. Silverius
entered the service of the Church and was subdeacon at Rome when Pope
Agapetus died at Constantinople, 22 April, 536. The Empress Theodora,
who favoured the Monophysites sought to bring about the election as
pope of the Roman deacon Vigilius who was then at Constantinople and
had given her the desired guarantees as to the Monophysites. However,
Theodatus, King of the Ostrogoths, who wished to prevent the election
of a pope connected with Constantinople, forestalled her, and by his
influence the subdeacon Silverius was chosen. The election of a
subdeacon as Bishop of Rome was unusual. Consequently, it is easy to
understand that, as the author of the first part of the life of
Silverius in the "Liber pontificalis" (ed. Duchesne, I, 210) relates, a
strong opposition to it appeared among the clergy. This, however, was
suppressed by Theodatus so that, finally, after Silverius had been
consecrated bishop (probably on 8 June, 536) all the Roman presbyters
gave their consent in writing to his elevation. The assertion made by
the author just mentioned that Silverius secured the intervention of
Theodatus by payment of money is unwarranted, and is to be explained by
the writer's hostile opinion of the pope and the Goths. The author of
the second part of the life in the "Liber pontificalis" is favourably
inclined to Silverius. The pontificate of this pope belongs to an
unsettled, disorderly period and he himself fell a victim to the
intrigues of the Byzantine Court.
After Silverius had become pope the Empress Theodora sought to win him
for the Monophysites. She desired especially to have him enter into
communion with the Monophysite Patriarch of Constantinople, Anthimus,
who had been excommunicated and deposed by Agapetus, and with Severus
of Antioch. However, the pope committed himself to nothing and Theodora
now resolved to overthrow him and to gain the papal see for Vigilius.
Troublous times befell Rome during the struggle that broke out in Italy
between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines after the death of
Amalasuntha, daughter of Theodoric the Great. The Ostrogothic king,
Vitiges, who ascended the throne in August, 536, besieged the city. The
churches over the catacombs outside of the city were devastated, the
graves of the martyrs in the catacombs themselves were broken open and
desecrated. In December, 536, the Byzantine general Belisarius
garrisoned Rome and was received by the pope in a friendly and
courteous manner. Theodora sought to use Belisarius for the carrying
out of her plan to depose Silverius and to put in his place the Roman
deacon Vigilius, formerly apocrisary at Constantinople, who had now
gone to Italy. Antonina, wife of Belisarius, influenced her husband to
act as Theodora desired. By means of a forged letter the pope was
accused of a treasonable agreement with the Gothic king who was
besieging Rome. It was asserted that Silverius had offered the king to
leave one of the city gates secretly open so as to permit the Goths to
enter. Silverius was consequently arrested in March, 537, roughly
stripped of his episcopal dress, given the clothing of a monk and
carried off to exile in the East. Vigilius was consecrated Bishop of
Rome in his stead.
Silverius was taken to Lycia where he was went to reside at Patara. The
Bishop of Patara very soon discovered that the exiled pope was
innocent. He journeyed to Constantinople and was able to lay before the
Emperor Justinian such proofs of the innocence of the exile that the
emperor wrote to Belisarius commanding a new investigation of the
matter. Should it turn out that the letter concerning the alleged plot
in favour of the Goths was forged, Silverius should be placed once more
in possession of the papal see. At the same time the emperor allowed
Silverius to return to Italy, and the latter soon entered the country,
apparently at Naples. However, Vigilius arranged to take charge of his
unlawfully deposed predecessor. He evidently acted in agreement with
the Empress Theodora and was aided by Antonina, the wife of Belisarius.
Silverius was taken to the Island of Palmaria in the Tyrrhenian Sea and
kept their in close confinement. Here he died in consequence of the
privations and harsh treatment he endured. The year of his death is
unknown, but he probably did not live long after reaching Palmaria. He
was buried on the island, according to the testimony of the "Liber
pontificalis" on 20 June; his remains were never taken from Palmaria.
According to the same witness he was invoked after death by the
believers who visited his grave. In later times he was venerated as a
saint. The earliest proof of this is given by a list of saints of the
eleventh century (Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire,
1893, 169). The "Martyrologium" of Peter de Natalibus of the fourteenth
century also contains his feast, which is recorded in the present Roman
Martyrology on 20 June.
[Editor's note: According to the Liber Pontificalis, Pope St. Silverius
was exiled not to Palmaria, but rather to the Island of Palmarola, a
much smaller and more desolate island near Ponza, Italy, in the Bay of
Naples.]
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537-555 Pope Vigilius
date of birth unknown; died at Syracuse, 7 June 555. He belonged to a
distinguished Roman family; his father Johannes is called consul in the
Liber pontificalis (ed. Duchesne, I, 298), having received that title
from the emperor. Reparatus, a brother of Vigilius, was a senator
(Procopius, De bello gothico, I, 26). Vigilius entered the service of
the Roman Church and was a deacon in 531, in which year the Roman
clergy agreed to a Decree empowering the pope to determine the
succession to the Papal See. Vigilius was chosen by Boniface II as his
successor, and presented to the clergy assembled in St. Peter's. The
opposition to such a procedure led Boniface in the following year to
withdraw his designation of a successor and to burn the Decree
respecting it. The second successor of Boniface, Agapetus I (535-36),
appointed Vigilius papal representative (Apocrisiary) at
Constantinople; Vigilius thus came to the Eastern capital. Empress
Theodora sought to win him as a confederate, to revenge the deposition
of the Monophysite Patriarch Anthimus of Constantinople by Agapetus and
also to gain aid for her efforts in behalf of the Monophysites.
Vigilius is said to have agreed to the plans of the intriguing empress
who promised him the Papal See and a large sum of money (700 pounds of
gold). After Agapetus's death on 22 April, 536, Vigilius return to Rome
equipped with letters from the imperial Court and with money. Meanwhile
Silverius had been made pope through the influence of the King of the
Goths. Soon after this the Byzantine commander Belisarius garrisoned
the city of Rome, which was, however, besieged again by the Goths.
Vigilius gave Belisarius the letters from the Court of Constantinople,
which recommended Vigilius himself for the Papal See. False accusations
now led Belisarius to depose Silverius. Owing to the pressure exerted
by the Byzantine commander, Vigilius was elected pope in place of
Silverius and consecrated and enthroned on 29 March, 537. Vigilius
brought it about that the unjustly deposed Silverius was put into his
keeping where the late pope soon died from the harsh treatment he
received. After the death of this predecessor Vigilius was recognized
as pope by all the Roman clergy. Much in these accusations against
Vigilius appears to be exaggerated, but the manner of his elevation to
the See of Rome was not regular. Empress Theodora, however, saw that
she had been deceived. For after the latter had attained the object of
his ambition and been made pope he maintained the same position as his
predecessor against the Monophysites and the deposed Anthimus. It is
true that there is an alleged letter from the pope to the deposed
Monophysite patriarchs, Anthimus, Severus, and Theodosius, in which the
pope agrees with the views of the Monophysites. This letter, however,
is not regarded as genuine by most investigators and bears all the
marks of forgery (cf. Duchesne in Revue des quest. histor. (1884), II,
373; Chamard, ibid., I (1885), 557; Grisar in Analecta romana, I, 55
sqq.; Savio in Civilta catt., II (1910), 413-422]. The pope did not
restore Anthimus to his office.
It was not until the year 540 that Vigilius felt himself obliged to
take a stand in regard to Monophysitism which he did in two letters
sent to Constantinople. One of the letters is addressed to Emperor
Justinian, the other to the Patriarch Menas. In both letters the pope
supports positively the Synods of Ephesus and Chalcedon, also the
decisions of his predecessor Leo I, and throughout approves of the
deposition of the Patriarch Anthimus. Several other letters written by
the pope in the first years of his pontificate, that have been
preserved, give information respecting his interposition in the
ecclesiastical affairs of various countries. On 6 March, 538, he wrote
to Bishop Caesarius of Arles concerning the penance of the Austrasian
King Theodobert on account of his marriage with his brother's widow. On
29 June, 538, a decretal was sent to Bishop Profuturus of Braga
containing decisions on various questions of church discipline. Bishop
Auxanius and his successor, Aurelian of Arles, entered into
communication with the pope respecting the granting of the pallium as a
mark of the dignity and powers of a papal legate for Gaul; the pope
sent suitable letters to the two bishops. In the meantime new dogmatic
difficulties had been developing at Constantinople that were to give
the pope many hours of bitterness. In 543 Emperor Justinian issued a
decree which condemned the various heresies of Origen; this decree was
sent for signature both to the Oriental patriarchs and to Vigilius (cf.
ORIGEN AND ORIGENISM).
In order to draw Justinian's thoughts from Origenism, Theodore Askidas,
Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, called his attention to the fact that
the condemnation of various representatives of the Antiochene school,
who had championed Nestorianism, would make union with the Monophysites
much easier. The emperor, who laid much stress upon winning over the
Monophysites, agreed to this, and in 543 or 44 he issued a new edict
condemning the Three Chapters (see CONSTANTINOPLE, COUNCILS OF). The
Oriental patriarchs and bishops signed the condemnation of these Three
Chapters. In Western Europe, however, the procedure was considered
unjustifiable and dangerous, because it was feared that it would
detract from the importance of the Council of Chalcedon. Vigilius
refused to acknowledge the imperial edict and was called to
Constantinople by Justinian, in order to settle the matter there with a
synod. According to the Liber pontificalis on 20 November, while the
pope was celebrating the feast of St. Cecilia in the Church of St.
Cecilia in Trastevere, and before the service was fully ended, he was
ordered by the imperial official Anthimus to start at once on the
journey to Constantinople. The pope was taken immediately to a ship
that waited in the Tiber, in order to be carried to the eastern
capital, while a part of the populace cursed the pope and threw stones
at the ship. Rome was now besieged by the Goths under Totila and the
inhabitants fell into the greatest misery. Vigilius sent ships with
grain to Rome but these were captured by the enemy. If the story
related by the Liber pontificalis is essentially correct, the pope
probably left Rome on 22 November, 545. He remained for a long time in
Sicily, and reached Constantinople about the end of 546 or in January,
547.
Vigilius sought to persuade the emperor to send aid to the inhabitants
of Rome and Italy who were so hard pressed by the Goths. Justinian's
chief interest, however, was in the matter of the Three Chapters, and
as Vigilius was not ready to make concessions of this point and wavered
frequently in his measures, he had much to suffer. The change in his
position is to be explained by the fact that the condemnation of the
writings mentioned was justifiable essentially, yet appeared
inopportune and would lead to disastrous controversies with Western
Europe. Finally, Vigilius acknowledged in a letter of 8 Dec., 553, to
the Patriarch Eutychius the decisions of the Synod of Constantinople
and declared his judgment in detail in a Constitution of 26 February,
554. Thus at the end of a sorrowful residence of eight years at
Constantinople the pope was able, after coming to an understanding with
the emperor, to start on his return to Rome in the spring of 555. While
on the journey he died at Syracuse. His body was brought to Rome and
buried in the Basilica of Sylvester over the Catacomb of Priscilla on
the Via Salaria.
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536 Pope
Agapitus I
archdeacon opposed Monophysites Pope (RM)
Constantinópoli sancti Agapíti Papæ Primi, cujus
sánctitas a beáto Gregório Magno
commendátur. Ipsíus autem corpus, póstea
Romam relátum, in Vaticáno cónditum est.
At Constantinople, Pope St. Agapitus the First,
whose sanctity was praised by St. Gregory the Great. His body was
afterwards taken to Rome and buried in the Vatican.
Died in Constantinople on
April 22, 536. The
Roman
Agapitus, son of a
murdered priest named Gordian, was archdeacon of the Roman clergy and
an old man when elected pope on May 13, 535. As pope he showed great
vigor in opposing the Monophysites. He died while on a mission for the
Ostrogoth King Theodahad to convince Justinian to forego a threatened
invasion of Italy. Agapitus was unsuccessful, but while there he
convinced Justinian to remove Patriarch Anthimus, a Monophysite, and
replace him with Mennas, whom Agapitus consecrated. His body was taken
back to Rome on September 20, on which date a second feast is
celebrated in the Roman Martyrology. Like many other Italian saints on
the period, he owes his cultus to the devotion of Saint Gregory the
Great (Benedictines, Delaney).
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590-604 Pope St.
Gregory I ("the Great")
Doctor of the Church; born at Rome about 540; died 12 March
604.
Gregory
I. FROM BIRTH TO 574
Gregory's father was
Gordianus, a wealthy patrician, probably of the
famous gens Amicia, who owned large estates in Sicily and a mansion on
the Caelian Hill in Rome, the ruins of which, apparently in a wonderful
state of preservation, still await excavation beneath the Church of St.
Andrew and St. Gregory. His mother Silvia appears also to have been of
good family, but very little is known of her life. She is honoured as a
saint, her feast being kept on 3 November. Portraits of Gordianus and
Silvia were painted by Gregory's order, in the atrium of St. Andrew's
monastery, and a pleasing description of these may be found in John the
Deacon (Vita, IV, lxxxiii).
Besides his mother, two of Gregory's aunts have been
canonised,
Gordianus's two sisters, Tarsilla and Æmiliana, so that John the
Deacon speaks of his education as being that of a saint among saints.
Of his early years we know nothing beyond what the history
of the
period tells us. Between the years 546 and 552 Rome was first captured
by the Goths under Totila, and then abandoned by them; next it was
garrisoned by Belisarius, and besieged in vain by the Goths, who took
it again, however, after the recall of Belisarius, only to lose it once
more to Narses. Gregory's mind and memory were both exceptionally
receptive, and it is to the effect produced on him by these disasters
that we must attribute the tinge of sadness which pervades his writings
and especially his clear expectation of a speedy end to the world.
Of his education, we have no details. Gregory of Tours tells
us that in
grammar, rhetoric and dialectic he was so skilful as to be thought
second to none in all Rome, and it seems certain also that he must have
gone through a course of legal studies. Not least among the educating
influences was the religious atmosphere of his home. He loved to
meditate on the Scriptures and to listen attentively to the
conversations of his elders, so that he was "devoted to God from his
youth up".
His rank and prospects pointed him out naturally for a
public career,
and he doubtless held some of the subordinate offices wherein a young
patrician embarked on public life. That he acquitted himself well in
these appears certain, since we find him about the year 573, when
little more than thirty years old, filling the important office of
prefect of the city of Rome. At that date the brilliant post was shorn
of much of its old magnificence, and its responsibilities were reduced;
still it remained the highest civil dignity in the city, and it was
only after long prayer and inward struggle that Gregory decided to
abandon everything and become a monk. This event took place most
probably in 574.
His decision once taken, he devoted himself to the work and
austerities
of his new life with all the natural energy of his character. His
Sicilian estates were given up to found six monasteries there, and his
home on the Caelian Hill was converted into another under the patronage
of St. Andrew. Here he himself took the cowl, so that "he who had been
wont to go about the city clad in the trabea and aglow with silk and
jewels, now clad in a worthless garment served the altar of the Lord"
(Gregory of Tours, X, i).
II. AS MONK AND ABBOT (C. 574-590)
There has been much
discussion as to whether Gregory and his
fellow-monks at St. Andrew's followed the Rule of St. Benedict.
Baronius and others on his authority have denied this, while it has
been asserted as strongly by Mabillon and the Bollandists, who, in the
preface to the life of St. Augustine (26 May), retract the opinion
expressed earlier in the preface to St. Gregory's life (12 March). The
controversy is important only in view of the question as to the form of
monasticism introduced by St. Augustine into England, and it may be
said that Baronius's view is now practically abandoned.
For about three years Gregory lived in retirement in the
monastery of
St. Andrew, a period to which he often refers as the happiest portion
of his life. His great austerities during this time are recorded by the
biographers, and probably caused the weak health from which he
constantly suffered in later life.
However, he was soon drawn out of his seclusion, when, in
578, the pope
ordained him, much against his will, as one of the seven deacons
(regionarii) of Rome. The period was one of acute crisis. The Lombards
were advancing rapidly towards the city, and the only chance of safety
seemed to be in obtaining help from the Emperor Tiberius at Byzantium.
Pope Pelagius II accordingly dispatched a special embassy to Tiberius,
and sent Gregory along with it as his apocrisiarius, or permanent
ambassador to the Court of Byzantium. The date of this new appointment
seems to have been the spring of 579, and it lasted apparently for
about six years.
Nothing could have been more uncongenial to Gregory than the
worldly
atmosphere of the brilliant Byzantine Court, and to counteract its
dangerous influence he followed the monastic life so far as
circumstances permitted. This was made easier by the fact that several
of his brethren from St. Andrew's accompanied him to Constantinople.
With them he prayed and studied the Scriptures, one result of which
remains in his "Morals", or series of lectures on the Book of Job,
composed during this period at the request of St. Leander of Seville,
whose acquaintance Gregory made during his stay in Constantinople.
Much attention was attracted to Gregory by his controversy
with
Eutychius, Patriarch of Constantinople, concerning the Resurrection.
Eutychius had published a treatise on the subject maintaining that the
risen bodies of the elect would be "impalpable, more light than air".
To this view Gregory objected the palpability of Christ's risen body.
The dispute became prolonged and bitter, till at length the emperor
intervened, both combatants being summoned to a private audience, where
they stated their views. The emperor decided that Gregory was in the
right, and ordered Eutychius's book to the burned. The strain of the
struggle had been so great that both fell ill. Gregory recovered, but
the patriarch succumbed, recanting his error on his death bed.
Mention should be made of
the curious fact that, although Gregory's
sojourn at Constantinople lasted for six years, he seems never to have
mastered even the rudiments of Greek. Possibly he found that the use of
an interpreter had its advantages, but he often complains of the
incapacity of those employed for this purpose. It must be owned that,
so far as obtaining help for Rome was concerned, Gregory's stay at
Constantinople was a failure. However, his period as ambassador taught
him very plainly a lesson which was to bear great fruit later on when
he ruled in Rome as pope. This was the important fact that no help was
any longer to be looked for from Byzantium, with the corollary that, if
Rome and Italy were to be saved at all, it could only be by vigorous
independent action of the powers on the spot. Humanly speaking, it is
to the fact that Gregory had acquired this conviction that his later
line of action with all its momentous consequences is due.
In the year 586, or possibly 585, he was recalled to Rome,
and with the
greatest joy returned to St. Andrew's, of which he became abbot soon
afterwards. The monastery grew famous under his energetic rule,
producing many monks who won renown later, and many vivid pictures of
this period may be found in the "Dialogues".
Gregory gave much of his time to lecturing on the Holy
Scripture and is
recorded to have expounded to his monks the Heptateuch, Books of Kings,
the Prophets, the Book of Proverbs, and the Canticle of Canticles.
Notes of these lectures were taken at the time by a young student named
Claudius, but when transcribed were found by Gregory to contain so many
errors that he insisted on their being given to him for correction and
revision. Apparently this was never done, for the existing fragments of
such works attributed to Gregory are almost certainly spurious.
At this period, however, one important literary enterprise
was
certainly completed. This was the revision and publication of the
"Magna Moralia", or lectures on the Book of Job, undertaken in
Constantinople at the request of St. Leander. In one of his letters
(Ep., V, liii) Gregory gives an interesting account of the origin of
this work.
To this period most probably should be assigned the famous
incident of
Gregory's meeting with the English youths in the Forum. The first
mention of the event is in the Whitby life (c, ix), and the whole story
seems to be an English tradition. It is worth notice, therefore, that
in the St. Gall manuscript the Angles do not appear as slave boys
exposed for sale, but as men visiting Rome of their own free will, whom
Gregory expressed a desire to see. It is Venerable Bede (Hist. Eccl.,
II, i) who first makes them slaves.
In consequence of this
meeting Gregory was so fixed with desire to
convert the Angles that he obtained permission from Pelagius II to go
in person to Britain with some of his fellow-monks as missionaries. The
Romans, however, were greatly incensed at the pope's act. With angry
words they demanded Gregory's recall, and messengers were at once
dispatched to bring him back to Rome, if necessary by force. These men
caught up with the little band of missionaries on the third day after
their departure, and at once returned with them, Gregory offering no
opposition, since he had received what appeared to him as a sign from
heaven that his enterprise should be abandoned.
The strong feeling of the Roman populace that Gregory must
not be
allowed to leave Rome is a sufficient proof of the position he now held
there. He was in fact the chief adviser and assistant of Pelagius II,
towards whom he seems to have acted very much in the capacity of
secretary (see the letter of the Bishop of Ravenna to Gregory, Epp.,
III, lxvi, "Sedem apostolicam, quam antae moribus nunc etiam honore
debito gubernatis"). In this capacity, probably in 586, Gregory wrote
his important letter to the schismatical bishops of Istria who had
separated from communion with the Church on the question of the Three
Chapters (Epp., Appendix, III, iii). This document, which is almost a
treatise in length, is an admirable example of Gregory's skill, but it
failed to produce any more effort than Pelagius's two previous letters
had, and the schism continued.
The year 589 was one of widespread disaster throughout all
the empire.
In Italy there was an unprecedented inundation. Farms and houses were
carried away by the floods. The Tiber overflowed its banks, destroying
numerous buildings, among them the granaries of the Church with all the
store of corn. Pestilence followed on the floods, and Rome became a
very city of the dead. Business was at a standstill, and the streets
were deserted save for the wagons which bore forth countless corpses
for burial in common pits beyond the city walls.
Then, in February, 590, as if to fill the cup of misery to
the brim,
Pelagius II died. The choice of a successor lay with the clergy and
people of Rome, and without any hesitation they elected Gregory, Abbot
of St. Andrew's. In spite of their unanimity Gregory shrank from the
dignity thus offered him. He knew, no doubt, that its acceptance meant
a final good-bye to the cloister life he loved, and so he not only
refused to accede to the prayers of his fellow citizens but also wrote
personally to the Emperor Maurice, begging him with all earnestness not
to confirm the election. Germanus, prefect of the city, suppressed this
letter, however, and sent instead of it the formal schedule of the
election.
In the interval while awaiting the emperor's reply the
business of the
vacant see was transacted by Gregory, in commission with two or three
other high officials. As the plague still continued unabated, Gregory
called upon the people to join in a vast sevenfold procession which was
to start from each of the seven regions of the city and meet at the
Basilica of the Blessed Virgin, all praying the while for pardon and
the withdrawal of the pestilence. This was accordingly done, and the
memory of the event is still preserved by the name "Sant' Angelo" given
to the mausoleum of Hadrian from the legend that the Archangel St.
Michael was seen upon its summit in the act of sheathing his sword as a
sign that the plague was over.
At length, after six
months of waiting, came the emperor's confirmation
of Gregory's election. The saint was terrified at the news and even
meditated flight. He was seized, however, carried to the Basilica of
St. Peter, and there consecrated pope on 3 September, 590. The story
that Gregory actually fled the city and remained hidden in a forest for
three days, when his whereabouts was revealed by a supernatural light,
seems to be pure invention. It appears for the first time in the Whitby
life (c. vii), and is directly contrary to the words of his
contemporary, Gregory of Tours (Hist. Franc., X, i). Still he never
ceased to regret his elevation, and his later writings contain
numberless expressions of strong feeling on this point.
III. AS POPE (590-604)
Fourteen years of life remained to Gregory, and into these
he crowded
work enough to have exhausted the energies of a lifetime. What makes
his achievement more wonderful is his constant ill-health. He suffered
almost continually from indigestion and, at intervals, from attacks of
slow fever, while for the last half of his pontificate he was a martyr
to gout. In spite of these infirmities, which increased steadily, his
biographer, Paul the Deacon, tells us "he never rested" (Vita, XV). His
work as pope is of so varied a nature that it will be best to take it
in sections, although this destroys any exact chronological sequence.
At the very outset of his pontificate Gregory published his
"Liber
pastoralis curae", or book on the office of a bishop, in which he lays
down clearly the lines he considers it his duty to follow. The work,
which regards the bishop pre-eminently as the physician of souls, is
divided into four parts.
He points out in the first that only one skilled already as
a physician
of the soul is fitted to undertake the "supreme rule" of the
episcopate.
In the second he describes how the bishop's life should be
ordered from
a spiritual point of view;
in the third, how he ought to teach and admonish those under
him,
and in the fourth how, in spite of his good works, he ought
to bear in
mind his own weakness, since the better his work the greater the danger
of falling through self-confidence.
This little work is the key to Gregory's life as pope, for
what he
preached he practiced. Moreover, it remained for centuries the textbook
of the Catholic episcopate, so that by its influence the ideal of the
great pope has moulded the character of the Church, and his spirit has
spread into all lands.
(1) Life and Work in Rome
As pope Gregory still lived with monastic simplicity. One of
his first
acts was to banish all the lay attendants, pages, etc., from the
Lateran palace, and substitute clerics in their place. There was now no
magister militum living in Rome, so the control even of military
matters fell to the pope. The inroads of the Lombards had filled the
city with a multitude of indigent refugees, for whose support Gregory
made provision, using for this purpose the existing machinery of the
ecclesiastical districts, each of which had its deaconry or "office of
alms". The corn thus distributed came chiefly from Sicily and was
supplied by the estates of the Church.
The temporal needs of his people being thus provided for,
Gregory did
not neglect their spiritual wants, and a large number of his sermons
have come down to us. It was he who instituted the "stations" still
observed and noted in the Roman Missal. He met the clergy and people at
some church previously agreed upon, and all together went in procession
to the church of the station, where Mass was celebrated and the pope
preached. These sermons, which drew immense crowds, are mostly simple,
popular expositions of Scripture. Chiefly remarkable is the preacher's
mastery of the Bible, which he quotes unceasingly, and his regular use
of anecdote to illustrate the point in hand, in which respect he paves
the way for the popular preachers of the Middle Ages. In July, 595,
Gregory held his first synod in St. Peter's, which consisted almost
wholly of the bishops of the suburbicarian sees and the priests of the
Roman titular churches. Six decrees dealing with ecclesiastical
discipline were passed, some of them merely confirming changes already
made by the pope on his own authority.
Much controversy still exists as to the exact extent of
Gregory's
reforms of the Roman Liturgy. All admit that he did make the following
modifications in the pre-existing practice:
In the Canon of the Mass he inserted the words "diesque
nostros in tua
pace disponas, atque ab aeterna damnatione nos eripi, et in electorum
tuorum jubras grege numerari";
he ordered the Pater Noster to be recited in the Canon
before the
breaking of the Host;
he provided that the Alleluia should be chanted after the
Gradual out
of paschal time, to which period, apparently, the Roman use had
previously confined it;
he prohibited the use of the chasuble by subdeacons
assisting at Mass;
he forbade deacons to perform any of the musical portions of
the Mass
other than singing the Gospel.
Beyond these and some few minor points it seems impossible
to conclude
with certainty what changes Gregory did make. As to the much-disputed
question of the Gregorian Sacramentary and the almost more difficult
point of his relation to the plain song or chant of the Church, for
Gregory's connection with which matters the earliest authority seems to
be John the Deacon (Vita, II, vi, Xvii), see GREGORIAN CHANT;
SACRAMENTARY.
There is no lack of
evidence, however, to illustrate Gregory's activity
as manager of the patrimony of St. Peter. By his day the estates of the
Church had reached vast dimensions. Varying estimates place their total
area at from 1300 to 1800 square miles, and there seems no reason for
supposing this to be an exaggeration, while the income arising
therefrom was probably not less than $1,500,000 a year. The land lay in
many places — Campania, Africa, Sicily, and elsewhere — and, as their
landlord, Gregory displayed a skill in finance and estate management
which excites our admiration no less than it did the surprise of his
tenants and agents, who suddenly found that they had a new master who
was not to be deceived or cheated.
The management of each patrimony was carried out by a number
of agents
of varying grades and duties under an official called the rector or
defensor of the patrimony. Previously the rectors had usually been
laymen, but Gregory established the custom of appointing ecclesiastics
to the post. In doing this he probably had in view the many extra
duties of an ecclesiastical nature which he called upon them to
undertake. Thus examples may be found of such rectors being
commissioned to undertake the filling up of vacant sees, holding of
local synods, taking action against heretics, providing for the
maintenance of churches and monasteries, rectifying abuses in the
churches of their district, with the enforcing of ecclesiastical
discipline and even the reproof and correction of local bishops. Still
Gregory never allowed the rectors to interfere in such matters on their
own responsibility.
In the minutiae of estate management nothing was too small
for
Gregory's personal notice, from the exact number of sextarii in a
modius of corn, or how many solidi went to one golden pound, to the use
of false weights by certain minor agents. He finds time to write
instructions on every detail and leaves no complaint unattended to,
even from the humblest of his multitude of tenants. Throughout the
large number of letters which deal with the management of the
patrimony, the pope's determination to secure a scrupulously righteous
administration is evident. As bishop, he is the trustee of God and St.
Peter, and his agents must show that they realize this by their
conduct. Consequently, under his able management the estates of the
Church increased steadily in value, the tenants were contented, and the
revenues paid in with unprecedented regularity.
The only fault ever laid at his door in this matter is that,
by his
boundless charities, he emptied his treasury. But this, if a fault at
all, was a natural consequence of his view that he was the
administrator of the property of the poor, for whom he could never do
enough.
(2) Relations with the
Suburbicarian Churches
As patriarchs of the West the popes exercise a special
jurisdiction
over and above their universal primacy as successors of St. Peter; and
among Western churches, this jurisdiction extends in a most intimate
manner over the churches of Italy and the isles adjacent.
On the mainland much of this territory was in the hands of
the
Lombards, with whose Arian clergy Gregory was, of course, not in
communion. Whenever opportunity offered, however, he was careful to
provide for the needs of the faithful in these parts, frequently
uniting them to some neighboring diocese, when they were too few to
occupy the energies of a bishop.
On the islands, of which Sicily was by far the most
important, the
pre-existing church system was maintained. Gregory appointed a vicar,
usually the metropolitan of the province, who exercised a general
supervision over the whole church. He also insisted strongly on the
holding of local synods as ordered by the Council of Nicaea, and
letters of his exist addressed to bishops in Sicily, Sardinia, and Gaul
reminding them of their duties in this respect.
The supreme instance of Gregory's intervention in the
affairs of these
dioceses occurs in the case of Sardinia, where the behaviour of
Januarius the half-witted, aged Metropolitan of Cagliari, had reduced
the church to a state of semi-chaos.
A large number of letters relate to the reforms instituted
by the pope
(Epp., II, xlvii; III, xxxvi; IV, ix,xxiii-xxvii, xxix; V, ii; IX, i,
xi, ccii-cciv; XIV, ii). His care over the election of a new bishop
whenever a vacancy occurs is shown in many cases, and if, after his
examination of the elect, which is always a searching one, he finds him
unfitted for the post, he has no hesitation in rejecting him and
commanding another to be chosen (Epp., I, lv, lvi; VII, xxxviii; X,
vii).
With regard to discipline the pope was specially strict in
enforcing
the Church's laws as to the celibacy of the clergy (Epp., I, xlii, 1;
IV. v, xxvi, xxxiv; VII, i; IX, cx, ccxviii; X, xix; XI, lvi a; XIII,
xxxviii, xxxix); the exemption of clerics from lay tribunals (Epp., I,
xxxix a; VI, xi, IX, liii, lxxvi, lxxix; X, iv; XI, xxxii; XIII, 1);
and the deprivation of all ecclesiastics guilty of criminal or
scandalous offences (Epp., I, xviii, xlii; III, xlix; IV, xxvi; V, v,
xvii, xviii; VII, xxxix; VIII, xxiv; IX, xxv; XII, iii, x, xi; XIV,
ii). He was also inflexible with regard to the proper application of
church revenues, insisting that others should be as strict as he was in
disposing of these funds for their proper ends (Epp., I, x, lxiv; II,
xx-xxii; III, xxii; IV, xi; V, xii, xlviii; VIII, vii; XI, xxii, lvi a;
XIII, xlvi; XIV, ii).
(3) Relations with Other
Churches
With regard to the other Western Churches limits of space
prevent any
detailed account of Gregory's dealings, but the following quotation,
all the more valuable as coming from a Protestant authority, indicates
very clearly the line he followed herein:
"In his dealings with the Churches of the West, Gregory
acted
invariably on the assumption that all were subject to the jurisdiction
of the Roman See. Of the rights claimed or exercised by his
predecessors he would not abate one tittle; on the contrary, he did
everything in his power to maintain, strengthen, and extend what he
regarded as the just prerogatives of the papacy. It is true that he
respected the privileges of the Western metropolitans, and disapproved
of unnecessary interference within the sphere of their jurisdiction
canonically exercised... But of his general principle there can be
no doubt whatever" (Dudden, I, 475).
In view of later developments Gregory's dealings with the
Oriental
Churches, and with Constantinople in particular, have a special
importance. There cannot be the smallest doubt that Gregory claimed for
the Apostolic See, and for himself as pope, a primacy not of honor, but
of supreme authority over the Church Universal. In Epp., XIII, l, he
speaks of "the Apostolic See, which is the head of all Churches", and
in Epp., V, cliv, he says: "I, albeit unworthy, have been set up in
command of the Church." As successor of St. Peter, the pope had
received from God a primacy over all Churches (Epp., II, xlvi; III,
xxx; V, xxxvii; VII, xxxvii). His approval it was which gave force to
the decrees of councils or synods (Epp., IX, clvi), and his authority
could annul them (Epp., V, xxxix, xli, xliv). To him appeals might be
made even against other patriarchs, and by him bishops were judged and
corrected if need were (Epp., II, l; III, lii, lxiii; IX, xxvi, xxvii).
This position naturally made it impossible for him to permit
the use of
the title Ecumenical Bishop assumed by the Patriarch of Constantinople,
John the Faster, at a synod held in 588. Gregory protested, and a long
controversy followed, the question still at issue when the pope died. A
discussion of this controversy is needless here, but it is important as
showing how completely Gregory regarded the Eastern patriarchs as being
subject to himself; "As regards the Church of Constantinople," he
writes in Epp., IX, xxvi, "who can doubt that it is subject to the
Apostolic See? Why, both our most religious lord the emperor, and our
brother the Bishop of Constantinople continually acknowledge it."
At the same time the pope was most careful not to interfere
with the
canonical rights of the other patriarchs and bishops. With the other
Oriental patriarchs his relations were most cordial, as appears from
his letters to the patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria.
(4) Relations with the Lombards and the Franks
Gregory's consecration as pope preceded by a few days only
the death of
Authari, King of the Lombards, whose queen, the famous Theodelinde,
then married Agilulf, Duke of Turin, a warlike and energetic prince.
With Agilulf and the Dukes Ariulf of Spoleto and Arichis of Benevento,
Gregory soon had to deal, as, when difficulties arose, Romanus, the
exarch, or representative, of the emperor, preferred to remain in sulky
inactivity at Ravenna.
It soon became clear that,
if any successful resistance was to be made
against the Lombards, it must be by the pope's own exertions. How
keenly he felt the difficulty and danger of his position appears in
some of the earliest letters (Epp., I, iii, viii, xxx); but no actual
hostilities began till the summer of 592, when the pope received a
threatening letter from Ariulf of Spoleto, which was followed almost
immediately by the appearance of that chief before the walls of Rome.
At the same time Arichis of Benevento advanced on Naples, which
happened at the moment to have no bishop nor any officer of high rank
in command of the garrison. Gregory at once took the surprising step of
appointing a tribune on his own authority to take command of the city
(Epp., II, xxxiv), and, when no notice of this strong action was taken
by the imperial authorities, the pope conceived the idea of himself
arranging a separate peace with the Lombards (Epp., II, xlv). No
details of this peace have come down to us, but it seems certain that
it was actually concluded (Epp., V, xxxvi). Dr. Hodgkin (Italy and her
Invaders, v, 366) pronounces Gregory's action herein to have been wise
and statesmanlike, but, at the same time, undoubtedly ultra vires,
being quite beyond any legal competency then possessed by the pope, who
thus "made a memorable stride towards complete independence".
Gregory's independent action had the effect of rousing up
Romanus the
exarch. Wholly ignoring the papal peace, he gathered all his troops,
attacked and regained Perugia, and then marched to Rome, where he was
received with imperial honours. The next spring, however, he quitted
the city and took away its garrison with him, so that both pope and
citizens were now more exasperated against him than before. Moreover,
the exarch's campaign had roused the Northern Lombards, and King
Agilulf marched on Rome, arriving there probably some time in June,
593. The terror aroused by his advance is still mirrored for us in
Gregory's homilies on the Prophet Ezechiel, which were delivered at
this time. The siege of the city was soon abandoned, however, and
Agilulf retired. The continuator of Prosper (Mon. Germ. SS. Antiq., IX,
339) relates that Agilulf met the pope in person on the steps of the
Basilica of St. Peter, which was then outside the city walls, and
"being melted by Gregory's prayers and greatly moved by the wisdom and
religious gravity of this great man, he broke up the siege of the
city"; but, in view of the silence both of Gregory himself and of Paul
the Deacon on the point, the story seems scarcely probable. In Epp., V,
xxxix, Gregory refers to himself as "the paymaster of the Lombards",
and most likely a large payment from the papal treasury was the chief
inducement to raise the siege.
The pope's great desire now was to secure a lasting peace
with the
Lombards, which could only be achieved by a proper arrangement between
the imperial authorities and the Lombard chiefs. On Queen Theodelinde,
a Catholic and a personal friend, Gregory placed all his hopes. The
exarch, however, looked at the whole affair in another light, and, when
a whole year was passed in fruitless negotiations, Gregory began once
again to mediate a private treaty. Accordingly, in May, 595, the pope
wrote to a friend at Ravenna a letter (Epp., V, xxxiv) threatening to
make peace with Agilulf even without the consent of the Exarch Romanus.
This threat was speedily reported to Constantinople, where the exarch
was in high favour, and the Emperor Maurice at once sent off to Gregory
a violent letter, now lost, accusing him of being both a traitor and a
fool. This letter Gregory received in June, 595. Luckily, the pope's
answer has been preserved to us (Epp., V, xxxvi). It must be read in
its entirety to be appreciated fully; probably very few emperors, if
any, have ever received such a letter from a subject. Still, in spite
of his scathing reply, Gregory seems to have realized that independent
action could not secure what he wished, and we hear no more about a
separate peace.
Gregory's relations with
the Exarch Romanus became continually more and
more strained until the latter's death in the year 596 or early in 597.
The new exarch, Callinicus, was a man of far greater ability and well
disposed towards the pope, whose hopes now revived. The official peace
negotiations were pushed on, and, in spite of delays, the articles were
at length signed in 599, to Gregory's great joy. This peace lasted two
years, but in 601 the war broke out again through an aggressive act on
the part of Callinicus, who was recalled two years later, when his
successor, Smaragdus, again made a peace with the Lombards which
endured until after Gregory's death.
Two points stand out for special notice in Gregory's
dealings with the
Lombards: first, his determination that, in spite of the apathy of the
imperial authorities, Rome should not pass into the hands of some
half-civilized Lombard duke and so sink into insignificance and decay;
second, his independent action in appointing governors to cities,
providing munitions of war, giving instructions to generals, sending
ambassadors to the Lombard king, and even negotiating a peace without
the exarch's aid. Whatever the theory may have been, there is no doubt
about the fact that, besides his spiritual jurisdiction, Gregory
actually exercised no small amount of temporal power.
Of Gregory's relations with the Franks there is no need to
write at
length, as the intercourse he established with the Frankish kings
practically lapsed at his death, and was not renewed for about a
hundred years. On the other hand he exercised a great influence on
Frankish monasticism, which he did much to strengthen and reshape, so
that the work done by the monasteries in civilizing the wild Franks may
be attributed ultimately to the first monk-pope.
(5) Relations with the Imperial Government
The reign of Gregory the Great marks an epoch in papal
history, and
this is specially the case in respect to his attitude towards the
imperial Government centered at Constantinople. Gregory seems to have
looked upon Church and State as co-operating to form a united whole,
which acted in two distinct spheres, ecclesiastical and secular. Over
this commonwealth were the pope and the emperor, each supreme in his
own department, care being taken to keep these as far as possible
distinct and independent.
The latter point was the difficulty. Gregory definitely held
that it
was a duty of the secular ruler to protect the Church and preserve the
"peace of the faith" (Mor., XXXI, viii), and so he is often found to
call in the aid of the secular arm, not merely to suppress schism,
heresy, or idolatry, but even to enforce discipline among monks and
clergy (Epp., I, lxxii; II, xxix; III, lix; IV, vii, xxxii; V, xxxii;
VIII, iv; XI, xii, xxxvii; XIII, xxxvi). If the emperor interfered in
church matters the pope's policy was to acquiesce if possible, unless
obedience was sinful, according to the principle laid down in Epp. XI,
xxix; "Quod ipse [se imperator] fecerit, si canonicum est, sequimur; si
vero canonicum non est, in quantum sine peccato nostro, portamus." In
taking this line Gregory was undoubtedly influenced by his deep
reverence for the emperor, whom he regarded as the representative of
God in all things secular, and must still be treated with all possible
respect, even when he encroached on the borders of the papal authority.
On his side, although he
certainly regarded himself as "superior in
place and rank" to the exarch (Epp., II, xiv), Gregory objected
strongly to the interference of ecclesiastical authorities in matters
secular. As supreme guardian of Christian justice, the pope was always
ready to intercede for, or protect anyone who suffered unjust treatment
(Epp., I, xxxv, xxxvi, xlvii, lix; III, v; V, xxxviii; IX, iv, xlvi,
lv, cxiii, clxxxii; XI, iv), but at the same time he used the utmost
tact in approaching the imperial officials. In Epp., I, xxxix a, he
explains for the benefit of his Sicilian agent the precise attitude to
be adopted in such matters.
Still, in conjunction with all this deference, Gregory
retained a
spirit of independence which enabled him, when he considered it
necessary, to address even the emperor in terms of startling
directness. Space makes it impossible to do more than refer to the
famous letters to the Emperor Phocas on his usurpation and the
allusions in them to the murdered Emperor Maurice (Epp., XIII, xxxiv,
xli, xlii). Every kind of judgement has been passed upon Gregory for
writing these letters, but the question remains a difficult one.
Probably the pope's conduct herein was due to two things: first, his
ignorance of the way in which Phocus had reached the throne; and
second, his view that the emperor was God's representative on earth,
and therefore deserving of all possible respect in his official
capacity, his personal character not coming into the question at all.
It should be noted, also, that he avoids any direct flattery towards
the new emperor, merely using the exaggerated phrases of respect then
customary, and expressing the high hopes he entertains of the new
regime. Moreover, his allusions to Maurice refer to the sufferings of
the people under his government, and do not reflect on the dead emperor
himself.
Had the empire been sound instead of in a hopelessly rotten
state when
Gregory became pope, it is hard to say how his views might have worked
out in practice. As it was, his line of strong independence, his
efficiency, and his courage carried all before them, and when he died
there was no longer any question as to who was the first power in
Italy.
(6) Missionary Work
Gregory's zeal for the conversion of the heathen, and in
particular of
the Angles, has been mentioned already, and there is no need to dwell
at length on the latter subject, as it has been fully treated under
SAINT AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY. In justice to the great pope, however,
it must be added that he lost no opportunity for the exercise of his
missionary zeal, making every effort to root out paganism in Gaul,
Donatism in Africa, and the Schism of the Three Chapters in North Italy
and Istria.
In his treatment of heretics, schismatics, and pagans his
method was to
try every means — persuasions, exhortations, threats — before resorting
to force; but, if gentler treatment failed, he had no hesitation in
accordance with the ideas of his age, in resorting to compulsion, and
invoking the aid of the secular arm therein. It is curious, therefore,
to find him acting as a champion and protector of the Jews. In Epp., I,
xiv, he expressly deprecates the compulsory baptism of Jews, and many
instances appear in which he insists on their right to liberty of
action, so far as the law permitted, both in civil affairs and in the
worship of the synagogue (Epp., I, xxxiv; II, vi; VIII, xxv; IX,
xxxviii, cxcv; XIII, xv). He was equally strong, however, in preventing
the Jews from exceeding the rights granted to them by the imperial law,
especially with regard to the ownership by them of Christian slaves
(Epp., II, vi; III, xxxvii; IV, ix, xxi; VI, xxix; VII, xxi; VIII, xxi;
IX, civ, ccxiii, ccxv). We shall probably be right, therefore, in
attributing Gregory's protection of the Jews to his respect for law and
justice, rather than to any ideas of toleration differing from those
current at the time.
(7) Gregory and Monasticism
Although the first monk to become pope, Gregory was in no
sense an
original contributor to monastic ideals or practice. He took
monasticism as he found it established by St. Benedict, and his efforts
and influence were given to strengthening and enforcing the
prescriptions of that greatest of monastic legislators. His position
did indeed tend to modify St. Benedict's work by drawing it into a
closer connection with the organization with the organization of the
Church, and with the papacy in particular, but this was not
deliberately aimed at by Gregory. Rather he was himself convinced that
the monastic system had a very special value for the Church, and so he
did everything in his power to diffuse and propagate it. His own
property was consecrated to this end, he urged many wealthy people to
establish or support monasteries, and he used the revenues of the
patrimony for the same purpose.
He was relentless in correcting abuses and enforcing
discipline, the
letters on such matters being far too numerous for mention here, and
the points on which he insists most are precisely those, such as
stability and poverty, on which St. Benedict's recent legislation had
laid special stress. Twice only do we find anything like direct
legislation by the pope. The first point is that of the age at which a
nun might be made abbess, which he fixes at "not less than sixty years"
(Epp., IV, xi),. The second is his lengthening of the period of
novitiate. St. Benedict had prescribed at least one year (Reg. Ben.,
lviii); Gregory (Epp., X, ix) orders two years, with special
precautions in the case of slaves who wished to become monks.
More important was his
line of action in the difficult question of the
relation between monks and their bishop. There is plenty of evidence to
show that many bishops took advantage of their position to oppress and
burden the monasteries in their diocese, with the result that the monks
appealed to the pope for protection. Gregory, while always upholding
the spiritual jurisdiction of the bishop, was firm in support of the
monks against any illegal aggression. All attempts on the part of a
bishop to assume new powers over the monks in his diocese were
condemned, while at times the pope issued documents, called Privilegia,
in which he definitely set forth certain points on which the monks were
exempt from episcopal control (Epp., V, xlix; VII, xii; VIII, xvii;
XII, xi, xii, xiii). This action on Gregory's part undoubtedly began
the long progress by which the monastic bodies have come to be under
the direct control of the Holy See.
It should be mentioned that in Gregory's day the current
view was that
ecclesiastical work, such as the cure of souls, preaching,
administering the sacraments, etc., was not compatible with the
monastic state, and in this view the pope concurred. On the other hand
a passage in Epp., XII, iv, where he directs that a certain layman
"should be tonsured either as a monk or a subdeacon", would suggest
that the pope held the monastic state as in some way equivalent to the
ecclesiastical; for his ultimate intention in this case was to promote
the layman in question to the episcopate.
(8) Death, Canonization, Relics, Emblem
The last years of Gregory's life were filled with every kind
of
suffering. His mind, naturally serious, was filled with despondent
forebodings, and his continued bodily pains were increased and
intensified. His "sole consolation was the hope that death would come
quickly" (Epp., XIII, xxvi). The end came on 12 March, 604, and on the
same day his body was laid to rest in front of the sacristy in the
portico of St. Peter's Basilica. Since then the relics have been moved
several times, the most recent translation being that by Paul V in
1606, when they were placed in the chapel of Clement V near the
entrance of the modern sacristy. There is some evidence that the body
was taken to Soissons in France in the year 826, but probably only some
large relic is meant.
Venerable Bede (Hist. Eccl., II, i) gives the epitaph placed
on his
tomb which contains the famous phrase referring to Gregory as consul
Dei. His canonization by popular acclamation followed at once on his
death, and survived a reaction against his memory which seems to have
occurred soon afterwards.
In art the great pope is
usually shown in full pontifical robes with
the tiara and double cross. A dove is his special emblem, in allusion
to the well-known story recorded by Peter the Deacon (Vita, xxviii),
who tells that when the pope was dictating his homilies on Ezechiel a
veil was drawn between his secretary and himself. As, however, the pope
remained silent for long periods at a time, the servant made a hole in
the curtain and, looking through, beheld a dove seated upon Gregory's
head with its beak between his lips. When the dove withdrew its beak
the holy pontiff spoke and the secretary took down his words; but when
he became silent the servant again applied his eye to the hole and saw
the dove had replaced its beak between his lips. The miracles
attributed to Gregory are very many, but space forbids even the barest
catalogue of them.
(9) Conclusion
It is beyond the scope of this notice to attempt any
elaborate estimate
of the work, influence, and character of Pope Gregory the Great, but
some short focusing of the features given above is only just.
First of all, perhaps, it will be best to clear the ground
by admitting
frankly what Gregory was not. He was not a man of profound learning,
not a philosopher, not a conversationalist, hardly even a theologian in
the constructive sense of the term. He was a trained Roman lawyer and
administrator, a monk, a missionary, a preacher, above all a physician
of souls and a leader of men. His great claim to remembrance lies in
the fact that he is the real father of the medieval papacy (Milman).
With regard to things spiritual, he impressed upon men's
minds to a
degree unprecedented the fact that the See of Peter was the one
supreme, decisive authority in the Catholic Church. During his
pontificate, he established close relations between the Church of Rome
and those of Spain, Gaul, Africa, and Illyricum, while his influence in
Britain was such that he is justly called the Apostle of the English.
In the Eastern Churches, too, the papal authority was exercised with a
frequency unusual before his time, and we find no less an authority
than the Patriarch of Alexandria submitting himself humbly to the
pope's "commands". The system of appeals to Rome was firmly
established, and the pope is found to veto or confirm the decrees of
synods, to annul the decisions of patriarchs, and inflict punishment on
ecclesiastical dignitaries precisely as he thinks right.
Nor is his work less noteworthy in its effect on the
temporal position
of the papacy. Seizing the opportunity which circumstances offered, he
made himself in Italy a power stronger than emperor or exarch, and
established a political influence which dominated the peninsula for
centuries. From this time forth the varied populations of Italy looked
to the pope for guidance, and Rome as the papal capital continued to be
the centre of the Christian world.
Gregory's work as a
theologian and Doctor of the Church is less
notable. In the history of dogmatic development he is important as
summing up the teaching of the earlier Fathers and consolidating it
into a harmonious whole, rather than as introducing new developments,
new methods, new solutions of difficult questions. It was precisely
because of this that his writings became to a great extent the
compendium theologiae or textbook of the Middle Ages, a position for
which his work in popularizing his great predecessors fitted him well.
Achievements so varied have won for Gregory the title of "the Great",
but perhaps, among our English-speaking races, he is honoured most of
all as the pope who loved the bright-faced Angles, and taught them
first to sing the Angels' song.
HIS WRITINGS
Genuine, Doubtful, Spurious
Of the writings commonly attributed to Gregory the following
are now
admitted as genuine on all hands: "Moralium Libri XXXV"; "Regulae
Pastoralis Liber"; "Dialogorum Libri IV"; "Homiliarum in Ezechielem
Prophetam Libri II"; "Homiliarum in Evangelia Libri II"; "Epistolarum
Libri XIV". The following are almost certainly spurious: "In Librum
Primum Regum Variarum Expositionum Libri VI"; "expositio super Cantica
Canticorum"; "Expositio in VII Psalmos Poenitentiales"; "Concordia
Quorundam Testimoniorum S. Scripturae". Besides the above there are
attributed to Gregory certain liturgical hymns, the Gregorian
Sacramentary, and the Antiphonary. (See ANTIPHONARY; SACRAMENTARY.)
Works of Gregory; complete or partial editions;
translations,
recensions, etc.
"Opera S. Gregorii Magni" (Editio princeps, Paris, 1518);
ed. P.
Tossianensis (6 vols., Rome, 1588-03); ed. P. Goussainville (3 vols.,
Paris, 1675); ed. Cong. S. Mauri (Sainte-Marthe) (4 vols., Paris,
1705); the last-named re-edited with additions by J. B. Gallicioli (17
vols., Venice, 1768-76) and reprinted in Migne, P.L., LXXV-LXXIX.
"Epistolae", ed. P. Ewald and L. M. Hartmann in "Mon. Germ. Hist.:
Epist.", I, II (Berlin, 1891-99); this is the authoritative edition of
the text of the Epistles (all references given above are to this
edition); Jaffe, "Regesta Pontif," (2nd ed., Rome, 1885), I, 143-219;
II, 738; Turchi, "S. Greg. M. Epp. Selectae" (Rome, 1907); P. Ewald,
"Studien zur Ausgabe des Registers Gregors I." in "Neues Archiv", III,
433-625; L.M. Hartmann in "Neues Archiv", XV, 411, 529; XVII, 493; Th.
Mommsen in "Neues Archiv", XVII, 189; English translation: J. Barmby,
"Selected Epistles" in "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers", 2nd Series,
XII, XIII (Oxford and New York, 1895, 1898), "Regula Pastoralis Curae",
ed. E. W. Westhoff (Munster, 1860); ed. H. Hurter, S.J., in "SS. Patr.
Opuse. Select.", XX; ed. A.M. Micheletti (Tournai, 1904); ed. B. Sauter
(Freiburg, 1904); English translations: "King Alfred's West Saxon
Version of Gregory's Pastoral Care", ed. H. Sweet (London, 1871); "The
Book of Pastoral Care" (tr. J. Barmby) in "Nicene and Post-Nicene
Fathers", 2nd Series, XII (Oxford and New York, 1895). "Dialogorum
Libri IV": very many editions of the whole work have appeared, and also
of Bk. II, "Of the Life and Miracles of St. Benedict", separately; an
old English translation has been reprinted by H. Coleridge, S.J.,
(London, 1874); L. Wiese, "Die Sprache der Dialoge" (Halle, 1900); H.
Delehaye, "S. Gregoirele Grand dans Phagiographie Grecque" in "Analecta
Bolland." (1904), 449-54; B. Sauter, "Der heilige Vater Benediktus nach
St. Gregor dem Grossen" (Freiburg, 1904). "Hom. XL in Evangelia", ed.
H. Hurter in "SS. Patrum Opusc. Select.", series II, Tom. VI
(Innsbruck, 1892). G. Pfeilschifter Gregors der Gr." (Munich, 1900).
"Magna Moralia", Eng. tr. in "Library of the Fathers" (4 vols., Oxford,
1844); Prunner, "Gnade und Sunde nach Gregors expositio in Job"
(Eichstätt, 1855).
Publication information
Written by G. Roger Huddleston. Transcribed by Janet van
Heyst.
Dedicated to the Cistercian Fathers from the University of Dallas
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VI. Published 1909. New
York: Robert
Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor.
Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Bibliography
CHIEF SOURCES.—First of all come the writings of Gregory
himself, of
which a full account is given above, the most important from a
biographical point of view being the fourteen books of his Letters and
the four books of Dialogues. The other early authorities are ST.
GREGORY OF TOURS (d. 594 or 595), Historia Francorum, Bk. X, and the
Liber Pontificalis, both practically contemporary. To the seventh
century belong ST. ISIDORE OF SEVILLE. De Viris Illustribus, XL, and
ST. ILDEPHONSUS OF TOLEDO, De Viris Illustribus, I. Next come the Vita
Antiquissima, by an anonymous monk of Whitby, written probably about
713, and of special interest as representing an essentially English
tradition in regard to the saint; THE VEN. BEDE, Hist. Eccles., II,
whose work was finished in 731; PAUL THE DEACON, who compiled a short
Vita Gregorii Magni between 770 and 780, which may be supplemented from
the same writers more famous work Historia Longobardorum; lastly JOHN
THE DEACON, who, at the request of John VIII (872-882), produced his
Vita Gregorii in answer to the complaint that no history of the saint
had yet been produced in Rome. Besides these direct authorities
considerable light on the period of St. Gregory's life may be gathered
from the works of various contemporary chroniclers and historians.
WORKS ON GREGORY. — (1) General. — GREGORY OF TOURS,
Historia
Francorum, X, i, in P.L., LXXI; the best edition of this is by ARNDT
AND KRUSCH in Mon. Germ. Hist.; Script. Rerum Meroving., I; Liber
Pontificatis, ed. DUCHESNE (Paris, 1884), I, 312; ISIDORE OF SEVILLE,
De Vir. Illustr., I, ibid.,XCVII; Vita It. Papae Gregorii M. (MS>
Gallen, 567), written by a monk of Whitby, ed. GASQUET (Westminster,
1904): see also on same work EWALD, Die alteste Biographie Gregors I in
Historische Aufsatze dem Andenken an G. Waitz gewidmet (Hanover,1886),
17-54; VEN. BEDE, Hist. Eccles., I, xxiii-xxxiii; II, i-iii; V, xxv; in
P. L., XCV; PAUL THE DEACON, Vita Gregorii M. in P.L.,LXXV; IDEM, De
Gestis Longobard., III, 24; IV, 5; In P.L., XCV; JOHN THE DEACON, Vita
Gregorii M., ibid., LXXV; Acta SS., 12 March; VAN DEN ZYPE, S.
Gregorius Magnus (Ypres, 1610); SAINTE_MARTHE, Histoire de S. Gregoire
(Rouen, 1677); MAIMBOURG, Histoire du pontificat de S. Gregoire (Paris,
1687); BONUCCI, Istoria del B. Gregorio (Rome, 1711); WIETROWSKY, Hist.
de gestis praecipuis in pontificatu S. Gregorii M. (Prague, 1726-30);
POZZO, Istoria della vita di S. Gregorio M. (Rome, 1758); MARGGRAF, De
Gregorii I. M. Vita (Berlin, 1844); BIANCHI-GIOVINI, Pontificato di S.
Gregorio (Milan, 1844); LAU, Gregor I, der Grosse (Leipzig, 1845);
PFAHLER, Gregor der Grosse (Frankfort, 1852); LUZARCHE, Vie du Pape
Gregoire le Grand (Tours, 1857); ROMALTE, Vie de S. Gregoire (Limoges,
1862); PAGNON, Gregoire le Grand et son epoque (Rouen, 1869); BELMONTE,
Gregorio M. e il suo tempo (Florence, 1871); BOHRINGER, Die Vater des
Papsiiums, Leo I und Gregor I (Stuttgart, 1879): MAGGIO, Prolegomeni
alla storia di Gregorio il Grande (Prato, 1879); BARMBY, Gregory the
Great (London, 1879; reissue, 1892); CLAUSIER, S. Gregoire (Paris,
1886); BOUSMANN, Gregor I, der Grosse (Paderborn, 1890); WOLFSGRUBER,
Gregor der Grosse (Saulgau, 1890); SNOW, St. Gregory, his Work and his
Spirit (London, 1892); GRISAR, Roma alta fine del mondo antico (Rome,
1899), Pt. III; IDEM, San Gregorio Magno (Rome, 1904); DUDDEN, Gregory
the Great, his Place in History and in Thought (2 vols.,London, 1905);
CAPELLO, Gregorio I e il suo pontificuto (Saluzzo, 1904); CEILLIER,
Histoire general des auteurs ecclesiastique, XI, 420-587; MILMAN,
History of Latin Christianity, Bk. III, vii; MONTALEMBERT, Monks of the
West, tr. Bk. v; GREGOROVIUS, Rome in the Middle Ages, tr., II, 16-103;
HODGKIN, Italy and her Invaders, V, vii-ix; GATTA, Un parallelo storico
(Marco Aurelio, Gregorio Magno) (Milan, 1901); MANN, Lives of the Popes
in the Early Middle Ages (London, 1902), I, 1-250.
(2) Special. (a) The Patrimony. — ORSI, Della
origine del dominio
temporate e della sovranita del Rom. Pontif. (2nd ed., Rome, 1754);
BORGIA, Istoria del dominio temporale della Sede Apostolica nelle due
Sicilie (Rome, 1789); MUZZARELLI, Dominio temporale del Papa (Rome,
1789); SUGENHEIM, Gesch. der Entstehung und Ausbildung des
Kirchenstaates (Leipzig, 1854); SCHARPFF, Die Entstchung des
Kirchenstaates (Freiburg im Br., 1860); GRISAR, Ein Rundgang durch die
Patrimonien des hl. Stuhls i, J. 600, in Zeitschr, Kuth, Theol., I,
321; SCHWARZLOSE, Die Patrimonien d. rom. K. (Berlin, 1887); MOMMSEN,
Die Bewirtschaftung der Kirchenguter unter Papst Gregor I, in Zeitsch,
f. Socialund, Wirtschaftsgesch., I, 43; DOIZE, Deux etudes sur
l'administration temporelle du Pape Gregoire le Grand (Paris, 1904).
(b) Primacy and Relations with other Churches. — PFAFF, Dissertatio de
titulo l'atriarchoe (Ecumenici (Tübingen, 1735); ORTLIEB, Essai
sur le systeme eccles, de Gregoire le Grand (Strasburg, 1872); PINGAUD,
La politique de S. Gregoire (Paris, 1872); LORENZ, Papstwahl und
Kaisertum (Berlin, 1874), 23; CRIVELLUCCI, Storia della relazioni tra
lo Stato e la Chiesa (Bologna, 1885), II, 301; GORRES, Papsi Gregor der
Grosse und Kaiser Phocas in Zeitsche, fur wissenschaftliche Theol.,
CLIV, 592-602. (c) Relations with Lombards and Franks. — BERNARDI, I
Longobardi e S. Gregorio M. (Milan, 1843); Troya, Storia d'Italia del
medio evo, IV: Codice diplomatico longobardo dal 568 al 774 (Naples,
1852); DIEHL, Etudes sur l'administration byzantine dans l'Exarchat de
Ravenne (Paris, 1888); HARTMANN, Unters, z. Gesch. d. byzant,
Verwaltung in Italien (Leipzig, 1889); LAMPE, Qui fuerint Gregorii M.
p. temporibus in imperii byzantini parte occident, exarchi (Berlin,
1892); PERRY, The Franks (London, 1857); KELLERT, Pope Gregory the
Great and his Relations with Gaul (Cambridge, 1889); GRISAR, Rom. u. d.
frankische Kirche vorneehmlich im 6. Jahr. in Zeitschr. kath. Theol.,
14. (d) Monasticism and Missionary Work. — MABILLON, Dissertatio de
monastica vita Gregorii Papoe (Paris, 1676); BUTLER, Was St. Augustine
of Canterbury a Benedictine? in Downside Review, III, 45-61, 223-240;
GRUTZMACHER, Die Bedeutung Benedikts von Nursia und seiner Regel in der
Gesch. des Monchtums (Berlin, 1892); CUTTS, Augustine of Canterbury
(London, 1895); GRAY, The Origin and Early History of Christianity in
Britain (London, 1897); BRIGHT, Chapters on Early English Church
History (Oxford, 1897); BENEDETTI, S. Gregorio Magno e la schiavitu
(Rome, 1904). (e) Writings. — ALZOO, Lehrb. der Patrologie (Freiburg im
Br., 1876); HARNACK, Lehrb. der Dogmengeschichte, III (Freiburg im Br.,
1890); LOOFS, Leits. zum Studium der Dogmengeschichte (Halle, 1893);
SEEBERG, Lehrb. der Dogmengeschichte, II (Leipzig, 1898); BARDENHEWER,
Patrology, tr. SHAHAN (Freiburg im Br., 1908).
|
St. Boniface IV
608-615 25 May converted Pantheon into a Christian
Church, the temple by Agrippa to Jupiter the Avenger, to Venus, and
to Mars consecrated by the pope to the Virgin Mary and all the
Martyrs. (Hence the title S. Maria Rotunda.) the first instance
at Rome of a pagan temple into a place of
Christian worship.
Son of John, a physician, a Marsian from the province and
town of Valeria; he succeeded Boniface III after a vacancy of over nine
months; consecrated 25 August, 608; d. 8 May, 615 (Duchesne); or, 15
September, 608-25 May, 615 (Jaffé).
In the time of Pope St. Gregory the Great he was a deacon
of the Roman Church and held the position of dispensator, i.e., the
first official in connexion with the administration of the patrimonies.
Boniface obtained leave from the Emperor Phocas to convert the Pantheon
into a Christian Church, and on 13 May, 609 (?) the temple erected by
Agrippa to Jupiter the Avenger, to Venus, and to Mars was consecrated
by the pope to the Virgin Mary and all the Martyrs. (Hence the title S.
Maria Rotunda.) It was the first instance at Rome of the transformation
of a pagan temple into a place of Christian worship. Twenty-eight
cartloads of sacred bones were said to have been removed from the
Catacombs and placed in a porphyry basin beneath the high altar. During
the pontificate of Boniface, Mellitus, the first Bishop of London, went
to Rome "to consult the pope on important matters relative to the newly
established English Church" (Bede, H. E., II, iv). Whilst in Rome he
assisted at a council then being held concerning certain questions on
"the life and monastic peace of monks", and, on his departure, took
with him to England the decree of the council together with letters
from the pope to Lawrence, Archbishop of Canterbury, and to all the
clergy, to King Ethelbert, and to all the English people "concerning
what was to be observed by the Church of England". The decrees of the
council now extant are spurious. The letter to Ethelbert (in William of
Malmesbury, De Gest. Pont., I, 1464, ed Migne) is considered spurious
by Hefele (Conciliengeschichte, III, 66), questionable by Haddan and
Stubbs (Councils, III, 65), and genuine by Jaffé [Regest. RR.
PP., 1988 (1548)].
Between 612-615, St. Columban, then living at Bobbio in
Italy, was persuaded by Agilulf, King of the Lombards, to address a
letter on the condemnation of the "Three Chapters" to Boniface IV,
which is remarkable at once for its expressions of exaggerated
deference and its tone of excessive sharpness. In it he tells the pope
that he is charged with heresy (for accepting the Fifth Council, i.e.
Constantinople, 553), and exhorts him to summon a council and prove his
orthodoxy. But the letter of the impetuous Celt, who failed to grasp
the import of the theological problem involved in the "Three Chapters",
seems not to have disturbed in the least his relation with the Holy
See, and it would be wrong to suppose that Columban regarded himself as
independent of the pope's authority. During the pontificate of Boniface
there was much distress in Rome owing to famine, pestilence, and
inundations. The pontiff died in monastic retirement (he had converted
his own house into a monastery) and was buried in the portico of St.
Peter's. His remains were three times removed in the tenth or eleventh
century, at the close of the thirteenth under Boniface VIII, and to the
new St. Peter's on 21 October, 1603. For the earlier inscription on his
tomb see Duchesne; for the later, Groisar, "Analecta Romana", I, 193.
Boniface IV is commemorated as a saint in the Roman Martyrology on 25
May.
Bibliography; Liber Pontificalis (ed.DUCHESNE), I, 317; JAFFÉ,
Regesta RR. PP. (2nd ed.), I, 220; Acta et Epistolæ in MANSI, X,
501; PAUL THE DEACON, Hist. Longobard., IV, 36 (37); GASQUET, A Short
History of the Catholic Church in England (London, 1903), 19; HUNT, A
History of the English Church from its Formation to the Norman Conquest
(London, 1901), 42; MANN, Lives of the Popes, I, 268-279; VON REUMONT,
Gesch. der Stadt Rom (Berlin, 1867), II, 156, 165; GREGOROVIUS, II,
104; LANGEN, 501.
|
625-638 Pope Honorius
Character and work of Honorius
Pope Honorius was much respected and died with an untarnished
reputation. Few popes did more for the restoration and beautifying of
churches of Rome, and he has left us his portrait in the apsidal mosaic
of Sant Agnese fueri le mura. He cared also for the temporal needs of
the Romans by repairing the aqueduct of Trajan. His extant letters show
him engaged in much business. He supported the Lombard King Adalwald,
who had been set aside as mad by an Arian rival. He succeeded, to some
extent, with the emperor's assistance, in reuniting the schismatic
metropolitan See of Aquileia to the Roman Church. He wrote to stir up
the zeal of the bishops of Spain, and St. Braulio of Saragossa replied.
His connexion with the British Isles is of interest. He sent St.
Birinus to convert the West Saxons. In 634 he gave the pallium to St.
Paulinus of York, as well as to Honorius of Canterbury, and he wrote a
letter to King Edwin of Northumbria, which Bede has preserved. In 630
he urged the Irish bishops to keep Easter with the rest of Christendom,
in consequence of which the Council of Magh Lene (Old Leighlin) was
held; the Irish testified to their traditional devotion to the See of
Peter, and sent a deputation to Rome "as children to their mother". On
the return of these envoys, all Southern Ireland adopted the Roman use
(633).
|
| Pope John IV
(r.
640-642) Saint Venantius was a
Dalmatian bishop whose body was brought to the Lateran at Spalato by
Pope John IV in 641 |
655 Pope St. Martin I of noble birth, great student, commanding
intelligence, profound learning, great charity to the poor Saint Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome
native of the Tuscany
convened Lateran Council at Rome condemn Monothelite heresy
last martyred Pope
Martyr, born at Todi on the Tiber, son of Fabricius; elected
Pope at Rome, 21 July, 649, to succeed Theodore I; died at Cherson in
the present peninsulas of Krym, 16 Sept., 655, after a reign of 6
years, one month and twenty six days, having ordained eleven priests,
five deacons and thirty-three bishops. 5 July is the date commonly
given for his election, but 21 July (given by Lobkowitz, "Statistik der
Papste" Freiburg, 1905) seems to correspond better with the date of his
death and reign (Duchesne "Lib. Pont.", I, 336); his feast is on 12
November.The Greeks honor him on 13 April and 15 September, the
Muscovites on 14 April. In the hymns of the Office the Greeks style him
infallibilis fidei magister because he was the successor of St. Peter
in the See of Rome (Nilles, "Calendarium Manuale", Innsbruck, 1896, I,
336).
Martin, one of the noblest
figures in a long line of Roman pontiffs (Hodgkin, "Italy", VI, 268)
was, according to his biographer Theodore (Mai, "Spicil. Rom.", IV 293)
of noble birth, a great student, of commanding intelligence, of
profound learning, and of great charity to the poor. Piazza, II 45 7
states that he belonged to the order of St. Basil. He governed the
Church at a time when the leaders of the Monothelite heresy, supported
by the emperor, were making most strenuous efforts to spread their
tenets in the East and West. Pope Theodore had sent Martin as
apocrysiary to Constantinople to make arrangements for canonical
deposition of the heretical patriarch, Pyrrhus. After his election,
Martin had himself consecrated without waiting for the imperial
confirmation, and soon called a council in the Lateran at which one
hundred and five bishops met. Five sessions were held on 5, 8, 17, 119
and 31 Oct., 649 (Hefele, "Conciliengeschichte", III, 190). The
"Ecthesis" of Heraclius and the "Typus" of Constans II were rejected;
nominal excommunication was passed against Sergius, Pyrrus, and Paul of
Constantinople, Cyrus of Alexandria and Theodore of Phran in Arabia;
twenty canons were enacted defining the Catholic doctrine on the two
wills of Christ. The decrees signed by the pope and the assembled
bishops were sent to the other bishops and the faithful of the world
together with an encyclical of Martin. The Acts with a Greek
translation were also sent to the Emperor Constans II.
The pope appointed John,
Bishop of Philadelphia, as his vicar in the East with necessary
instructions and full authority . Bishop Paul of Thessalonica refused
to recall his heretical letters previously sent to Rome and added
others,—he was, therefore, formally excommunicated and deposed. The
Patriarch of Constantinople, Paul, had urged the emperor to use drastic
means to force the pope and the Western Bishops at least to subscribe
to the "Typus". The emperor sent Olympius as exarch to Italy, where he
arrived while the council was still in session. Olympius tried to
create a faction among the fathers to favor the views of the emperor,
but without success. Then upon pretense of reconciliation he wished to
receive Holy Communion from the hands of the pontiff with the intention
of slaying him. But Divine Providence protected the pope, and Olympius
left Rome to fight against the Saracens in Sicily and died there.
Constans II thwarted in his plans, sent as exarch Theodore Calliopas
with orders to bring Martin to Constantinople. Calliopas arrived in
Rome, 15 June, 653, and, entering the Lateran Basilica two days later,
informed the clergy that Martin had been deposed as an unworthy
intruder, that he must be brought to Constantinople and that another
was to be chosen in his place. The pope, wishing to avoid the shedding
of human blood, forbade resistance and declared himself willing to be
brought before the emperor. The saintly prisoner, accompanied by only a
few attendants, and suffering much from bodily ailments and privations,
arrived at Constantinople on 17 Sept., 653 or 654, having landed
nowhere except the island of Naxos. The letters of the pope seem to
indicate he was kept at Naxos for a year. Jaffe, n. 1608, and Ewald, n
2079, consider the annum fecimus an interpolation and would allow only
a very short stop at Naxos, which granted the pope an opportunity to
enjoy a bath. Duchesne, "Lib. Pont.", I, 336 can see no reason for
abandoning the original account; Hefele,"Conciliengeschichte" III, 212,
held the same view (see "Zeitschr. für Kath. Theol.", 1892, XVI,
375).
From Abydos messengers
were sent to the imperial city to announce the arrival of the prisoner
who was branded as a heretic and rebel, an enemy of God and of the
State. Upon his arrival in Constantinople Martin was left for several
hours on deck exposed to the jests and insults of a curious crowd of
spectators. Towards evening he was brought to a prison called
Prandearia and kept in close and cruel confinement for ninety-three
days, suffering from hunger, cold and thirst. All this did not break
his energy and on 19 December he was brought before the assembled
senate where the imperial treasurer acted as judge. Various political
charges were made, but the true and only charge was the pope's refusal
to sign the "Typus". He was then carried to an open space in full view
of the emperor and of a large crowd of people. These were asked to pass
anathema upon the pope to which but few responded. Numberless
indignities were heaped upon him, he was stripped of nearly all his
clothing, loaded with chains, dragged through the streets of the city
and then again thrown into the prison of Diomede, where he remained for
eighty five days. Perhaps influenced by the death of Paul, Patriarch of
Constantinople, Constans did not sentence the pope to death, but to
exile. He was put on board a ship, 26 March, 654 (655) and arrived at
his destination on 15 May. Cherson was at the time suffering from a
great famine. The venerable pontiff here passed the remaining days of
his life. He was buried in the church of Our Lady, called
Blachernæ, near Cherson, and many miracles are related as wrought
by St Martin in life and after death. The greater part of his relics
are said to have been transferred to Rome, where they repose in the
church of San Martino ai Monti. Of his letters seventeen are extant in
P.L., LXXXVII, 119.
|
683 Pope
St. Leo
II eyes tongue restored June
12 [Note: The feast of Saint
Leo II was formerly observed on 3 July with the rank of a semi-double.]
This pope, who
is called by his
contemporary biographer both just and learned, is commemorated as a
saint in the Roman Martyrology on 28 June.
Pope St. Leo II, to whom God miraculously restored his eyes
and his
tongue after they had been torn out by impious men. He succeeded St. Agatho
as Pope
in 681 and
confirmed the
findings of the sixth general council which had condemned Monotheism.
Pope St. Leo II
Pope (682-83), date of birth unknown; d. 28 June, 683. He was a
Sicilian, and son of one Paul. Though elected pope a few days after the
death of St. Agatho (10 January, 681), he was not consecrated till
after the lapse of a year and seven months (17 Aug., 682). Under Leo's
predecessor St. Agatho, negotiations had been opened between the Holy
See and Emperor Constantine Pogonatus concerning the relations of the
Byzantine Court to papal elections. Constantine had already promised
Agatho to abolish or reduce the tax which for about a century the popes
had had to pay to the imperial treasury on the occasion of their
consecration, and under Leo's successor he made other changes in what
had hitherto been required of the Roman Church at the time of a papal
election. In all probability, therefore, it was continued
correspondence on this matter which caused the delay of the imperial
confirmation of Leo's election, and hence the long postponement of his
consecration.
The most important act accomplished by Leo in his short
pontificate was his confirmation of the acts of the Sixth Oecumenical
Council (680-1). This council had been held in Constantinople against
the Monothelites, and presided over by legates of Pope Agatho. After
Leo notified the emperor that decrees of the council had been confirmed
by him, he proceeded to make them known to the nations of the West. The
letters which he sent for this end to the king and to the bishops and
nobles of Spain have come down to us. In them he explained what the
council had effected, and he called upon the bishops to subscribe to
its decrees. At the same time he was at pains to make it clear that in
condemning his predecessor Honorius I, he did so, not because he taught
heresy, but because he was not active enough in opposing it. In
accordance with the papal mandate, a synod was held at Toledo (684) in
which the Council of Constantinople was accepted.
The fact that Ravenna had long been the residence of the emperors or of
their representatives, the exarchs, had awakened the ambition of its
archbishops. They aspired to the privileges of patriarchs and desired
to be autocephalous, i.e. free from the direct jurisdiction of the
pope, considered as their primate. As they could not succeed in
inducing the popes to agree to their wishes, they attempted to secure
their accomplishment by an imperial decree recognizing them as
autocephalous. But this did not prove sufficient to enable the
archbishops to effect their purpose, and Leo obtained from Constantine
Pogonatus the revocation of the edict of Constans. On his side,
however, Leo abolished the tax which the archbishops had been
accustomed to pay when they received the pallium. And though he
insisted that the archbishops-elect must come to Rome to be
consecrated, he consented to the arrangement that they should not be
obliged to remain in Rome more than eight days at the time of their
consecration, and that, while they were not to be bound to come again
to Rome themselves in order to offer their homage to the pope, they
were each year to send a delegate to do so in their name.
Perhaps because he feared the Lombards might again ravage the
catacombs, Leo transferred thence many of the relics of the martyrs
into a church which he built to receive them.
|
684 Pope St.
Benedict II distinguished knowledge of the Scriptures and by his
singing, and as a priest was remarkable for his humility, love of the
poor, and generosity; Many of the churches of Rome were restored by
him; and its clergy, its deaconries for the care of the poor, and its
lay sacristans all benefited by his liberality
Date of birth unknown; died 8 May, 685; was a Roman, and the son of
John. Sent when young to the schola cantorum, he distinguished himself
by his knowledge of the Scriptures and by his singing, and as a priest
was remarkable for his humility, love of the poor, and generosity. He
became pope 26 June, 684, after an interval of over eleven months. To
abridge the vacancies of the Holy See which followed the deaths of the
popes, he obtained from the Emperor Constantine Pogonatus a decree
which either abolished imperial confirmations altogether or made them
obtainable from the exarch in Italy [cf. "Liber Diurnus RR. PP.", ed.
Sickel (Vienna, 1889), and Duchesne's criticism, "Le Liber Diurnus"
(Paris, 1891)]. He adopted Constantine's two sons by receiving locks of
their hair sent him by the emperor. To help to suppress Monothelitism,
he endeavoured to secure the subscriptions of the Spanish bishops to
the decrees of the Sixth General Council (see ep. in P.L., XCVI, 423),
and to bring about the submission to them of Macarius, ex-Bishop of
Antioch. He was one of the popes who favoured the cause of St. Wilfred
of York (Eddius, "Vita Wilfridi", ed. Raine in "Historians of York", I,
62 sqq. Cf. Raine, "Lives of the Archbishops of York", I, 55 sqq.).
Many of the churches of Rome were restored by him; and its clergy, its
deaconries for the care of the poor, and its lay sacristans all
benefited by his liberality. He was buried in St. Peter's.
|
Pope John V (685-686) energy, learning, and moderation are
highly praised by his biographer
generosity showed itself in his liberal donations.
A Syrian whose father was one Cyriacus; when he was born is not known;
d. 2 August, 686. As a deacon he was one of those who represented the
Apostolic See at the Sixth Oecumenical Council. He returned to Rome in
July, 682, with the official documents of the synod. He obtained such
favour in the eyes of the Emperor Constantine Pogonatus that the latter
lessened the taxes which had been imposed on the papal patrimonies in
Sicily and Calabria, and generally reduced the fiscal burdens from
which the Church suffered.
John's energy, learning, and moderation are
highly praised by his biographer. It was no doubt the possession of
these virtues which caused him to be elected pope in the basilica of
St. John Lateran. The necessity of waiting for the imperial
confirmation of papal elections having been abolished by Constantine
Pognatus, John was straightway conducted to the Lateran palace as pope.
He was consecrated about 23 July, 685, and reigned for a little more
than a year. From the days of St. Gregory the Great, the Archbishop of
Cagliari in Sardinia enjoyed certain metropolitan powers. Although the
right of consecrating the bishops of the island was not one of his
privileges, Citonatus of Cagliari proceeded to lay hands on the
bishop-elect of Turris Libisonis. John, however, definitively declared
the See of Turris directly subject to the Holy See. John's generosity
showed itself in his liberal donations. In his short pontificate he
distributed 1900 solidi to the clergy and to the deaconries for the
poor. After a long illness, he died on 2 August, 686, and was buried in
St. Peter's.
John V, knew
Cosmas and St John of Damascus well by
reputation and wished to have them amongst his clergy. First he took
Cosmas and made him bishop of Majuma, and afterwards he ordained John
priest and brought him to Jerusalem.
|
 731 Gregory II,
89th
Pope educated at the Lateran restore clerical discipline, fought
heresies helped restore and rebuild churches (including Saint
Paul-Outside-the-Walls), hospitals, and monasteries, including Monte
Cassino under Petrona The outstanding concern of his pontificate was
his difficulties with Emperor Leo III the Isaurian
(RM)
Born in Rome, Italy; sometimes celebrated also on February 13. The 89th
pope, Saint Gregory, became involved in church affairs in his youth,
was educated at the Lateran, became a subdeacon under Pope Saint Sergius, served as
treasurer and librarian of the Church under four popes, and became
widely known for his learning and wisdom.
In 710, now a deacon, he distinguished himself in his replies to Emperor Justinian when he
accompanied Pope Constantine to Constantinople to oppose the Council of Trullo
canon that had declared the patriarchate of Constantinople independent
of Rome and helped to secure Justinian's acknowledgment of papal
supremacy.
On May 19, 715, Gregory was elected pope to succeed Constantine, put
into effect a program to restore clerical discipline, fought heresies,
began to rebuild the walls around Rome as a defense against the
Saracens, and helped restore and rebuild churches (including Saint
Paul-Outside-the-Walls), hospitals, and monasteries, including Monte
Cassino under Petronax, which had been destroyed by Lombards about 150
years previously. He sent missionaries into Germany, among them Saint Corbinian and Saint Boniface in 719, whom he
consecrated bishop. He also helped Saint
Nothelm in his researches in the papal archives to provide
material for Saint Bede's Ecclesiastical history.
Gregory also received the Wessex king Ina, who became a monk in Rome in
726.
An old tradition makes Gregory a
Benedictine monk, and his office
figured for centuries in several Benedictine Propria.
The outstanding concern of his pontificate was his
difficulties with Emperor
Leo III the Isaurian.
Gregory opposed Leo's illegal taxation on the Italians, and counseled
against the planned revolt of Italy against Byzantium and the election
of an emperor in opposition to Leo. He also demanded that Leo stop
interfering with church matters, vigorously opposed iconoclasm
supported by the emperor, and severely rebuked him at a synod in Rome
in 727. Gregory also supported Germanus, patriarch of Constantinople,
against Leo. Gregory's relations with the Lombards who were intent upon
conquering Italy were friendly mainly due to his influence with their
leader, Liutprand (Benedictines,
Delaney, Encyclopedia, Farmer). |
731-741 Pope St. Gregory III; held two synods in Rome (731) in which the
image-breaking heresy
was condemned. By way of a practical protest against the emperor's
action he made it a point of paying special honour to images and
relics, giving particular attention to the subject of St. Peter's; Gregory III extended to St. Boniface the
same support and
encouragement which had been afforded him by Gregory II. "Strengthened
exceedingly by the help of the affection of the Apostolic See", the
saint joyfully continued his glorious work for the conversion of
Germany. About 737 Boniface came to Rome for the third time to give an
account of his stewardship, and to enjoy the pope's "life-giving
conversation", At Gregory's order the monk and great traveller, St.
Willibald, went to assist his cousin St. Boniface in his labours; got
help from Charles Martel against the Lombards.
Pope St. Gregory III was the son of a Syrian named
John. The date of his birth is not known. His reputation for learning
and virtue was so great that the Romans elected him pope by
acclamation, when he was accompanying the funeral procession of his
predecessor, 11 February, 731. As he was not consecrated for more than
a month after his election, it is presumed that he waited for the
confirmation of his election by the exarch at Ravenna. In the matter of
Iconoclasm, he followed the policy of his predecessor. He sent legates
and letters to remonstrate with the persecuting emperor, Leo III, and
held two synods in Rome (731) in which the image-breaking heresy was
condemned. By way of a practical protest against the emperor's action
he made it a point of paying special honour to images and relics,
giving particular attention to the subject of St. Peter's. Fragments of
inscriptions, to be seen in the crypts of the Vatican basilica, bear
witness to this day of an oratory he built therein, and of the special
prayers he ordered to be there recited.
Leo, whose sole answer to the arguments and apologies for image worship
which were addressed to him from both East and West, was force, seized
the papal patrimonies in Calabria and Sicily, or wherever he had any
power in Italy, and transferred to the patriarch of Constantinople the
ecclesiastical jurisdiction which the popes had previously exercised
both there, and throughout the ancient Prefecture of Illyricum. Gregory
III confirmed the decision of his predecessors as to the respective
rights of the Patriarchs of Aquileia and Grado, and sent the pallium to
Antoninus of Grado. In granting it also to Egbert of York, he was only
following out the arrangements of St. Gregory I who had laid it down
that York was to have metropolitical rights in the North of England, as
Canterbury had to have them in the South. Both Tatwine and Nothelm of
Canterbury received the pallium in succession from Gregory III (731 and
736). At his request Gregory III extended to St. Boniface the same
support and encouragement which had been afforded him by Gregory II.
"Strengthened exceedingly by the help of the affection of the Apostolic
See", the saint joyfully continued his glorious work for the conversion
of Germany. About 737 Boniface came to Rome for the third time to give
an account of his stewardship, and to enjoy the pope's "life-giving
conversation", At Gregory's order the monk and great traveller, St.
Willibald, went to assist his cousin St. Boniface in his labours.
The close of Gregory's reign was troubled by the Lombards. Realizing
the ambition which animated Liutprand, Gregory completed the
restoration of the walls of Rome which had been begun by his
predecessors, and bought back Gallese, a stronghold on the Flaminian
Way, from Transamund, Duke of Spoleto, which helped to keep open the
communications between Rome and Ravenna. In 739, Liutprand was again in
arms. His troops ravaged the exarchate, and he himself marched south to
bring to subjection his vassals, the Dukes of Spoleto and Benevento,
and the Duchy of Rome. Transamund fled to Rome, and Gregory implored
the aid of the great Frankish chief, Charles Martel. At length
ambassadors from the viceroy (subregulus) of the Franks appeared in
Rome (739). Their arrival, or the summer heats, brought a momentary
peace. But in the following year, Liutprand again took the field. This
time the Romans left their walls, and helped Transamund to recover
Spoleto. When, however, he had recovered his duchy, he would not or
could not comply with Gregory's request, and endeavour to recover for
the pope "the four cities of the Roman duchy which had been lost for
his sake." In the midst of all these wars and rumours of war, Gregory
died, and was buried in the oratory of our Lady which he had himself
built in St. Peter's. He died in 741, but whether in November or
December is not certain. It is however, on 28 November that he is
commemorated in the Roman martyrology.
|
 741-752
Zachary I, Pope known for his learning & sanctity chosen pope in
741 to succeed Saint Gregory III (RM)
(also known as Zacharias) Born at San Severino, Calabria, Italy; died
752; feast day formerly on March 22; feast day in the East is September
5.
Pope Zachary I came from a
Greek family in Calabria. He became a deacon
in Rome, known for his learning and sanctity, and was chosen pope in
741 to succeed Saint Gregory III. His holiness was so great that,
instead of seeking revenge, he heaped benefits on those who had
persecuted him before his promotion to the pontificate.
When King Liutprand of the
Lombards was about to invade Roman lands at
Terni because of the rebellion of the dukes of Spoleto and Benevento,
Zachary risked his own life in order to meet with the barbarian.
Through persuasion Zachary won the freedom of all prisoners of war and
the Roman territory Liutprand had occupied during 30 years was
returned.
It is said that the
Lombards
were moved to tears at the
devotion with which they heard him say Mass.
Another time, he dissuaded
Liutprand from invading Ravenna.
Zachary achieved a great deal with the Lombards by
negotiation, leading
to peace between the Lombards and the Greek Empire. In fact, he gave
the Benedictine habit to Saint Ratchis, king of the Lombards. By
contrast, Zachary's successor had to enter into the defensive alliance
with the Frankish Pepin the Short, which had the ambiguously felicitous
result of leading to the revival of the Western Empire and led also to
the protective domination of the emperor over the Roman Church which
for centuries determined the course of Western history.
This Papal-Frankish alliance was prepared for by Pope Zachary's
acquiescence in the deposition of the Merovingian puppet-kings and
through his anointing of Pepin, who had been mayor of the palace, in
751 by the hand of his legate, Boniface at Soissons.
As a result of the iconoclastic movement, religious and political
relations with Byzantium, which were noticeable weakened in these
disturbances, grew ever looser.
Zachary denounced the
iconoclastic
policy of Emperor Constantine Copronymus.
On the other hand, the
Church made vast strides in the realm of the
Franks, above all in Germany, through the work of reorganization and
the missionary zeal of Saint Boniface, whom he consecrated archbishop
of Mainz. Zachary assisted the labors of the Apostle of the Germans in
every way. Two interesting letters of the pope to Boniface have
survived, which give the impression of a man of great vigor and deep
sympathy. He told Boniface to suspend polygamous and murderous priests,
to abolish superstitious practices even if these were practiced at
Rome, and to recognize the baptisms of those whose Latin was extremely
inaccurate (the intention was there to do what the Church intends, even
though the form was defective). At his synod of 745, he condemned the
heretics Clement and Adalbert who had caused Boniface a good deal of
grief.
On the other hand, Boniface
was
proven to be all too human on another
occasion.
He wrote to Zachary
against an Irish priest named Virgilius,
saying that he sowed the seeds of discord between him and Duke Odilo of
Bavaria, and erroneously taught that there were other men under the
earth, another sun and moon, and another world. Pope Zachary answered,
that if he taught such an error he ought to be deposed. This cannot be
understood as a condemnation of the doctrine of Antipodes (that the
earth is round), as some have mistaken. Rather, there was a heresy that
maintained there was another race of men, who did not descend from
Adam, and were not redeemed by Christ. Nor did Zachary pronounce any
sentence in the case: for in the same letter he ordered that Virgilius
should be sent to Rome so that this doctrine might be examined. It
seems that he cleared himself, for we find this same priest soon after
made bishop of Salzburg, Austria, and, in 1233, formally canonized as
Saint Virgilius. It seems that the friction between the two saints was
probably a result of jurisdictional conflicts and the tension between
Roman and Celtic liturgical customs.
In any case, Pope Zachary
was a
peace-maker and judged no man without a hearing.
Zachary was also
responsible for restoring
Montecassino under Saint
Petronax and himself consecrated its abbey church in 748. The
saint was
known for aiding the poor, provided refuge to nuns driven from
Constantinople by the iconoclasts, ransomed slaves from the Venetians,
forbade the selling of Christian slaves to the Moors of Africa, and
translated Saint Gregory the Great's Dialogues into Greek. Since
"Zacharias embraced and cherished all people like a father and a good
shepherd, and never allowed even the smallest injustice to happen to
anyone," he was venerated as a saint immediately after his death
(Attwater, Benedictines, Delaney, Farmer, Husenbeth, Schamoni).
Saint Zacharias is depicted
making
peace with King Luitprand. Sometimes he may have a dove and olive
branch over him (do not confuse him with Saint Silvester (Roeder).
|
 757-67 Pope
Paul I: Paul showed great activity and zeal in encouraging religious
life at Rome. He turned his paternal home into a monastery, and near it
built the church of San Silvestro in Capite. The founding of this
church led to his holding a synod at Rome in 761.
To this church and other churches of Rome, Paul
transferred bones of numerous martyrs from the decayed sanctuaries in
the catacombs devastated by Lombards in 756. He transferred the relics
of St. Petronilla from the catacomb of St. Domitilla to a chapel in St.
Peter's erected by his predecessor for this purpose. The legend of St.
Petronilla caused her at that era to be regarded as a daughter of St.
Peter, and as such she became the special Roman patroness of the
Frankish rulers.
Paul also built an oratory of the Blessed Virgin in St.
Peter's, and a church in honour of the Apostles on the Via Sacra beyond
the Roman Forum. He died near the church of San Paolo fuori le mura,
where he had gone during the heat of summer. He was buried in this
church, but after three months his body was transferred to St. Peter's.
The "Liber Pontificalis" also praises the Christian charity and
benevolence of the pope which he united with firmness. Paul is
venerated as a saint. His feast is celebrated on the twenty-eighth of
June.
Date of birth unknown; died at Rome, 28 June, 767.
He was a brother of Stephen
II. They had been educated for the priesthood at the Lateran
palace.
Stephen entrusted his brother, who approved of the pope's course in
respect to King Pepin, with many important ecclesiastical affairs,
among others with the restoration to the Roman States of the cities
which had been seized by the Lombard Kings Aistulf and Desiderius;
these cities Desiderius promised to give up.
While Paul was with his dying brother at the Lateran, a
party of the Romans gathered in the house of Archdeacon Theophylact in
order to secure the latter's succession to the papal see. However,
immediately after the burial of Stephen (died 26 April, 757), Paul was
elected by a large majority, and received episcopal consecration on the
twenty-ninth of May.
Paul continued his predecessor's policy towards the
Frankish king, Pepin, and thereby continued the papal supremacy over
Rome and the districts of central Italy in opposition to the efforts of
the Lombards and the Eastern Empire. Pepin sent a letter to the Roman
people, exhorting them to remain steadfast to St. Peter. In the reply
sent by the senate and the people of Rome to the Frankish king, the
latter was urged to complete the enlargement of the Roman province
which he had wrested from the barbarians, and to persevere in the work
he had begun. In 758 a daughter was born to Pepin, and the king sent
the pope the cloth used at the baptism as a present, renewing in this
way the papal sponsorship. Paul returned thanks and informed Pepin of
the hostile action of Desiderius, who had failed to deliver the cities
of Imola, Osimo, Ancona, and Bologna to Rome, and had also devastated
the Pentapolis on his expedition against the rebellious Dukes of
Spoleto and Benevento. The two duchies were conquered and annexed by
Desiderius (758).
Pope Paul I was pope from May 29, 757- June 28, 767. He first appears
as a Roman deacon and was frequently employed by his brother, Pope
Stephen II, in negotiations with the Lombard kings.
After Stephen's death (April 26, 757) Paul prevailed over a faction
that wanted to place the Archdeacon Theophylact on the Holy See and was
chosen his brother's successor by the majority that wished a
continuation of the late pope's policy. The new pope's reign was
dominated by his relations with the Frankish and Lombard kings and with
the Eastern emperor. He adopted an independent tone in informing the
exarch in Ravenna of his election, but wrote to Pepin that the Frankish
alliance should be maintained unimpaired, being forced to this course
by the attitude of the Lombard king, Desiderius. The latter held the
cities of Imola, Osimo, Bologna, and Ancona, which were claimed by
Rome, and in 758 seized upon the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento.
The same year he visited Rome and compelled Paul to write to Pepin
asking him to concede all the Lombard claims except that to Imola;
another letter of exactly opposite tenor was sent by the same
messenger. Pepin found it advisable to maintain good relations with
Desiderius, and Paul accomplished nothing by his double-dealing. Later,
however, Pepin gave the pope some support and acted as arbiter between
the Roman and Lombard claims.
In 765 papal privileges were restored in Beneventine and Tuscan
territory and partially in Spoleto. Meanwhile, the alienation from
Byzantium grew greater. Several times, especially in 759, Paul feared
that the Greek emperor would send an armament against Rome; and he
lived in continual dread lest Byzantine machinations turn the Frankish
influence in favor of the Lombards. This was actually attempted, but
Pepin held to his original Italian policy.
Paul died June 28, 767.
At Benevento Desiderius had a conference with the Greek
ambassador Georgios, and agreed on mutual alliance of Byzantines and
Lombards in central Italy. On his way home Desiderius came to Rome, and
when the pope demanded the return of the aforesaid cities, he refused
to comply. He promised to give back Imola, but on condition that the
pope should persuade Pepin to send back the Lombard hostages whom the
Frankish king had carried off, some time before, at the time of his
second victory over the Lombard King Aistulf. If Paul would not do
this, Desiderius threatened to go to war with him. The pope was in
great straits. He found it difficult even to get the Frankish king
informed of his position. He gave two letters to Bishop George of Ostia
and the Roman priest Stephen, his ambassadors to Pepin, who made the
journey with the Frankish messenger Ruodpertus. In the one letter that
was to secure the envoys a safe passage through Lombard territory, he
agreed to the demands of Desiderius and begged Pepin to accede to the
wishes of the Lombards by making a treaty of peace and returning the
hostages. At the same time the envoys were to give the Frankish king a
second secret letter, in which the pope communicated to him the latest
occurrences, informed him of the agreement of Desiderius with the
Byzantines for the conquest of Ravenna, and implored Pepin to come to
the aid of the pope, to punish the Lombard king, and to force him to
yield the towns retained by him. Towards the close of 759 another envoy
was sent to Pepin.
Early in 760 two Frankish envoys, Bishop Remidius of
Rouen, brother to Pepin, and Duke Antschar, came to Desiderius, who
promised to return its patrimony to the Roman Church in April, and also
to yield the towns demanded by the pope. But he again refused to carry
out his promises, dallied, and even forced his way into Roman
territory. Once more Paul implored the Frankish king's help. The
position of affairs was made even more threatening by Byzantine action.
Georgios had gone from southern Italy to the court of Pepin and had
here won over a papal envoy, Marinus. With all his efforts Georgios
could not move Pepin. In 760 a report spread through Italy that a large
Byzantine fleet was under sail for Rome and the Frankish kingdom. Later
it was reported that the Byzantines intended to send an army to Rome
and Ravenna. The Archbishop Sergius of Ravenna received a letter from
the Byzantine emperor, in which the latter sought to obtain the
voluntary submission of the inhabitants of Ravenna. The same attempt
was also made in Venice. Sergius sent the letter of the emperor to the
pope, and the pope notified Pepin. In case of a war with the Eastern
Empire it was important to make sure of the support of the Lombards,
consequently Pepin desired to come to an agreement with Desiderius.
Thereupon the Lombard king showed more complaisance in the question of
the Roman patrimony included in the Lombard territory, and when he
visited Rome in 765, the boundary disputes between him and the pope
were arranged.
The Frankish king now directed Desiderius to aid the pope
in recovering the Roman patrimony in the regions in southern Italy
under Byzantine rule, and to support the ecclesiastical rights of the
pope against the bishops of these districts.
Paul's opposition to the schemes of the Emperor
Constantine Copronymus had no real political basis. The pope's aim was
to defend ecclesiastical orthodoxy regarding the doctrine of the
Trinity and the veneration of images against the Eastern emperor. Paul
repeatedly dispatched legates and letters in regard to the veneration
of images to the emperor at Byzantium. Constantine sent envoys to
western Europe who in coming to King Pepin did not disguise their
intention to negotiate with him concerning dogmatic questions, also
about the submission of the Exarchate of Ravenna to Byzantine
suzerainty. Papal legates also came to Pepin in regard to these
matters. On their return the legates were able to reassure the pope as
to the views of the Frankish ruler, who kept two of the papal envoys,
Bishop George and the priest Peter, near him.
In 767 a Frankish synod was held at Gentilly, near Paris,
at which the Church doctrines concerning the Trinity and the veneration
of images were maintained.
Paul showed great activity and zeal in encouraging religious life at
Rome. He turned his paternal home into a monastery, and near it built
the church of San Silvestro in Capite. The founding of this church led
to his holding a synod at Rome in 761.
To this church and other churches of Rome, Paul
transferred bones of numerous martyrs from the decayed sanctuaries in
the catacombs devastated by Lombards in 756. He transferred the relics
of St. Petronilla from the catacomb of St. Domitilla to a chapel in St.
Peter's erected by his predecessor for this purpose. The legend of St.
Petronilla caused her at that era to be regarded as a daughter of St.
Peter, and as such she became the special Roman patroness of the
Frankish rulers.
Paul also built an oratory of the Blessed Virgin in St.
Peter's, and a church in honour of the Apostles on the Via Sacra beyond
the Roman Forum. He died near the church of San Paolo fuori le mura,
where he had gone during the heat of summer. He was buried in this
church, but after three months his body was transferred to St. Peter's.
The "Liber Pontificalis" also praises the Christian charity and
benevolence of the pope which he united with firmness. Paul is
venerated as a saint. His feast is celebrated on the twenty-eighth of
June.
|
 824 St.
Paschal
elected as the 94th pope on the day Pope Stephen IV (V) died, January
25, 817 unsuccessful in attempts to end the iconoclast heresy of
Emperor Leo V, encouraged SS. Nicephorous and Theodore Studites in
Constantinople to resist iconoclasm, and gave refuge to the many Greek
monks who fled to Rome to escape persecution from the iconoclasts. 14
May
Pope Paschal I (817-824)
The date of his birth is unknown; he died in April, May, or June, 824.
He was the son of a Roman named Bonosus. While still young he joined
the Roman clergy and was taken into the papal patriarchate (Lateran
Palace) where he was instructed in the Divine Service and the Holy
Scripture. Leo III having appointed him superior of the monastery of
St. Stephen near the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, he took care
of the pilgrims who came to Rome. On the death of Stephen IV (24
January, 817) Paschal was unanimously chosen as his successor. On the
following day he was consecrated
and enthroned. He entered into relations with Emperor Louis, sending
him several ambassadors in rapid succession. In 817 he received from
the emperor a document, "Pactum Ludovicianum", confirming the rights
and possessions of the Holy See. This document with later amendments is
still extant (cf. especially Sickel, "Das Privileg Ottos I für die
römische Kirche", Innsbruck, 1883, 50 sqq., 174 sqq.). Paschal
remained on friendly terms with the Frankish nobility and sent a
special legation with rich gifts to the marriage of King Lothair I, son
of Emperor Louis. In spring, 823, Lothair went to Rome and on 5 April
he was solemnly crowned emperor by Paschal. Although the pope himself
opposed the sovereignty of the Frankish emperors over Rome and Roman
territory, high officials in the papal palace, especially Primicerius
Theodore and his son-in-law Leo Nomenculator, were at the head of the
party which supported the Franks, and advocated the supremacy of the
emperor. Shortly after the departure of King Lothair in 823, both these
officials were blinded and killed by the pope's servants. Paschal
himself was accused of being the originator of this deed, but he
cleared himself of suspicion by an oath. The ambassadors sent to Rome
by Emperor Louis to investigate the affair could not punish the
perpetrators, as the pope declared the murdered officials guilty of
treason. Paschal supported new missionary expeditions which went out
from the Frankish Empire. He sent a letter of introduction to Bishop
Halitgar of Cambria, and appointed Archbishop Ebo of Rheims as papal
legate to the pagan countries in Northern Europe.
In 814 under Leo the Armenian, the Iconoclastic controversy broke out
with renewed violence in the Byzantine Empire. Theodore of Studium, the
great champion of orthodoxy, wrote repeatedly to Pope Paschal, who
encouraged him to persevere. At the same time Theodosius of
Constantinople, unlawfully made patriarch by Emperor Leo, sent a
legation to the pope. The latter, however, remained loyal to the cause
of Theodore of Studium, and dispatched legates to Leo to win him from
the Iconoclasts, but without success. Numerous monks who had been
driven out of Greece by Leo came to Rome where the pope received them
kindly, assigning them places in the newly-erected monasteries, such as
St. Praxedis, St. Cecilia, Sts. Sergius and Bacchus, near the Lateran
Palace. Paschal was very active in completing, restoring, and
beautifying churches and monasteries. The basilicas of St. Praxedis,
St. Cecilia, and S. Maria in Dominica were completely rebuilt by him.
The mosaics, which at that time ornamented the apses of these three
churches as well as the chapel of St. Zeno in St. Praxedis, demonstrate
today the deterioration of this art. In St. Peter's he erected chapels
and altars, in which the remains of martyrs from the Roman catacombs,
especially those of Sts. Processus and Marinianus, were placed. He also
placed the relics of many Roman martyrs in the church of St. Praxedis
where their names are still legible. The discovery of the relies of St.
Cecilia and companions, and their translation to the new church of St.
Cecilia in Trastevere, are well described in "Liber Pontificalis" (cf.
Kirsch, "Die hl. Cäcilia in der römischen Kirche des
Altertums", Paderborn, 1910). He made great improvements in the choir
of the church of S. Maria Maggiore. Paschal was interred in the church
of St. Praxedis, and is honoured as a saint on 14 May.
Paschal was the son of Bonosus, a Roman. He
studied at the
Lateran, was
named head of St. Stephen's monastery, which housed pilgrims to Rome,
and was elected Pope to succeed Pope Stephen IV (V) on the day Stephen
died, January 25, 817. Emperor Louis the Pious agreed to respect papal
jurisdiction, but when Louis' son Lothair I came to Rome in 823 to be
consecrated king, he broke the pact by presiding at a trial involving a
group of nobles opposing the Pope. When the two papal officials who had
testified for the nobles were found blinded and murdered, Paschal was
accused of the crime. He denied any complicity but refused to surrender
the murderers, who were members of his household, declaring that the
two dead officials were traitors and the secular authorities had no
jurisdiction in the case. The result was the Constitution of Lothair,
severely restricting papal judicial and police powers in Italy.
Paschal
was unsuccessful in attempts to end the iconoclast heresy of Emperor
Leo V, encouraged SS. Nicephorous and
Theodore Studites in
Constantinople to resist iconoclasm, and gave refuge to the many Greek
monks who fled to Rome to escape persecution from the iconoclasts.
Paschal built and redecorated many churches in Rome and
transferred
many relics from the catacombs to churches in the city. Although listed
in the Roman Martyrology, he has never been formally canonized.
Paschal I, OSB, Pope (RM) Died 824; feast day formerly
May 14.
Saint Pascal, son of the Roman Bonosus, studied at the Lateran and was
named abbot of Saint Stephen's monastery, which housed pilgrims to
Rome. He was elected as the 94th pope on the day Pope Stephen IV (V)
died, January 25, 817. Emperor Louis the Pious agreed to respect
papal jurisdiction, but when
Louis's son Lothair I came to Rome in 823 to be consecrated king, he
broke the pact by presiding at a trial involving a group of nobles
opposing the pope. When two papal officials who had testified for the
nobles were found blinded and murdered, Paschal was accused of the
crime.
Paschal denied any complicity but refused to surrender the
murderers,
who were members of his household, declaring that the two dead
officials were traitors and the secular authorities had no jurisdiction
in the case. The result was the Constitution of Lothair, severely
restricting papal jurisdiction and police powers in Italy.
Paschal loved religious art even though he lived at a time
when many
people in the Eastern churches were breaking up sacred pictures in the
belief that these were idolatrous images.
Fanatics would even murder
those who supported the use of fine art to decorate Christian churches
and foster spirit of worship.
Though he was unsuccessful
in ending the iconoclast heresy
of Emperor
Leo V, Pascal did his best to help Eastern Christians who were fighting
to stop this destruction of great religious art. He sent his aides to
try to secure the release of Abbot
Theodore the Studite, who had been imprisoned for defending
sacred icons, and encouraged Saint
Nicephorus. And Paschal gave shelter to many Greek monks who had
fled from the east in fear of those who were destroying what they held
to be precious aids to the Christian life.
While Pascal did not succeed in ending this strife, the influence of
Eastern artists can be seen in the work done between 817 and 824
(while he was pope) to embellish Rome. Pascal, for instance, rebuilt
the Roman church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, and made it into a
fitting shrine for the bones of Saint
Cecilia. This church has been considerably rebuilt since then,
but another church in Rome,
Santa Maria in Domnica, remains substantially as it was after
Pascal had restored it and shows his deeply held beliefs.
Paschal also supported missionary activities in Denmark.
Although
Paschal is listed in the Roman Martyrology, he has never been formally
canonized (Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Encyclopedia, Schamoni).
|
 820
867 Pope St. Nicholas I; One of the great popes of the Middle Ages,
who exerted decisive
influence upon the historical development of the papacy and its
position among the Christian nations of Western Europe; At Rome, Nicholas rebuilt and endowed
several churches, and constantly
sought to encourage religious life. His own personal life was guided by
a spirit of earnest Christian asceticism and profound piety. He was
very highly esteemed by the citizens of Rome, as he was by his
contemporaries generally; and
after death was regarded as a saint.
Born at Rome, date unknown; died 13 November, 867.
He was of a distinguished family, being the son of the Defensor
Theodore, and received an excellent training. Already distinguished for
his piety, benevolence, ability, knowledge, and eloquence, he entered,
at an early age, the service of the Church, was made subdeacon by Pope
Sergius II (844-47), and deacon by Leo IV (847-55). After Benedict's
death (7 April, 858) the Emperor Louis II, who was in the neighbourhood
of Rome, came into the city to exert his influence upon the election.
On 24 April Nicholas was elected pope, and on the same day was
consecrated and enthroned in St. Peter's in the presence of the
emperor. Three days after, he gave a farewell banquet to the emperor,
and afterward, accompanied by the Roman nobility, visited him in his
camp before the city, on which occasion the emperor came to meet the
pope and led his horse for some distance.
Christianity in Western Europe was then in a most melancholy condition.
The empire of Charlemagne had fallen to pieces, Christian territory was
threatened both from the north and the east, and Christendom seemed on
the brink of anarchy. Christian morality was despised; many bishops
were worldly and unworthy of their office. There was danger of a
universal decline of the higher civilization. Pope Nicholas appeared as
a conscientious representative of the Roman Primacy in the Church. He
was filled with a high conception of his mission for the vindication of
Christian morality, the defence of God's law against powerful bishops.
Archbishop John of Ravenna oppressed the inhabitants of the papal
territory, treated his suffragan bishops with violence, made unjust
demands upon them for money, and illegally imprisoned priests. He also
forged documents to support his claims against the Roman See and
maltreated the papal legates. As the warnings of the pope were without
result, and the archbishop ignored a thrice-repeated summons to appear
before the papal tribunal, he was excommunicated. Having first visited
the Emperor Louis at Pavia, the archbishop repaired, with two imperial
delegates, to Rome, where Nicholas cited him before the Roman synod
assembled in the autumn of 860. Upon this John fled from Rome. Going in
person to Ravenna, the pope then investigated and equitably regulated
everything. Again appealing to the emperor, the archbishop was
recommended by him to submit to the pope, which he did at the Roman
Synod of November, 861. Later on, however, he entered into a pact with
the excommunicated Archbishops of Trier and Cologne, was himself again
excommunicated, and once more forced to make his submission to the
pope.
Another conflict arose between Nicholas and Archbishop Hincmar of
Reims: this concerned the prerogatives of the papacy. Bishop Rothad of
Soissons had appealed to the pope against the decision of the Synod of
Soissons, of 861, which had deposed him; Hincmar opposed the appeal to
the pope, but eventually had to acknowledge the right of the papacy to
take cognizance of important legal causes (causæ majores) and
pass independent judgment upon them. A further dispute broke out
between Hincmar and the pope as to the elevation of the cleric Wulfad
to the archiepiscopal See of Bourges, but here, again, Hincmar finally
submitted to the decrees of the Apostolic See, and the Frankish synods
passed corresponding ordinances.
Nicholas showed the same zeal in other efforts to maintain
ecclesiastical discipline, especially as to the marriage laws.
Ingiltrud, wife of Count Boso, had left her husband for a paramour;
Nicholas commanded the bishops in the dominions of Charles the Bold to
excommunicate her unless she returned to her husband. As she paid no
attention to the summons to appear before the Synod of Milan in 860,
she was put under the ban. The pope was also involved in a desperate
struggle with Lothair II of Lorraine over the inviolability of
marriage. Lothair had abandoned his lawful wife Theutberga to marry
Waldrada. At the Synod of Aachen, 28 April, 862, the bishops of
Lorraine, unmindful of their duty, approved of this illicit union. At
the Synod of Metz, June, 863, the papal legates, bribed by the king,
assented to the Aachen decision, and condemned the absent Theutberga.
Upon this the pope brought the matter before his own tribunal. The two
archbishops, Günther of Cologne and Thietgaud of Trier, who had
come to Rome as delegates, were summoned before the Lateran Synod of
October, 863, when the pope condemned and deposed them as well as John
of Ravenna and Hagano of Bergamo. The Emperor Louis II took up the
cause of the deposed bishops, while King Lothair advanced upon Rome
with an army and laid siege to the city, so that the pope was confined
for two days in St. Peter's without food. Yet Nicholas did not waver in
his determination; the emperor, after being reconciled with the pope,
withdrew from Rome and commanded the Archbishops of Trier and Cologne
to return to their homes. Nicholas never ceased from his efforts to
bring about a reconciliation between Lothair and his lawful wife, but
without effect. Another matrimonial case in which Nicholas interposed
was that of Judith, daughter of Charles the Bold, who had married
Baldwin, Count of Flanders, without her father's consent. Frankish
bishops had excommunicated Judith, and Hincmar of Reims had taken sides
against her, but Nicholas urged leniency, in order to protect freedom
of marriage. In many other ecclesiastical matters, also, he issued
letters and decisions, and he took active measures against bishops who
were neglectful of their duties.
In the matter of the emperor and the patriarchs of Constantinople
Nicholas showed himself the Divinely appointed ruler of the Church. In
violation of ecclesiastical law, the Patriarch Ignatius was deposed in
857 and Photius illegally raised to the patriarchal see. In a letter
addressed (8 May, 862) to the patriarchs of the East, Nicholas called
upon them and all their bishops to refuse recognition to Photius, and
at a Roman synod held in April, 863, he excommunicated Photius. He also
encouraged the missionary activity of the Church. He sanctioned the
union of the Sees of Bremen and Hamburg, and confirmed to St. Anschar,
Archbishop of Bremen, and his successors the office of papal legate to
the Danes, Swedes, and Slavs. Bulgaria having been converted by Greek
missionaries, its ruler, Prince Boris, in August, 863, sent an embassy
to the pope with one hundred and six questions on the teaching and
discipline of the Church. Nicholas answered these inquiries
exhaustively in the celebrated "Responsa Nicolai ad consulta
Bulgarorum" (Mansi, "Coll. Conc.", XV, 401 sqq.). The letter shows how
keen was his desire to foster the principles of an earnest Christian
life in this newly-converted people. At the same time he sent an
embassy to Prince Boris, charged to use their personal efforts to
attain the pope's object. Nevertheless, Boris finally joined the
Eastern Church.
At Rome, Nicholas rebuilt and endowed several churches, and constantly
sought to encourage religious life. His own personal life was guided by
a spirit of earnest Christian asceticism and profound piety. He was
very highly esteemed by the citizens of Rome, as he was by his
contemporaries generally (cf. Regino, "Chronicon", ad an. 868, in "Mon.
Germ. Hist." Script.", I, 579), and after death was regarded as a
saint. A much discussed question and one that is important in judging
the position taken by this pope is, whether he made use of the forged
pseudo-Isidorian papal decretals. After exhaustive investigation,
Schrörs has decided that the pope was neither acquainted with the
pseudo-Isidorian collection in its entire extent, nor did he make use
of its individual parts; that he had perhaps a general knowledge of the
false decretals, but did not base his view of the law upon them, and
that he owed his knowledge of them solely to documents which came to
him from the Frankish Empire [Schrörs, "Papst Nikolaus I. und
Pseudo-Isidor" in "Historisches Jahrbuch", XXV (1904), 1 sqq.; Idem,
"Die pseudoisidorische 'Exceptio spolii' bei Papst Nikolaus I" in
"Historisches Jahrbuch", XXVI (1905), 275 sqq.].
|
885
St. Adrian III Pope worked to
mitigate the rigors of a famine in Rome
Little is known of Adrian III or his pontificate
and why he is venerated as a saint, though it is known he
worked to mitigate the rigors of a famine in Rome. Of Roman descent, he
was elected Pope probably on May 17, 884, opposed the aristocratic
faction in Rome led by Formosus, Bishop of Porto, and George of the
Aventine, a member of the Formosun group and notorious for several
murders he committed.
He died early in September or on July 8 near Modena while on the way to
a diet in Worms, Germany, at the invitation of Emperor Charles the Fat,
probably to settle the question of Charles' succession.
Pope St. Adrian III, of Roman extraction, was elected in the beginning
of the year 884, and died near Modena in the summer of the following
year, while on his way to the diet summoned by Charles the Fat to
determine the succession to the Empire. He was buried in the monastery
of Nonantula, where his memory has ever since been held in local
veneration. By decree of Pope Leo XIII the clergy of Rome and Modena
celebrate his Mass and office ritu duplici on 7 September.
|
1048 1054 Leo IX "the
pilgrim
pope" reformer deacon a stern bishop holy man & army
officer attempted stopping the schism (RM) During 20 years as prelate of Toul, known
as stern bishop,
disciplined lax priests brought order into the monasteries of
his diocese. He took his spiritual
advisor, Hildebrand (later Pope Saint Gregory VII), with him to Rome. What he had done formerly on a small scale
he attempted to
apply to the
whole Church. First began earnest reform of curia. Leo combatted
simony, enforced celibacy among clergy,
encouraged
development of chant and liturgy, condemned Berengarius, strove to
prevent schism between Eastern and Western churches
engineered by Emperor Michael Coerularius. Tirelessly travelled
throughout western Europe to enforce reforms, became known as the
pilgrim pope. Wherever he
went he
called together bishops and clergy in councils, inspiring them follow
his lead.
Romæ
sancti
Leónis Papæ Noni, virtútum et
miraculórum laude insígnis.
At Rome,
Pope St. Leo IX, illustrious for his
virtues and his miracles.
Born in Alsace,
France, in 1002; died in Rome, April 19,
1054;
canonized in 1087.
Pope Leo, baptized Bruno, curiously combined the life of a
holy man
with that of an army officer. He was a deacon when Emperor Conrad II,
his cousin, invaded Italy. In spite of his holy orders, Bruno readily
joined the emperor's army and fought valiantly. While still a deacon
and a soldier, Bruno was chosen to be bishop of Toul in 1026 when he
was visiting there.
During his 20 years as prelate of Toul, he was known as a
stern bishop,
who disciplined lax priests and brought order into the monasteries of
his diocese. Then in 1048 he was elected pope. He took his spiritual
advisor, Hildebrand (later Pope Saint Gregory VII), with him to Rome.
What he had done formerly on a small scale he attempted to
apply to the
whole Church. First he began in earnest to reform the
curia. Leo combatted simony, enforced celibacy among clergy,
encouraged
development of chant and liturgy, condemned Berengarius, and
strove to prevent the schism between the Eastern and Western churches
that was being engineered by Emperor Michael Coerularius. Then,
he tirelessly travelled throughout western Europe to enforce his
reforms, and became known as the pilgrim pope.
Wherever he went he
called together bishops and clergy in councils, inspiring them follow
his lead.
Leo IX decided to
consolidate the material position of the papacy by
adding parts of southern Italy to his territories, but this proved to
be his undoing. The Normans invaded these new territories; the warrior
pope himself led an army in their defense- -an action that caused even Saint Peter Damian (1001dr
of Church 1072) to criticize him.
Unfortunately, too, the Normans defeated him. Pope Leo IX was captured
at Civitella and imprisoned at Benevento. Although his captors declared
themselves to be the pope's loyal subjects, they did not release Leo
for several months.
In prison Leo began to learn Greek, in an attempt to
understand better
the teachings of the Eastern Church, which was now split from Rome.
But
his health was failing. On his release, the pope ordered his bed to be
placed in Saint Peter's Basilica next to a coffin. There he died
(Benedictines, Bentley, Encyclopedia).
|
1058 1061 Pope
Nicholas II The papal
electoral decree was issued in Pope Nicholas II’s bull,
In nominee Domini on April 13, 1059, and was renewed in 1061.
Simony,
the purchase or sale of sacred or spiritual things, was halted, and the
entire voting process was revised so that only cardinal-bishops (not
simply cardinals) would have the right to vote with further affirmation
of the Roman clergy and laity. The pope should normally be a member of
the Roman clergy but in case of necessity could come from outside Rome.
(Pope Nicholas II was French clergy.) The election, if possible, was to
be held at Rome, but it could be held elsewhere. The pope-elect would
exercise full authority even if he was incapable of reaching Rome. The
synod also legislated against clerical marriage and concubinage as well
as prohibiting lay investiture. Pope Nicholas II was a reformer
and named Cardinal Hildebrand, the
future Pope Gregory VII and reform’s greatest champion, as Archdeacon
of the Roman Church.
(GERHARD OF BURGUNDY)
Cardinal Gerard was born about 980 at Chevron in the Savoy province of
France and was installed on January 24, 1059, as Pope Nicholas II
coronate successor to Pope Stephen IX. Pope Nicholas II was a
reform prelate and set controls for the election and conduct of popes
by assembling a synod of 113 bishops on April 13, 1059, whose first
order of business was to declare the election of Pope Benedict X
unconstitutional.
Pope Nicholas II died in Florence on July 27, 1061, and was buried in
the Cathedral of Santa Reparata, now the Duomo.
Nicholas was born at Chevron, in what is now Savoy; elected at Siena,
December, 1058; died at Florence 19 or 27 July, 1061. Like his
predecessor, Stephen X, he was canon at Liège. In 1046 he became
Bishop of Florence, where he restored the canonical life among the
clergy of numerous churches. As soon as the news of the death of
Stephen X at Florence reached Rome (4 April, 1058). the Tusculan party
appointed a successor in the person of John Mincius, Bishop of
Velletri, under the name of Benedict X. His elevation, due to violence
and corruption, was contrary to the specific orders of Stephen X that,
at his death, no choice of a successor was to be made until
Hildebrand's return from Germany. Several cardinals protested against
the irregular proceedings, but they were compelled to flee from Rome.
Hildebrand was returning from his mission when the news of these events
reached him. He interrupted his journey at Florence, and after agreeing
with Duke Godfrey of Lorraine-Tuscany upon Bishop Gerhard for elevation
to the papacy, he won over part of the Roman population to the support
of his candidate. An embassy dispatched to the imperial court secured
the confirmation of the choice by the Empress Agnes. At Hildebrand's
invitation, the cardinals met in December, 1058, at Siena and elected
Gerhard who assumed the name of Nicholas II. On his way to Rome the new
pope held at Sutri a well-attended synod at which, in the presence of
Duke Godfrey and the imperial chancellor, Guibert of Parma, he
pronounced deposition against Benedict X. The latter was driven from
the city in January, 1059, and the solemn coronation of Nicholas took
place on the twenty-fourth of the same month. A cultured and stainless
man, the new pontiff had about him capable advisers, but to meet the
danger still threatening from Benedict X and his armed supporters,
Nicholas empowered Hildebrand to enter into negotiations with the
Normans of southern Italy. The papal envoy recognized Count Richard of
Aversa as Prince of Capua and received in return Norman troops which
enabled the papacy to carry on hostilities against Benedict in the
Campagna. This campaign did not result in the decisive overthrow of the
opposition party, but it enabled Nicholas to undertake in the early
part of 1059 a pastoral visitation to Spoleto, Farfa, and Osimo. During
this journey he raised Abbot Desiderius of Monte Cassino to the dignity
of cardinal-priest and appointed him legate to Campania, Benevento,
Apulia, and Calabria. Early in his pontificate he had sent St. Peter
Damiani and Bishop Anselm of Lucca as his legates to Milan, where a
married and simoniacal clergy had recently given rise to a reform-party
known as the "Pataria". A synod for the restoration of ecclesiastical
discipline was held under the presidency of these envoys who, in spite
of a tumultuous uprising which endangered their lives, succeeded in
obtaining from Archbishop Guido and the Milanese clergy a solemn
repudiation of simony and concubinage.
One of the most pressing needs of the time was the reform of papal
elections. It was right that they should be freed from the nefarious
influence of the Roman factions and the secular control of the emperor,
hitherto less disastrous but always objectionable. To this end Nicholas
II held in the Lateran at Easter, 1059 a synod attended by one hundred
and thirteen bishops and famous for its law concerning papal elections.
Efforts to determine the authentic text of this decree caused
considerable controversy in the nineteenth century. That the
discussions did not result in a consensus of opinion on the matter need
not surprise, if it be remembered that thirty years after the
publication of the decree complaints were heard regarding the
divergency in the text. We possess today a papal and an imperial
recension and the sense of the law may be stated substantially as
follows:
(1) At the death of the pope, the cardinal-bishops are to confer among
themselves concerning a candidate, and, after they have agreed upon a
name, they and the other cardinals are to proceed to the election. The
remainder of the clergy and the laity enjoy the right of acclaiming
their choice.
(2) A member of the Roman clergy is to be chosen, except that where a
qualified candidate cannot be found in the Roman Church, an
ecclesiastic from another diocese may be elected.
(3) The election is to be held at Rome, except that when a free choice
is impossible there, it may take place elsewhere.
(4) If war or other circumstances prevent the solemn enthronization of
the new pope in St. Peter's Chair, he shall nevertheless enjoy the
exercise of full Apostolic authority.
(5) Due regard is to be had for the right of confirmation or
recognition conceded to King Henry, and the same deference is to be
shown to his successors, who have been granted personally a like
privilege.
These stipulations constituted indeed a new law, but they were also
intended as an implicit approbation of the procedure followed at the
election of Nicholas II. As to the imperial right of confirmation, it
became a mere personal privilege granted by the Roman See. The same
synod prohibited simoniacal ordinations, lay investiture, and
assistance at the Mass of a priest living in notorious concubinage. The
rules governing the life of canons and nuns which were published at the
diet of Aix-la-Chapelle (817) were abolished, because they allowed
private property and such abundant food that, as the bishops
indignantly exclaimed, they were adapted to sailors and intemperate
matrons rather than to clerics and nuns. Berengarius of Tours, whose
views opposed to the doctrine of Christ's real presence in the
Eucharist, had repeatedly been condemned, also appeared at the Council
and was compelled to sign a formula of abjuration.
At the end of June, 1059, Nicholas proceeded to Monte Cassino and
thence to Melfi, the capital of Norman Apulia, where he held an
important synod and concluded the famous alliance with the Normans
(July-August, 1059). Duke Robert Guiscard was invested with the
sovereignty of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily in case he should reconquer
it from the Saracens; he bound himself, in return, to pay an annual
tribute, to hold his lands as the pope's vassal, and to protect the
Roman See, its possessions, and the freedom of papal elections. A
similar agreement was concluded with Prince Richard of Capua. After
holding a synod at Benevento Nicholas returned to Rome with a Norman
army which reconquered Præneste, Tusculum, and Numentanum for the
Holy See and forced Benedict X to capitulate at Galeria (autumn of
1059). Hildebrand, the soul of the pontificate, was now created
archdeacon. In order to secure the general acceptance of the laws
enacted at the synod of 1059, Cardinal Stephen, in the latter part of
that year, was sent to France where he presided over the synods of
Vienne (31 January, 1060) and Tours (17 February, 1060). The decree
which introduced a new method of papal election had caused great
dissatisfaction in Germany, because it reduced the imperial right of
confirmation to the precarious condition of a personal privilege
granted at will; but, assured of Norman protection, Nicholas could
fearlessly renew the decree at the Lateran synod held in 1060. After
this council Cardinal Stephen, who had accomplished his mission to
France, appeared as papal legate in Germany. For five days he vainly
solicited an audience at court and then returned to Rome. His fruitless
mission was followed by a German synod which annulled all the
ordinances of Nicholas II and pronounced his deposition. The pope's
answer was a repetition of the decree concerning elections at the synod
of 1061, at which the condemnation of simony and concubinage among the
clergy was likewise renewed. He lies buried in the church of St.
Reparata at Florence of which city he had remained bishop even after
his elevation to the papal throne. His pontificate, though of short
duration, was marked by events fraught with momentous and far-reaching
consequences.
|
1061-1073 Alexander II Anselm of Lucca, a leader of
the reform party
Anselm of Lucca, recognized as one of the leaders of the reform party,
especially in the Milanese territory, where he was born at
Baggio, of
noble parentage.
Together with Hildebrand, he had imbibed in Cluny (q.v.) the
zeal for
reformation. The first theatre of his activity was Milan, where he was
one of the founders of the Pataria, and lent to that great agitation
against simony and clerical incontinency the weight of his eloquence
and noble birth. The device of silencing him, contrived by Archbishop
Guido and other episcopal foes of reform in Lombardy, viz. sending him
to the court of the Emperor Henry III, had the contrary effect of
enabling him to spread the propaganda in Germany. In 1057 the Emperor
appointed him to the bishopric of Lucca. With increased prestige, he
reappeared twice in Milan as legate of the Holy See, in 1057 in the
company of Hildebrand, and in 1059 with St. Peter Damiani. Under the
able generalship of this saintly triumvirate the reform forces were
held well in hand, in preparation for the inevitable conflict. The
decree of Nicholas II (1059) by which the right of papal elections was
virtually vested in the College of Cardinals, formed the issue to be
fought and decided at the next vacancy of the Apostolic Throne. The
death of Pope Nicholas two years later found both parties in battle
array. The candidate of the Hildebrandists, endorsed by the cardinals,
was the Bishop of Lucca -- the other side put forward the name of
Cadalus, Bishop of Parma, a protector and example of the prevailing
vices of the age. The cardinals met in legal form and elected Anselm,
who took the name of Alexander II. Before proceeding to his
enthronization, the Sacred College notified the German Court of their
action. The Germans were considered to have forfeited the privilege of
confirming the election. reserved to their king with studied vagueness
in the decree of Nicholas II, when they contemptuously dismissed the
ambassador of the cardinals without a hearing. Foreseeing a civil war,
the cardinals on 30 September completed the election by the ceremony of
enthronization. Meanwhile a deputation of the Roman nobles, who were
enraged at their elimination as a dominant factor in the papal
elections, joined by deputies of the unreformed episcopate of Lombardy,
had proceeded to the German Court with a request for the royal sanction
to a new election. The Empress Agnes, as regent for her ten-year-old
son, Henry IV, convoked an assembly of lay and clerical magnates at
Basle; and here, without any legal right, and without the presence of a
single cardinal, the Bishop of Parma was declared Pope, and took the
name of Honorius II (28 October). In the contest which ensued, Pope
Alexander was supported by the consciousness of the sanctity of his
cause, by public opinion clamouring for reform, by the aid of the
allied Normans of southern Italy, and by the benevolence of Beatrice
and Matilda of Tuscany. Even in Germany things took a favourable turn
for him, when Anno of Cologne seized the regency, and the repentant
Empress withdrew to a convent. In a new diet, at Augsburg (Oct., 1062),
it was decided that Burchard, Bishop of Halberstadt should proceed to
Rome and, after investigating the election of Alexander on the spot,
make a report to a later assemblage of the bishops of Germany and
Italy. Burchard's report was entirely in favour of Alexander. The
latter defended his cause with eloquence and spirit in a council held
at Mantua, at Pentecost, 1064 (C. Wile, Benzos Panegyricus, Marburg,
1856), and was formally recognized as legitimate Pope.
His rival was
excommunicated, but kept up the contest with dwindling prospects till
his death in l 072. During the darkest hours of the schism Alexander
and his chancellor, Cardinal Hildebrand, never for a moment relaxed
their hold upon the reins of government. In striking contrast to his
helplessness amidst the Roman factions is his lofty attitude towards
the potentates lay and clerical, of Europe. Under banners blessed by
him Roger advanced to the conquest of Sicily, and William to the
conquest of England. His Regesta fill eleven pages of Jaffe (Regesta
Rom. Pontif., 2d ed., 4, nos. 445, 4770). He was omnipresent, through
his legates, Punishing simoniacal bishops and incontinent clerics. He
did not spare even his protector, Anno of Cologne whom he twice
summoned to Rome, once in 1068 to do penance, barefoot, for holding
relations with the antipope, and again in 1070 to purge himself of the
charge of simony. A similar discipline was administered to Sigfried of
Mainz, Hermann of Bamberg, and Werner of Strasburg. In his name his
legate, St. Peter Damiani, at the Diet of Frankfurt in 1089, under
threat of excommunication and exclusion from the imperial throne,
deterred Henry IV from the project of divorcing his queen, Bertha of
Turin, though instigated thereto by several German bishops. His
completest triumph was that of compelling Bishop Charles of Constance
and Abbot Robert of Reichenau to return to the King the croziers and
rings they had obtained through simony. One serious quarrel with Henry
was left to be decided by his successor. In 1069 the Pope had rejected
as a simonist the subdeacon Godfrey, whom Henry had appointed
Archbishop of Milan -- Henry failing to acquiesce, the Pope confirmed
Atto, the choice of the reform party. Upon the king's ordering his
appointee to be consecrated, Alexander fulminated an anathema against
the royal advisers. The death of the Pope, 21 April, 1073, left
Hildebrand, his faithful chancellor, heir to his triumphs and
difficulties. Alexander deserved well of the English Church by
elevating his ancient teacher, Lanfranc of Bec, to the See of
Canterbury and appointing him Primate of England.
|
1073-1085 Pope St. Gregory VII; One of the greatest of the Roman pontiffs
and one of the most remarkable men of all times
(HILDEBRAND); born between the
years 1020 and 1025, at Soana, or Ravacum, in Tuscany; died 25 May,
1085, at Salerno.
The tenth century, the
saddest, perhaps, in Christian annals,
characterized by the vivid remark of Baronius that Christ was as if
asleep in the vessel of the Church. At the time of Leo IX's election in
1049, according to the testimony of St. Bruno, Bishop of Sengi, the
whole world lay in wickedness, holiness had disappeared, justice had
perished and truth had been buried; Simon Magus lording it over the
Church, whose bishops and priests were given to luxury and fornication"
(Vita S. Leonis PP. IX in Watterich, Pont. Roman, Vitae, I, 96). St.
Peter Damian, the fiercest censor of his age, unrolls a frightful
picture of the decay of clerical morality in the lurid pages of his
"Liber Gomorrhianus" (Book of Gomorrha). Though allowance must no doubt
be made for the writer's exaggerated and rhetorical style--a style
common to all moral censors-- yet the evidence derived from other
sources justifies us in believing that the corruption was widespread.
In writing to his venerated friend, Abbot Hugh of Cluny (Jan., 1075),
Gregory himself laments the unhappy state of the Church in the
following terms: "The Eastern Church has fallen away from the Faith and
is now assailed on every side by infidels. Wherever I turn my eyes--to
the west, to the north, or to the south--I find everywhere bishops who
have obtained their office in an irregular way, whose lives and
conversation are strangely at variance with their sacred calling; who
go through their duties not for the love of Christ but from motives of
worldly gain. There are no longer princes who set God's honour before
their own selfish ends, or who allow justice to stand in the way of
their ambition...
With admirable discernment, Gregory began his great work of purifying
the Church by a reformation of the clergy. At his first Lenten Synod
(March, 1074) he enacted the following decrees: That clerics who
had obtained any grade or office of sacred orders by payment should
cease to minister in the Church. That no one who had purchased any
church should retain it, and that no one for the future should be
permitted to buy or sell ecclesiastical rights. That all who were
guilty of incontinence should cease to exercise their sacred ministry.
That the people should reject the ministrations of clerics who failed
to obey these injunctions.
The early years of his life are involved in considerable obscurity. His
name, Hildebrand (Hellebrand)--signifying to those of his
contemporaries that loved him "a bright flame", to those that hated him
"a brand of hell"--would indicate some Lombard connection of his
family, though at a later time, it probably also suggested the fabled
descent from the noble family of the Aldobrandini. That he was of
humble origin--vir de plebe, as he is styled in the letter of a
contemporary abbot--can scarcely be doubted. His father Bonizo is said
by some chroniclers to have been a carpenter, by others a peasant, the
evidence in either case being very slender; the name of his mother is
unrecorded. At a tender age he came to Rome to be educated in the
monastery of Santa Maria on the Aventine Hill, over which his maternal
uncle Laurentius presided as abbot. The austere spirit of Cluny
pervaded this Roman cloister, and it is not unlikely that here the
youthful Hildebrand first imbibed those lofty principles of Church
reform of which he was afterwards to become the most fearless exponent.
Early in life he made his religious profession as a Benedictine monk at
Rome (not in Cluny); the house of his profession, however, and the year
of his entrance into the order, both remain undetermined. As a cleric
in minor orders he entered the service of John Gratian, Archpriest of
San Giovanni by the Latin Gate, and on Gratian's elevation to the
papacy as Gregory VI, became his chaplain. In 1046 he followed his
papal patron across the Alps into exile, remaining with Gregory at
Cologne until the death of the deposed pontiff in 1047, when he
withdrew to Cluny. Here he resided for more than a year.
At Besançon, in January, 1049, he met Bruno, Bishop of Toul, the
pontiff-elect recently chosen at Worms under the title of Leo IX, and
returned with him to Rome, though not before Bruno, who had been
nominated merely by the emperor, had expressed the intention of
submitting to the formal choice of the Roman clergy and people. Created
a cardinal-subdeacon, shortly after Leo's accession, and appointed
administrator of the Patrimony of St. Peter's, Hildebrand at once gave
evidence of that extraordinary faculty for administration which later
characterized his government of the Church Universal. Under his
energetic and capable direction the property of the Church, which
latterly had been diverted into the hands of the Roman nobility and the
Normans, was largely recovered, and the revenues of the Holy See, whose
treasury had been depleted, speedily augmented. By Leo IX he was also
appointed propositus or promisor (not abbot) of the monastery of St.
Paul extra Muros. The unchecked violence of the lawless bands of the
Champagne had brought great destitution upon this venerable
establishment. Monastic discipline was so impaired that the monks were
attended in their refectory by women; and the sacred edifices were so
neglected that the sheep and cattle freely roamed in and out through
the broken doors. By rigorous reforms and a wise administration
Hildebrand succeeded in restoring the ancient rule of the abbey with
the austere observance of earlier times; and he continued throughout
life to manifest the deepest attachment for the famous house which his
energy had reclaimed from ruin and decay. In 1054 he was sent to France
as papal legate to examine the cause of Berengarius. While still in
Tours he learned of the death of Leo IX, and on hastening back to Rome
he found that the clergy and people were eager to elect him, the most
trusted friend and counsellor of Leo, as the successor. This proposal
of the Romans was, however, resisted by Hildebrand, who set out for
Germany at the head of an embassy to implore a nomination from the
emperor. The negotiations, which lasted about eleven months, ultimately
resulted in the selection of Hildebrand's candidate, Gebhard, Bishop of
Eichstadt, who was consecrated at Rome, 13 April, 1055, under the name
of Victor II. During the reign of this pontiff, the cardinal-subdeacon
steadily maintained, and even increased the ascendancy which by his
commanding genius he had acquired during the pontificate of Leo IX.
Near the close of the year 1057 he went once more to Germany to
reconcile the Empress-regent Agnes and her court to the (merely)
canonical election of Pope Stephen X (1057-1058). His mission was not
yet accomplished when Stephen died at Florence, and although the dying
pope had forbidden the people to appoint a successor before Hildebrand
returned, the Tusculan faction seized the opportunity to set up a
member of the Crescentian family, John Mincius, Bishop of Velletri,
under the title of Benedict X. With masterly skill Hildebrand succeeded
in defeating the schemes of the hostile party, and secured the election
of Gerard, Bishop of Florence, a Burgundian by birth, who assumed the
name of Nicholas II (1059-1061).
The two most important transactions of this pontificate--the celebrated
decree of election, by which the power of choosing the pope was vested
in the college of cardinals, and the alliance with the Normans, secured
by the Treaty of Meifi, 1059--were in large measure the achievement of
Hildebrand, whose power and influence had now become supreme in Rome.
It was perhaps inevitable that the issues raised by the new decree of
election should not be decided without a conflict, and with the passing
away of Nicholas II in 1061, that conflict came. But when it was ended,
after a schism enduring for some years, the imperial party with its
antipope Cadalous had been discomfited, and Anselm of Baggio, the
candidate of Hildebrand and the reform party, successfully enthroned in
the Lateran Palace as Alexander II. By Nicholas II, in 1059, Hildebrand
had been raised to the dignity and office of Archdeacon of the Holy
Roman Church, and Alexander II now made him Chancellor of the Apostolic
See. On 21 April, 1073, Alexander II died. The time at length had come
when Hildebrand, who for more than twenty years had been the most
prominent figure in the Church, who had been chiefly instrumental in
the selection of her rulers, who had inspired and given purpose to her
policy, and who had been steadily developing and realizing, by
successive acts, her sovereignty and purity, should assume in his own
person the majesty and responsibility of that exalted power which his
genius had so long directed.
On the day following the death of Alexander II, as the obsequies of the
deceased pontiff were being performed in the Lateran basilica, there
arose, of a sudden, a loud outcry from the whole multitude of clergy
and people: "Let Hildebrand be pope!" "Blessed Peter has chosen
Hildebrand the Archdeacon!" All remonstrances on the part of the
archdeacon were vain, his protestations fruitless. Later, on the same
day, Hildebrand was conducted to the church of San Pietro in Vincoli,
and there elected in legal form by the assembled cardinals, with the
due consent of the Roman clergy and amid the repeated acclamations of
the people. That this extraordinary outburst on the part of the clergy
and people in favour of Hildebrand could have been the result of some
preconcerted arrangements, as is sometimes alleged, does not appear
likely. Hildebrand was clearly the man of the hour, his austere virtue
commanded respect, his genius admiration; and the prompitude and
unanimity with which he was chosen would indicate, rather, a general
recognition of his fitness for the high office. In the decree of
election those who had chosen him as pontiff proclaimed him "a devout
man, a man mighty in human and divine knowledge, a distinguished lover
of equity and justice, a man firm in adversity and temperate in
prosperity, a man, according to the saying of the Apostle, of good
behaviour, blameless, modest, sober, chaste, given to hospitality, and
one that ruleth well his own house; a man from his childhood generously
brought up in the bosom of this Mother Church, and for the merit of his
life already raised to the archidiaconal dignity". "We choose then",
they said to the people, "our Archdeacon Hildebrand to be pope and
successor to the Apostle, and to bear henceforward and forever the name
of Gregory" (22 April, 1073), Mansi, "Conciliorum Collectio", XX, 60.
The decree of Nicholas II having expressly, if vaguely acknowledged the
right of the emperor to have some voice in papal elections, Hildebrand
deferred the ceremony of his consecration until he had received the
royal sanction. In sending the formal announcement of his elevation to
Henry IV of Germany, he took occasion to indicate frankly the attitude,
which, as sovereign pontiff, he was prepared to assume in dealing with
the Christian princes, and, with a note of grave personal warning
besought the king not to bestow his approval. The German bishops,
apprehensive of the severity with which such a man as Hildebrand would
carry out the decrees of reform, endeavoured to prevent the king from
assenting to the election; but upon the favourable report of Count
Eberhard of Nettenburg, who had been dispatched to Rome to assert the
rights of the crown, Henry gave his approval (it proved to be the last
instance in history of a papal election being ratified by an emperor),
and the new pope, in the meanwhile ordained to the priesthood, was
solemnly consecrated on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, 29 June,
1073. In assuming the name of Gregory VII, Hildebrand not only honoured
the memory and character of his earliest patron, Gregory VI, but also
proclaimed to the world the legitimacy of that pontiff's title.
From the letters which Gregory addressed to his friends shortly after
his election, imploring their intercession with heaven in his behalf,
and begging their sympathy and support, it is abundantly evident that
he assumed the burden of the pontificate, which had been thrust on him,
only with the strongest reluctance, and not without a great struggle of
mind.
To Desiderius, Abbot of Monte Cassino, he speaks of his
elevation in terms of terror, giving utterance to the words of the
Psalmist: "I am come into deep waters, so that the floods run over me";
"Fearlessness and trembling are come upon me, and darkness hath covered
me." And in view of the appalling nature of the task that lay before
him (of its difficulties no one indeed had a clearer perception than
he), it cannot appear strange that even his intrepid spirit was for the
moment overwhelmed. For at the time of Gregory's elevation to the
papacy the Christian world was in a deplorable condition. During the
desolating era of transition--that terrible period of warfare and
rapine, violence, and corruption in high places, which followed
immediately upon the dissolution of the Carlovingian Empire, a period
when society in Europe and all existing institutions seemed doomed to
utter destruction and ruin--the Church had not been able to escape from
the general debasement.
The tenth century, the saddest, perhaps, in Christian
annals, characterized by the vivid remark of Baronius that Christ was
as if asleep in the vessel of the Church. At the time of Leo IX's
election in 1049, according to the testimony of St. Bruno, Bishop of
Sengi, the whole world lay in wickedness, holiness had disappeared,
justice had perished and truth had been buried; Simon Magus lording it
over the Church, whose bishops and priests were given to luxury and
fornication" (Vita S. Leonis PP. IX in Watterich, Pont. Roman, Vitae,
I, 96). St. Peter Damian, the fiercest censor of his age, unrolls a
frightful picture of the decay of clerical morality in the lurid pages
of his "Liber Gomorrhianus" (Book of Gomorrha). Though allowance must
no doubt be made for the writer's exaggerated and rhetorical style--a
style common to all moral censors-- yet the evidence derived from other
sources justifies us in believing that the corruption was widespread.
In writing to his venerated friend, Abbot Hugh of Cluny (Jan., 1075),
Gregory himself laments the unhappy state of the Church in the
following terms: "The Eastern Church has fallen away from the Faith and
is now assailed on every side by infidels. Wherever I turn my eyes--to
the west, to the north, or to the south--I find everywhere bishops who
have obtained their office in an irregular way, whose lives and
conversation are strangely at variance with their sacred calling; who
go through their duties not for the love of Christ but from motives of
worldly gain. There are no longer princes who set God's honour before
their own selfish ends, or who allow justice to stand in the way of
their ambition...And those among whom I live--Romans, Lombards, and
Normans--are, as I have often told them, worse than Jews or Pagans"
(Greg. VII, Registr., 1.II, ep. xlix).
But whatever the personal feelings and anxieties of Gregory may have
been in taking up the burden of the papacy at a time when scandals and
abuses were everywhere pressing into view, the fearless pontiff felt
not a moment's hesitation as to the performance of his duty in carrying
out the work of reform already begun by his predecessors. Once securely
established on the Apostolic throne, Gregory made every effort to stamp
out of the Church the two consuming evils of the age, simony and
clerical incontinency, and, with characteristic energy and vigor,
laboured unceasingly for the assertion of those lofty principles with
which he firmly believed the welfare of Christ's Church and the
regeneration of society itself to be inseparably bound up. His first
care, naturally, was to secure his own position in Rome. For this
purpose he made a journey into Southern Italy, a few months after his
election, and concluded treaties with Landolfo of Benevento, Richard of
Capun, and Gisolfo of Salerno, by which these princes engaged
themselves to defend the person of the pope and the property of the
Holy See, and never to invest anyone with a church benefice without the
papal sanction. The Norman leader, Robert Guiscard, however, maintained
a suspicious attitude towards the pope, and at the Lenten Synod (1075)
Gregory solemnly excommunicated him for his sacrilegious invasion of
the territory of the Holy See (Capun and Benevento). During the year
1074 the pope's mind was also greatly occupied by the project of an
expedition to the East for the deliverance of the Oriental Christians
from the oppression of the Seljuk Turks. To promote the cause of a
crusade, and to effect, if possible, a reunion between the Eastern and
the Western Church--hopes of which had been held out by the Emperor
Michael VIII in his letter to Gregory in 1073--the pontiff sent the
Patriarch of Venice to Constantinople as his envoy. He wrote to the
Christian princes, urging them to rally the hosts of Western
Christendom for the defense of the Christian East; and in March, 1074,
addressed a circular letter to all the faithful, exhorting them to come
to the rescue of their Eastern brethren. But the project met with much
indifference and even opposition; and as Gregory himself soon became
involved in complications elsewhere, which demanded all his energies,
he was prevented from giving effect to his intentions, and the
expedition came to naught. With the youthful monarch of Germany
Gregory's relations in the beginning of his pontificate were of a
pacific nature. Henry, who was at the time hard pressed by the Saxons,
had written to the pope (Sept., 1073) in a tone of humble deference,
acknowledging his past misconduct, and expressing regret for his
numerous misdeeds--his invasion of the property of the Church, his
simoniacal promotions of unworthy persons, his negligence in punishing
offenders; he promised amendment for the future, professed submission
to the Roman See in language more gentle and lowly than had ever been
used by any of his predecessors to the pontiffs of Rome, and expressed
the hope that the royal power and the sacerdotal, bound together by the
necessity of mutual assistance, might henceforth remain indissolubly
united. But the passionate and headstrong king did not long abide by
these sentiments.
With admirable discernment, Gregory began his great work of purifying
the Church by a reformation of the clergy. At his first Lenten Synod
(March, 1074) he enacted the following decrees:
That clerics who had obtained any grade or office of sacred orders by
payment should cease to minister in the Church.
That no one who had purchased any church should retain it, and that no
one for the future should be permitted to buy or sell ecclesiastical
rights.
That all who were guilty of incontinence should cease to exercise their
sacred ministry.
That the people should reject the ministrations of clerics who failed
to obey these injunctions.
Similar decrees had indeed been passed by previous popes and councils.
Clement II, Leo IX, Nicholas II, and Alexander II had renewed the
ancient laws of discipline, and made determined efforts to have them
enforced. But they met with vigorous resistance, and were but partially
successful. The promulgation of Gregory's measures now, however, called
forth a most violent storm of opposition throughout Italy, Germany, and
France. And the reason for this opposition on the part of the vast
throng of immoral and simoniacal clerics is not far to seek. Much of
the reform thus far accomplished had been brought about mainly through
the efforts of Gregory; all countries had felt the force of his will,
the power of his dominant personality. His character, therefore, was a
sufficient guarantee that his legislation would not be suffered to
remain a dead letter. In Germany, particularly, the enactments of
Gregory aroused a feeling of intense indignation. The whole body of the
married clergy offered the most resolute resistance, and declared that
the canon enjoining celibacy was wholly unwarranted in Scripture. In
support of their position they appealed to the words of the Apostle
Paul, I Cor., vii,2, and 9: "It is better to marry than to be burnt";
and I Tim., iii, 2: "It behooveth therefore a bishop to be blameless,
the husband of one wife." They cited the words of Christ, Matt., xix,
11: "All men take not this word, but they to whom it is given"; and,
recurred to the address of the Egyptian Bishop Paphnutius at the
Council of Nice. At Nuremberg they informed the papal legate that they
would rather renounce their priesthood than their wives, and that he
for whom men were not good enough might go seek angels to preside over
the Churches. Siegfried, Archbishop of Mainz and Primate of Germany,
when forced to promulgate the decrees, attempted to temporize, and
allowed his clergy six months of delay for consideration. The order, of
course, remained ineffectual after the lapse of that period, and at a
synod held at Erfurt in October, 1074, he could accomplish nothing.
Altmann, the energetic Bishop of Passau, nearly lost his life in
publishing the measures, but adhered firmly to the instructions of the
pontiff. The greater number of bishops received their instructions with
manifest indifference, and some openly defied the pope. Otto of
Constance, who had before tolerated the marriage of his clergy, now
formally sanctioned it. In France the excitement was scarcely less
vehement than in Germany. A council at Paris, in 1074, condemned the
Roman decrees, as implying that the validity of the sacraments depended
on the sanctity of the minister, and declared them intolerable and
irrational. John, Archbishop of Rouen, while endeavouring to enforce
the canon of celibacy at a provincial synod, was stoned and had to flee
for his life. Walter, Abbot of Pontoise, who attempted to defend the
papal enactments, was imprisoned and threatened with death. At the
Council of Burgos, in Spain, the papal legate was insulted and his
dignity outraged. But the zeal of Gregory knew no abatement. He
followed up his decrees by sending legates into all quarters, fully
empowered to depose immoral and simoniacal ecclesiastics.
It was clear that the causes of the simony and of the incontinence
amongst the clergy were closely allied, and that the spread of the
latter could be effectually checked only by the eradication of the
former. Henry IV had failed to translate into action the promises made
in his penitent letter to the new pontiff. On the subjugation of the
Saxons and Thuringians, he deposed the Saxon bishops, and replaced them
by his own creatures. In 1075 a synod held at Rome excommunicated "any
person, even if he were emperor or king, who should confer an
investiture in connection with any ecclesiastical office", and Gregory
recognizing the futility of milder measures, deposed the simoniacal
prelates appointed by Henry, anathematized several of the imperial
counsellors, and cited the emperor himself to appear at Rome in 1076 to
answer for his conduct before a council. To this Henry retorted by
convening a meeting of his supporters at Worms on 23 January 1076. This
diet naturally defended Henry against all the papal charges, accused
the pontiff of most heinous crimes, and declared him deposed. Theses
decisions were approved a few weeks later by two synods of Lombard
bishops at Piacenza and Pavia respectively, and a messenger, bearing a
most offensive personal letter from Henry, was dispatched with this
reply to the pope. Gregory hesitated no longer: recognizing that the
Christian Faith must be preserved and the flood of immorality stemmed
at all costs, and seeing that the conflict was forced upon him by the
emperor's schism and the violation of his solemn promises, he
excommunicated Henry and all his ecclesiastical supporters, and
released his subjects from their oath of allegiance in accordance with
the usual political procedures of the age.
Henry's position was now precarious. At first he was encouraged by his
creatures to resist, but his friends, including his abettors among the
episcopate, began to abandon him, and the Saxons revolted once more,
demanding a new king. At a meeting of the German lords, spiritual and
temporal, held at Tibur in October, 1076, the election of a new emperor
was canvassed. On learning through the papal legate of Gregory's desire
that the crown should be reserved for Henry if possible, the assembly
contented itself with calling upon the emperor to abstain for the time
being from all administration of public affairs and avoid the company
of those who had been excommunicated, but declared his crown forfeited
if he were not reconciled with the pope within a year. It was further
agreed to invite Gregory to a council at Augsburg in the following
February, at which Henry was summoned to present himself. Abandoned by
his own partisans and fearing for his throne, Henry fled secretly with
his wife and child and a single servant to Gregory to tender his
submission. He crossed the Alps in the depth of one of the severest
winters on record. On reaching Italy, the Italians flocked around him
promising aid and assistance in his quarrel with the pope, but Henry
spurned their offers. Gregory was already on his way to Augsburg, and,
fearing treachery, retired to the castle of Canossa. Thither Henry
followed him, but the pontiff, mindful of his former faithlessness,
treated him with extreme severity. Stripped of his royal robes, and
clad as a penitent, Henry had to come barefooted mid ice and snow, and
crave for admission to the presence of the pope. All day he remained at
the door of the citadel, fasting and exposed to the inclemency of the
wintry weather, but was refused admission. A second and a third day he
thus humiliated and disciplined himself, and finally on 28 January,
1077, he was received by the pontiff and absolved from censure, but
only on condition that he would appear at the proposed council and
submit himself to its decision.
Henry then returned to Germany, but his severe lesson failed to effect
any radical improvement in his conduct. Disgusted by his
inconsistencies and dishonesty, the German princes on 15 March, 1077,
elected Rudolph of Swabia to succeed him. Gregory wished to remain
neutral, and even strove to effect a compromise between the opposing
parties. Both, however, were dissatisfied, and prevented the proposed
council from being held. Henry's conduct toward the pope was meanwhile
characterized by the greatest duplicity, and, when he went so far as to
threaten to set up an antipope, Gregory renewed in 1080 the sentence of
excommunication against him. At Brixen in June, 1080, the king and his
feudatory bishops, supported by the Lombards, carried their threat into
effect, and selected Gilbert, the excommunicated simoniacal Archbishop
of Ravenna, as pope under the title of Clement III. Rudolph of Swabia
having fallen mortally wounded at the battle of Mersburg in 1080. Henry
could concentrate all his forces against Gregory. In 1081 he marched on
Rome, but failed to force his way into the city, which he finally
accomplished only in 1084. Gregory thereupon retired into the exile of
Sant' Angelo, and refused to entertain Henry's overtures, although the
latter promised to hand over Guibert as a prisoner, if the sovereign
pontiff would only consent to crown him emperor. Gregory, however,
insisted as a necessary preliminary that Henry should appear before a
council and do penance. The emperor, while pretending to submit to
these terms, tried hard to prevent the meeting of the bishops. A small
number however assembled, and, in accordance with their wishes, Gregory
again excommunicated Henry. The latter on receipt of this news again
entered Rome on 21 March, 1084. Guibert was consecrated pope, and then
crowned Henry emperor. However, Robert Guiscard, Duke of Normandy, with
whom Gregory had formed an alliance, was already marching on the city,
and Henry, learning of his advance, fled towards Citta Castellana. The
pontiff was liberated, but, the people becoming incensed by the
excesses of his Norman allies, he was compelled to leave Rome.
Disappointed and sorrowing he withdrew to Monte Cassino, and later to
the castle of Salerno by the sea, where he died in the following year.
Three days before his death he withdrew all the censures of
excommunication that he had pronounced, except those against the two
chief offenders--Henry and Guibert. His last words were: "I have loved
justice and hated iniquity, therefore I die in exile." His body was
interred in the church of Saint Matthew at Salerno. He was beatified by
Gregory XIII in 1584, and canonized in 1728 by Benedict XIII. His
writings treat mainly of the principles and practice of Church
government. They may be found under the title "Gregorii VII registri
sive epistolarum libri" in Mansi, "Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et
amplissima collectio" (Florence, 1759) and "S. Gregorii VII epistolae
et diplomata" by Horoy (Paris, 1877).
|
1086-1087 Pope Blessed Victor III; enter the monastery of S. Sophia at
Benevento where he received the name of Desiderius; the greatest of all the abbots of Monte
Cassino with the exception
of the founder, and as such won for himself "imperishable fame"
(Gregorovius); Peter the Deacon
gives (op. cit., III, 63) a list of some seventy
books which Desiderius caused to be copied at Monte Cassino; they
include works of Sts. Augustine, Ambrose, Bede, Basil, Jerome, Gregory
of Nazianzus, and Cassian, the registers of Popes Feliz and Leo, the
histories of Josephus, Paul Warnfrid, Jordanus, and Gregory of Tours,
the "Institutes" and "Novels" of Justinian, the works of Terence,
Virgil, and Seneca, Cicero's "De natura deorum", and Ovid's "Fasti"; Undoubtedly the chief importance of
Desiderius in papal history
lies in his influence with the Normans, an influence which he was able
repeatedly to exert in favour of the Holy See; refused the Papacy
several times due to his ill health.
Desiderius had been appointed papal vicar for Campania, Apulia,
Calabria, and the Principality of Beneventum with special powers for
the reform of monasteries; so great was his reputation with the Holy
See that he "was allowed by the Roman Pontiff to appoint Bishops and
Abbots from among his brethren in whatever churches or monasteries he
desired of those which had been widowed of their patron"
(DAUFERIUS or DAUFAR).
Born in 1026 or 1027 of a non-regnant branch of the Lombard dukes of
Benevento; died in Rome, 16 Sept., 1087. Being an only son his desire
to embrace the monastic state was strenuously opposed by both his
parents. After his father's death in battle with the Normans, 1047, he
fled from the marriage which had been arranged for him and though
brought back by force, eventually after a second flight to Cava
obtained permission to enter the monastery of S. Sophia at Benevento
where he received the name of Desiderius.
The life at S. Sophia was not strict enough for the young
monk who betook himself first to the island monastery of Tremite in the
Adriatic and in 1053 to some hermits at Majella in the Abruzzi. About
this time he was brought to the notice of St. Leo IX and it is probable that
the pope employed him at Benevento to negotiate peace with the Normans
after the fatal battle of Civitate. Somewhat later Desiderius attached
himself to the Court of Victor II at Florence and there met two monks
of Monte Cassino, with whom he returned to their monastery in 1055. He
joined the community, and was shortly afterwards appointed superior of
the dependent house at Capua. In 1057 Stephen IX (X) who had retained
the abbacy of Monte Cassino came thither and at Christmas, believing
himself to be dying, ordered the monks to elect a new abbot. Their
choice fell on Desiderius. The pope recovered, and, desiring to retain
the abbacy during his lifetime, appointed the abbot-designate legate
for Constantinople. It was at Bari, when about to sail for the East,
that the news of the pope's death reached Desiderius. Having obtained a
safe-conduct from Robert Guiscard, the Norman Count (later Duke) of
Apulia, he returned to his monastery and was duly istalled by Cardinal
Humbert on Easter Day, 1058. A year later he was ordained
cardinal-priest of the title of S. Cecilia and received the abbatial
blessing.
Desiderius was the greatest of all the abbots of Monte Cassino with the
exception of the founder, and as such won for himself "imperishable
fame" (Gregorovius). He rebuilt the church and conventual buildings,
established schools of art and re-established monastic discipline so
that there were 200 monks in the monastery in his day (see MONTE
CASSINO). On 1 Oct., 1071, the new and magnificent Basilica of Monte
Cassino was consecrated by Alexander II. Desiderius's great reputation
brough to the abbey many gifts and exemptions. The money was sepnt on
church ornaments of which the most notable were a great golden altar
front from Constantinople, adorned with gems and enamels and "nearly
all the church ornaments of Victor II which had been pawned here and
there throughout the city" [Chron. Cass., III, 18 (20)]. The bronze and
silver doors of the Cassinese Basilica which Desiderius erected remain,
and in the Church of S. Angelo in Formis near Capua some of the
frescoes executed by his orders may still be seen. Peter the Deacon
gives (op. cit., III, 63) a list of some seventy books which Desiderius
caused to be copied at Monte Cassino; they include works of Sts.
Augustine, Ambrose, Bede, Basil, Jerome, Gregory of Nazianzus, and
Cassian, the registers of Popes Feliz and Leo, the histories of
Josephus, Paul Warnfrid, Jordanus, and Gregory of Tours, the
"Institutes" and "Novels" of Justinian, the works of Terence, Virgil,
and Seneca, Cicero's "De natura deorum", and Ovid's "Fasti".
Desiderius had been appointed papal vicar for Campania, Apulia,
Calabria, and the Principality of Beneventum with special powers for
the reform of monasteries; so great was his reputation with the Holy
See that he "was allowed by the Roman Pontiff to appoint Bishops and
Abbots from among his brethren in whatever churches or monasteries he
desired of those which had been widowed of their patron" (Chron. Cas.,
III, 34).
Within two years of the consecration of the Cassinese Basilica, Pope
Alexander died and was succeeded by Hildebrand. Undoubtedly the chief
importance of Desiderius in papal history lies in his influence with
the Normans, an influence which he was able repeatedly to exert in
favour of the Holy See.
Already in 1059 he had persuaded Robert Guiscard and
Richard of Capua to become vassals of St. Peter for their newly
conquered territories: now Gregory VII
immediately after his election sent for him to give an account of the
state of Norman Italy and entrusted him with the negotiation of an
interview with Robert Guiscard on 2 Aug., 1073, at Benevento.
In 1074 and 1075 he acted as intermediary, probably as Gregory's agent,
between the Norman princes themselves, and even when the latter were at
open war with the pope, they still maintained the best relations with
Monte Cassino (end of 1076). At the end of 1080 it was Desiderius who
obtained Norman troops for Gregory. In 1082 he visited the emperor at
Albano, while the troops of the Imperialist antipope were harassing the
pope from Tivoli. In 1083 the peace-loving abbot joined Hugh of Cluny
in an attempt to reconcile pope and emperor, and his proceedings seem
to have aroused some suspicion in Gregory's entourage. In 1084 when
Rome was in Henry's hands and the pope besieged in Sant' Angelo,
Desiderius announced the approach of Guiscard's army to both emperor
and pope.
Though certainly a strong partisan of the Hildebrandine reform the
gentler Desiderius belonged to the moderate party and could not always
see eye to eye with Gregory in his most intransigent proceedings. Yet
when the latter lay dying at Salerno (25 May, 1085) the Abbot of Monte
Cassino was one of those whom he named as fittest to succeed him.
Desiderius was by no means willing to assume the mantle of Gregory VII,
experience had taught him that his power and utility lay in being a
middleman, yet at a time when the Church was surrounded by powerful
enemies his influence with the Normans made him the most obvious
candidate. The Romans had expelled the antipope from the city, and
hither Desiderius hastened to consult with the cardinals on the
approaching election; finding, however, that they were bent on forcing
the papal dignity upon him he fled to Monte Cassino, where he busied
himself in exhorting the Normans and Lombards to rally to the support
of the Holy See. When autumn came Desiderius accompanied the Norman
army in its march towards Rome, but becoming aware of the plot which
was on foot between the cardinals and the Norman princes to force the
tiara upon him, he would not enter Rome unless they swore to abandon
their design; this they refused to do, and the election was postponed.
At about Easter (Chron. Cass., III, 66) the bishops and cardinals
assembled at Rome summoned Desiderius and the cardinals who were with
him at Monte Cassino to come to Rome to treat concerning the election.
On 23 May a great meeting was held in the deaconry of St. Lucy, and
Desiderius was again importuned to accept the papacy but persisted in
his refusal, threatening to return to his monastery in case of
violence. Next day, the feast of Pentecost, very early in the morning
the same scene was repeated. The consul Cencius now suggested the
election of Odo, Cardinal-Bishop of
Ostia (afterwards Urban II); this was rejected by some of the
cardinals on the grounds that translation of a bishop was contrary to
the canons. The assembly now lost all patience; Desiderius was seized
and dragged to the Church of St. Lucy where he was forcibly vested in
the red cope and given the name of Victor (24 May, 1086). The church
had been without a head for twelve months all but a day. Four days
later pope and cardinals had to flee from Rome before the imperial
prefect of the city, and at Terracina, in spite of all protests, Victor
laid aside the papal insignia and once more retired to Monte Cassino
where he remained nearly a whole year. In the middle of Lent, 1087, a
council of cardinals and bishops was held at Capua at which the
pope-elect assisted as "Papal vicar of those parts" (letter of Hugh of
Lyons) together with the Norman princes, Cencius the Consul, and the
Roman nobles; here Victor finally yielded and "by the assumption of the
cross and purple confirmed the past election" (Chron. Cass., III, 68).
How much his obstinacy had irritated some of the prelates is evidenced
in the letter of Hugh of Lyons preserved by Hugh of Flavigny (Mon.
Germ. Hist.: Script. VIII, 466-8).
After celebrating Easter in his monastery Victor proceeded to Rome, and
when the Normans had driven the soldiers of the Antipope Clement III
(Guibert of Ravenna) out of St. Peter's, was there consecrated and
enthroned (9 May, 1087). He only remained eight days in Rome and then
returned to Monte Cassino. Before May was out he was once more in Rome
in answer to a summons for the Countess Matilda, whose troops held the
Leonine City and Trastevere, but when at the end of June the antipope
once more gained possession of St. Peter's, Victor again retired to his
abbey. In August a council was held at Benevento, at which he renewed
the excommunication of the antipope, the condemnation of
lay-investiture, and anathematised Hugh of Lyons and Richard, Abbot of
Marseilles. When the council had lasted three days Victor became
seriously ill and retired to Monte Cassino to die. He had himself
carried into the chapter-house, issued various decrees for the benefit
of the abbey, appointed with the consent of the monks the prior,
Cardinal Oderisius, to succeed him in the Abbacy, just as he himself
had been appointed by Stephen IX (X), and proposed Odo of Ostia to the
assembled cardinals and bishops as the next pope. He died 16 Sept.,
1087, and was buried in the tomb he had prepared for himself in the
chapter-house. In the sixteenth century his body was removed to the
church, and again translated in 1890. The cultus of Blessed Victor
seems to have begun not later than the pontificate of Anastasius IV,
about 60 years after his death (Acta SS. Loc. cit.). In 1727 the Abbot
of Monte Cassino obtained from Benedict
III permission to keep his feast (Tosti, I, 393).
Pope Victor III is a far
less impressive figure in history than Desiderius the great Abbot of
Monte Cassino, but there is abundant evidence that it was largely his
failing health that made him so reluctant to accept the great position
which was thrust upon him. Ordericus tells us that he was taken ill
when saying the first Mass after his consecration, so that during his
papacy "he hardly got through a single Mass", vix una tantum missa perfunctus
(P.L., CLXXXVIII, p. 578).
On 5 Aug., 1087, when Victor was holding the Council at
Benevento, an army consisting of Roman, Genoese, Pisan, and Amalfitan
troops sent by him to Africa under the Banner of St. Peter captured the
town of El Mahadia, and forced the Mohammedan ruler of Tunis to promise
tribute to the Holy See and to free all Christian slaves.
This event may perhaps be considered as the beginning of
the Crusades. The only literary work of Victor which we possess is his
"Dialogues" on the miracles wrought by St. Benedict and other saints at
Monte Cassino. There is also a letter to the bishops of Sardinia to
which country he had sent monks while still Abbot of Monte Cassino. In
his "De Viris illustribus Casinensibus",
Peter the Deacon ascribes to him the composition of a "Cantus ad B. Maurum" and letters to
Philip of France and Hugh of Cluny which no longer exist.
|
1088-1099 Pope Bl. Urban II Under St. Bruno (afterwards founder of the
Carthusians) Otho
studied at Reims, where he later became canon and archdeacon. About
1070 he retired to Cluny and was professed there under the great abbot
St. Hugh. After holding the office of prior he was sent by St. Hugh to
Rome as one of the monks asked for by Gregory VII, and he was of great
assistance to Gregory in the difficult task of reforming the Church. In
1078 he became Cardinal Bishop of Ostia and Gregory's chief adviser and
helper. During the years 1082 to 1085 he was legate in France and
Germany. While returning to Rome in 1083 he was made prisoner by the
Emperor Henry IV, but was soon liberated. Whilst in Saxony (1084-5) he
filled many of the vacant sees with men faithful to Gregory and deposed
those whom the pope had condemned. He held a great synod at Quedlinburg
in Saxony in which the antipope Guibert of Ravenna and his adherents
were anathematized by name. Victor III had already been elected when
Otho returned to Rome in 1085. Otho appears to have opposed Victor at
first, not through any animosity or want of good will, but because he
judged it better, at so critical a time, that Victor should resign the
honour he was unwilling to retain. After Victor's death a summons was
sent to as many bishops of the Gregorian party as possible to attend a
meeting at Terracina. It was made known at this meeting that Otho had
been suggested by Gregory and Victor as their successor. Accordingly,
on 12 March, 1088, he was unanimously elected, taking the title of
Urban II.
(Otho, Otto or Odo of Lagery), , born of a knightly family,
at Châtillon-sur-Marne in the province of Champagne, about 1042;
died 29 July, 1099.
Under St. Bruno (afterwards founder of the Carthusians) Otho
studied at Reims, where he later became canon and archdeacon. About
1070 he retired to Cluny and was professed there under the great abbot
St. Hugh. After holding the office of prior he was sent by St. Hugh to
Rome as one of the monks asked for by Gregory VII, and he was of great
assistance to Gregory in the difficult task of reforming the Church. In
1078 he became Cardinal Bishop of Ostia and Gregory's chief adviser and
helper. During the years 1082 to 1085 he was legate in France and
Germany. While returning to Rome in 1083 he was made prisoner by the
Emperor Henry IV, but was soon liberated. Whilst in Saxony (1084-5) he
filled many of the vacant sees with men faithful to Gregory and deposed
those whom the pope had condemned. He held a great synod at Quedlinburg
in Saxony in which the antipope Guibert of Ravenna and his adherents
were anathematized by name. Victor III had already been elected when
Otho returned to Rome in 1085. Otho appears to have opposed Victor at
first, not through any animosity or want of good will, but because he
judged it better, at so critical a time, that Victor should resign the
honour he was unwilling to retain. After Victor's death a summons was
sent to as many bishops of the Gregorian party as possible to attend a
meeting at Terracina. It was made known at this meeting that Otho had
been suggested by Gregory and Victor as their successor. Accordingly,
on 12 March, 1088, he was unanimously elected, taking the title of
Urban II. His first act was to proclaim his election to the world, and
to exhort the princes and bishops who had been loyal to Gregory to
continue in their allegiance: he declared his intention of following
the policy and example of his great predecessor--"all that he rejected,
I reject, what he condemned I condemn, what he loved I embrace, what he
considered as Catholic, I confirm and approve".
It was a difficult task which confronted the new pope. To enter Rome
was impossible. The Normans, on whom together with Matilda he could
alone rely, were engaged in civil war. Roger and Bohemund had to be
reconciled before anything could be done, and to effect this the pope
set out for Sicily. He met Roger at Troina, but history is silent as to
what took place between them. The year following, however, saw peace
between the two princes, and Urban's first entry into Rome in November,
1088, is said by some to have been made possible by Norman troops. His
plight in Rome was truly pitiable; the whole city practically was in
the hands of the antipope, and Urban had to take refuge on the Island
of St. Bartholomew, the approach being guarded by Pierleone, who had
turned the theatre of Marcellus on the left bank of the river into a
fortress. Nor was the outlook in Germany calculated to hold out hopes
of the triumph of the papal party; its stoutest adherents in the
episcopate had died, and Henry was steadily gaining ground. From amidst
the poverty and want of his wretched island, Urban launched sentence of
excommunication against emperor and antipope alike. Guibert retorted by
holding a synod in St. Peter's before which he cited Urban to appear.
The troops of pope and antipope met in a desperate encounter which
lasted three days; Guibert was driven from the city, and Urban entered
St. Peter's in triumph. He was now determined to unite his partisans in
Italy and Germany. The Countess Matilda had lost her first husband,
Godfrey of Lorraine. She was now well advanced in years, but this did
not prevent her marriage with Count Welf of Bavaria, a youth of
eighteen, whose father, Duke of Welf IV of Bavaria, was in arms against
Henry. Urban now turned his steps southwards again. In the autumn of
1089 seventy bishops met him in synod at Melfi, where decrees against
simony and clerical marriage were promulgated. In December he turned
back to Rome, but not before he had effected a lasting peace between
Roger and Bohemund, and had received their full allegiance. The fickle
Romans had again renounced him on the news of Henry's success against
Matilda in north Italy, and had summoned Guibert back to the city. The
latter celebrated Christmas in St. Peter's whilst Urban anathematized
him from without the walls.
For three years Urban was compelled to wander an exile about southern
Italy. He spent the time holding councils and improving the character
of ecclesiastical discipline. Meanwhile Henry at last suffered a check
from Matilda's forces at Canossa, the same fortress which had witnessed
his humiliation before Gregory. His son Conrad, appalled, it is said,
at his father's depravity, and refusing to become his partner in sin,
fled to the faction of Matilda and Welf. The Lombard League--Milan,
Lodi, Piacenza, and Cremona--welcomed him and he was crowned king in
Milan, the centre of the imperial power in Italy. The way was now clear
for Urban's entry into Rome, but still the partisans of Guibert held
the strong places of the city. This time the pope took up his residence
in the fortress of the Frangipani, a family which had remained faithful
to him and which was entrenched under the Palatine near the Church of
Sta. Maria Nuova. His condition was piteous, for he had to depend on
charity and was already deeply in debt. A French abbot, Gregory of
Vendôme, hearing of Urban's plight, hurried to Rome "that he
might become a sharer of his sufferings and labour and relieve his
want". In return for this he was created Cardinal Deacon of Sta.
Prisca. Shortly before Easter, 1094, the governor of the Lateran palace
offered to surrender it to Urban on payment of a large sum of money.
This money Gregory of Vendôme supplied by selling certain
possessions of his monastery; Urban entered the Lateran in time for the
Paschal solemnity, and sat for the first time on the papal throne just
six years after his election at Terracina.
But it was no time for tarrying long in Rome. Henry's cause was
steadily growing weaker, and Urban hurried north to hold a council at
Piacenza in the interests of peace and reform. The unfortunate
Praxedis, Henry's second wife, had suffered wrongs which were now the
common property of Christendom. Her cause was heard, Henry not even
attempting to defend himself. She was publicly declared innocent and
absolved from any censure. Then the case of Philip of France, who had
repudiated his wife Bertha and espoused Bertrada, the wife of Fulk of
Anjou, was dealt with. Several bishops had recognized the union, but
Archbishop Hugh of Lyons had had the courage to excommunicate Philip
for adultery. Both king and archbishop were summoned to the council,
and both failed to appear. Philip was granted a further respite, but
Hugh was suspended from his office. At this council Urban was able to
broach the subject of the Crusades. The Eastern Emperor, Alexius I, had
sent an embassy to the pope asking for help against the Seljuk Turks
who were a serious menace to the Empire of Constantinople. Urban
succeeded in inducing many of those present to promise to help Alexius,
but no definite step was taken by Urban till a few months later, when
he summoned the most famous of his councils, that at Clermont in
Auvergne. The council met in November, 1095; thirteen archbishops, two
hundred and twenty-five bishops, and over ninety abbots answered the
pope's summons. The synod met in the Church of Notre-Dame du Port and
began by reiterating the Gregorian Decrees against simony, investiture,
and clerical marriage. The sentence, which for some months had been
threatening Philip of France, was now launched against him, and he was
excommunicated for adultery. Then the burning question of the East was
discussed. Urban's reception in France had been most enthusiastic, and
enthusiasm for the Crusade had spread as the pope journeyed on from
Italy. Thousands of nobles and knights had met together for the
council. It was decided that an army of horse and foot should march to
rescue Jerusalem and the Churches of Asia from the Saracens. A plenary
indulgence was granted to all who should undertake the journey pro sola
devotione, and further to help the movement, the Truce of God was
extended, and the property of those who had taken the cross was to be
looked upon as sacred. Those who were unfitted for the expedition were
forbidden to undertake it, and the faithful were exhorted to take the
advice of their bishops and priests before starting. Coming forth from
the church the pope addressed the immense multitude. He used his
wonderful gifts of eloquence to the utmost, depicting the captivity of
the Sacred City where Christ had suffered and died--"Let them turn
their weapons dripping with the blood of their brothers against the
enemy of the Christian Faith. Let them--oppressors of orphans and
widows, murderers and violaters of churches, robbers of the property of
others, vultures drawn by the scent of battle--let them hasten, if they
love their souls, under their captain Christ to the rescue of Sion."
When the pope ceased to speak a mighty shout of Deus lo volt rose from
the throng. His most sanguine hopes had not anticipated such enthusiasm
as now prevailed. He was urged repeatedly to lead the Crusade in
person, but he appointed Ademar, Bishop of Le Puy, in his stead, and
leaving Clermont travelled from city to city in France preaching the
Crusade. Letters were sent to bishops who had been unable to attend the
council, and preachers were sent all over Europe to arouse enthusiasm.
In every possible way Urban encouraged people to take the cross, and he
did not easily dispense from their obligations those who had once bound
themselves to undertake the expedition.
In March, 1096, the pope held a synod at Tours and confirmed the
excommunication of the French king, which certain members of the French
episcopate had endeavoured to remove. In July, 1096, the king, having
dismissed Bertrada, was absolved by Urban in a synod held at
Nîmes, but having relapsed, he was again excommunicated by the
pope's legate in 1097. Some of the greater prelates of France had now
to be brought to subjection to the pope, amongst them being the
Archbishop of Vienne, who had refused to abide by the papal decision
regarding the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Grenoble, and the
Archbishop of Sens, who had declined to recognize the Archbishop of
Lyons as papal legate. After a triumphal progress through France, Urban
returned to Italy. On his way to Rome he met the crusading princes at
Lucca, and bestowed the banner of St. Peter upon Hugh of Vermandois. It
is said by some that this crusading host enabled Urban to enter Rome,
which at this time was again held by the antipope. If this was so, the
entry appears, according to the statement of an eyewitness to have been
effected without fighting. No doubt the presence of well-disciplined
troops, under the most distinguished knights of Christendom, struck
terror into the wild partisans of Guibert. But Urban's final triumph
over the "imbecile" was now assured. Northern and central Italy were in
the power of Matilda and Conrad, and Henry was at last forced to leave
Italy. A council was held in the Lateran in 1097, and before the end of
the year Urban was able to go south again to solicit help from the
Normans to enable him to regain the Castle of S. Angelo. The castle
capitulated in August, 1098. He was now enabled to enjoy a brief period
of repose after a life of incessant activity and fierce strife, which
had brought exile and want. His friendship with the Normans was
strengthened by the appointment of Count Roger as papal legate in
Sicily, where the Church had been almost swept away by the Saracens;
the antipope was within his Archbishopric of Ravenna, and Henry's
power, though strengthened by Count Welf, who had forsaken Matilda, was
not strong enough to be any longer a serious menace.
In October, 1098, the pope held a council at Bari with the intention of
reconciling the Greeks and Latins on the question of the filioque; one
hundred and eighty bishops attended, amongst whom was St. Anselm of
Canterbury, who had fled to Urban to lay before him his complaints
against the Red King. The close of November saw the pope again in Rome;
it was his final return to the city. Here he held his last council in
April, 1099. Once more he raised his eloquent voice on behalf of the
Crusades, and many responded to his call. On 15 July, 1099, Jerusalem
fell before the attack of the crusaders, but Urban did not live to hear
the news. He died in the house of Pierleone which had so often given
him shelter. His remains could not be buried in the Lateran because of
Guibert's followers who were still in the city, but were conveyed to
the crypt of St. Peter's where they were interred close to the tomb of
Adrian I. Guibert of Nogent asserts that miracles were wrought at the
tomb of Urban, who appears as a saint in many of the Martyrologies.
Thus there seems to have been a cult of Urban II from the time of his
death, though the feast (29 July) has never been extended to the
Universal Church. Amongst the figures painted in the apse of the
oratory built by Calixtus II in the Lateran Palace is that of Urban II
with the words sanctus Urbanus secundus beneath it. The head is crowned
by a square nimbus, and the pope is represented at the feet of Our
Lady. The formal act of beatification did not take place till the
pontificate of Leo XIII. The cause was introduced by Mgr Langenieux,
Archbishop of Reims, in 1878, and after it had gone through the various
stages the decision was given by Leo XIII on 14 July, 1881.
|
1109 Pope Clement
XI canonized and included among the Doctors
of the Church 1109 Anselm of
Canterbury Doctor
of the Church OSB B, Doctor (RM) in 1720.
Born in Aosta, Piedmont, Italy, c. 1033; died at Canterbury, England,
on Holy Wednesday, April 21, ; canonized and included among the Doctors
of the Church by Pope Clement XI in 1720. |
| Pope Adrian IV (1 September, 1159) |
1159-81 Pope Alexander III; In the estimation of
Rome, Italy, and Christendom, Alexander III's epitaph expresses the
truth, when it calls him "the Light of the Clergy, the Ornament of the
Church, the Father of his City and of the World."
Pope from 1159-81 (Orlando Bandinelli), born of a distinguished Sienese
family; died 3 August, 1181.
As professor in Bologna he acquired a great reputation as
a canonist, which he increased by the publication of his commentary on
the "Decretum" of Gratian, popularly known as "Summa Magistri Rolandi."
Called to Rome by Eugene
III in the year 1150, his advancement was rapid. He was created
Cardinal Deacon, then Cardinal Priest of the title of St. Mark, and
Papal Chancellor. He was the trusted adviser of Adrian IV and was regarded as the
soul of the party of independence among the cardinals, which sought to
escape the German yoke by alliance with the Normans of Naples. For
openly asserting before Barbarossa at the Diet of Besançon
(1157) that the imperial dignity was a papal beneficium (in the general
sense of favour, not feudal sense of fief), he incurred the wrath of
the German princes, and would have fallen on the spot under the
battle-axe of his life-long foe, Otto of Wittelsbach had Frederick not
intervened.
For the purpose of securing a submissive pontiff at the
next vacancy, the Emperor despatched into Italy two able emissaries who
were to work upon the weaknesses and fears of the cardinals and the
Romans, the aforesaid Otto and the Archbishop-elect of Cologne, Rainald
von Dassel, whose anti-Papal attitude was largely owing to the fact
that the Holy See refused to confirm his appointment. The fruits of
their activity became patent after the death of Pope Adrian IV (1 September, 1159).
Of the twenty-two cardinals assembled, 7 September, to elect a
successor all but three voted for Orlando. The contention made later,
that the imperialist cardinals numbered nine, may be explained by the
surmise that in the earlier ballotings six of the faithful cardinals
voted for a less prominent and obnoxious candidate.
In opposition to Cardinal Orlando, who took the immortal
name of Alexander III, the
three imperialist members chose one of their number, Cardinal Octavian,
who assumed the title of Victor IV. A mob hired by the Count of
Wittelsbach broke up the conclave. Alexander retreated towards the
Norman south and was consecrated and crowned, 20 September, at the
little Volscian town of Nympha. Octavian's consecration took place 4
October, at the monastery of Farfa. The Emperor now interposed to
settle a disturbance entirely caused by his own agents, and summoned
both claimants before a packed assembly at Pavia. He betrayed his
animus by addressing Octavian as Victor IV and the true Pope as
Cardinal Orlando. Pope Alexander refused to submit his clear right to
this iniquitous tribunal, which, as was foreseen, declared for the
usurper (11 February, 1160). Alexander promptly responded, from the
ill-fated Anagni, by solemnly excommunicating the Emperor and releasing
his subjects from their oaths of allegiance.
The ensuing schism, far more disastrous to the Empire than
to the Papacy, lasted for seventeen years and ended after the battle of
Legnano (1176) with the unconditional surrender of the haughty
Barbarossa in Venice, 1177. (See FREDERICK I.) The childish legend that
the Pope placed his foot on the neck of the prostrate Emperor has done
valiant service to Protestant tradition since the days of Luther. [See
the dissertation of George Remus, Nuremberg, 1625; Lyons, 1728; and
Gosselin, "The Power of the Pope during the Middle Ages" (tr. London,
1853) II, 133.]
Alexander's enforced exile (1162-65) in France contributed
greatly to enhance the dignity of the papacy, never so popular as when
in distress. It also brought him into direct contact with the most
powerful monarch of the West, Henry II of England. The cautious manner
in which he defended the rights of the Church during the quarrel
between the two impetuous Normans, King Henry and St. Thomas Becket,
though many a time exciting the displeasure of both contestants, and
often since denounced as "shifty", was the strategy of an able
commander who, by marches and countermarches succeeds in keeping the
field against overwhelming odds. It is no disparagement of the Martyr
of Canterbury to say that the Pope equalled him in firmness and
excelled him in the arts of diplomacy.
After Becket's murder the Pope succeeded, without actual
recourse to ban or interdict, in obtaining from the penitent monarch
every right for which the martyr had fought and bled.
To crown and seal the triumph of religion, Alexander convoked and
presided over the Third Lateran Council (Eleventh Ecumenical), in 1179.
Surrounded by over 300 bishops, the much-tried Pontiff issued many
salutary decrees, notably the ordinance which vested the exclusive
right of papal elections in a two-thirds vote of the cardinals.
Throughout all the vicissitudes of his chequered career Alexander
remained a canonist. A glance at the Decretals shows that, as an
ecclesiastical legislator, he was scarcely second to Innocent III.
Worn out by trials, he died at Civita Castellana. When we
are told that "the Romans" pursued his remains with curses and stones,
the remembrance of a similar scene at the burial of Pius IX teaches us what value to
attach to such a demonstration. In the estimation of Rome, Italy, and
Christendom, Alexander III's epitaph expresses the truth, when it calls
him "the Light of the Clergy, the Ornament of the Church, the Father of
his City and of the World."
He was friendly to the new academical movement that led to
the establishment of the great medieval universities. His own
reputation as a teacher and a canonist has been greatly enhanced
through the discovery by Father Denifle in the public library of
Nuremberg of the "Sententiae Rolandi Bononiensis," edited (Freiburg,
1891) by Father Ambrosius Gietl. The collection of his letters
(Jaffé, Regesta RR. Pontif., Nos. 10,584-14,424) was enriched by
Löwenfeld's publication of many hitherto unknown (Epistolae
Pontif. Rom. ineditae, Leipzig, 1885). Even Voltaire regards him as the
man who in medieval times deserved best from the human race, for
abolishing slavery, for overcoming the violence of the Emperor
Barbarossa, for compelling Henry II of England to ask pardon for the
murder of Thomas Becket, for restoring to men their rights, and giving
splendour to many cities.
|
 1227- 1241
Pope Gregory IX He sent monks to Constantinople to negotiate with the
Greeks for church unity, but without result. He canonized Saints
Elizabeth of Thuringia, Dominic, Anthony of Padua and Francis of
Assisi. He permitted free study of the Aristotelian writings, and
issued (1234), through his chaplain, Raymond of Pennaforte, an
important new compilation of decretals which he prescribed in the bull
Rex Pacificus should be the standard textbook in canon law at the
universities of Bologna and Paris. Gregory was famed for his learning
and eloquence, his blameless life, and his great strength of character.
(UGOLINO, Count of Segni 19-Mar-1227
to 22-Aug-1241).
Born about 1145, at Anagni in the Campagna; died 22 August, 1241, at
Rome. He received his education at the Universities of Paris and
Bologna. After the accession of Innocent III to the papal throne,
Ugolino, who was a nephew of Innocent III, was successively appointed
papal chaplain, Archpriest of St. Peter's, and Cardinal-Deacon of
Saint' Eustachio in 1198. In May, 1206, he succeeded Octavian as
Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia and Velletri. A year later he and Cardinal
Brancaleone were sent as papal legates to Germany to mediate between
Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick, both of whom laid claim to the
German throne subsequent to the death of Henry VI. By order of the pope
the legates freed Philip from the ban which he had incurred under Pope
Celestine III on account of invading the Pontifical States. Though the
legates were unable to induce Otto of Brunswick to give up his claims
to the throne, they succeeded in effecting a truce between the two
claimants and returned to Rome in 1208 to treat with the pope
concerning their future procedure. On their way back to Germany early
in June, 1208, they were apprised at Verona that Philip had been
murdered, and again returned to Rome. Early in January, 1209, they
again proceeded to Germany with instructions to induce the princes to
acknowledge Otto of Brunswick as king. They were successful in their
mission and returned to Rome in June of the same year. After the death
of Pope Innocent III, 16 July, 1216, Ugolino was instrumental in the
election of Pope Honorius III on 18 July. In order to hasten the choice
the College of Cardinals had agreed to an election by compromise and
empowered Cardinals Ugolino and Guido of Preneste to appoint the new
pope.
In January, 1217, Honorius III made Ugolino plenipotentiary legate for
Lombardy and Tuscia, and entrusted him with preaching the crusade in
those territories. In this capacity he became a successful mediator
between Pisa and Genoa, in 1217, between Milan and Cremona in 1218, and
between Bologna and Pistoia in 1219. At the coronation of Frederick II
in Rome, 22 November, 1220, the emperor took the cross from Ugolino and
made the vow to embark for the Holy Land in August, 1221. On 14 March,
1221, Pope Honorius commissioned Ugolino to preach the crusade also in
Central and Upper Italy. After the death of Pope Honorius III (18
March, 1227), the cardinals again agreed upon an election by compromise
and empowered three of their number, among whom were Ugolino and Conrad
of Urach, to elect the new pope. At first Conrad of Urach was elected,
but he refused the tiara lest it might appear that he had elected
himself. Hereupon the cardinals unanimously elected Ugolino on 19
March, 1227, and he reluctantly accepted the high honour, taking the
name of Gregory IX. Though he was already far advanced in age (being
more than eighty years old), he was still full of energy.
The important diplomatic positions which Gregory IX had held before he
became pope had acquainted him thoroughly with the political situation
of Europe, and especially with the guileful and dishonest tactics of
Emperor Frederick II. Three days after his installation he sternly
ordered the emperor at last to fulfill his long delayed vow to embark
for the Holy Land. Apparently obedient to the papal mandate, Frederick
II set sail from Brindial on 8 September, 1227, but returned three days
later under the plea that the Landgrave of Thuringia, who was
accompanying him, was on the point of death, and that he himself was
seriously ill. Gregory IX, knowing that Frederick II had on eight or
nine previous occasions postponed his departure for the East,
distrusted the emperor's sincerity, and on 20 September, 1227, placed
him under the ban of the Church. He tried to justify his severe
measures towards the emperor in a Brief to the Christian princes,
while, on the other hand, the emperor addressed a manifesto to the
princes in which he condemns the actions of the pope in very bitter
terms. The imperial manifesto was read publicly on the steps of the
Capitol in Rome, whereupon the imperial party in Rome, under the
leadership of the Frangipam, stirred up an insurrection, so that when
the pope published the emperor's excommunication in the basilica of St.
Peter, 23 March, 1228, he was openly insulted and threatened by a
Ghibelline mob, and fled first to Viterbo, and then to Perugia.
In order to prove to the Christian world that the pope was too hasty in
placing him under the ban, the emperor resolved to proceed to the Holy
Land and embarked from Brindial with a small army on 28 June, 1228,
having previously asked the blessing of Gregory IX upon his enterprise.
The pope, however, denying that an excommunicated emperor had a right
to undertake a holy war, not only refused his blessing, but put him
under the ban a second time and released the crusaders from their oath
of allegiance to him. While in the Holy Land the emperor, seeing that
he could accomplish nothing as long as he was under the ban, changed
his tactics toward the pope. He now acknowledged the justice of his
excommunication and began to take steps towards a reconciliation.
Gregory IX distrusted the advances of the emperor, especially since
Rainald, the imperial Governor of Spoleto, had invaded the Pontifical
States during the emperor's absence. But the papal anathema did not
have the effect which Gregory IX had hoped for. In Germany only one
bishop, Berthold of Strasburg, published the Bull of excommunication,
and nearly all the princes and bishops remained faithful to the
emperor. Cardinal Otto of San Nicolo, whom Gregory IX had sent to
Germany to publish the emperor's excommunication, was entirely
unsuccessful, because Frederick's son Henry, his representative in
Germany, forbade the bishops and abbots to appear at the synods which
the cardinal attempted to convene. Equally futile were Gregory's
efforts to put Duke Otto of Brunswick on the German throne. In June,
1229, Frederick II returned from the Holy Land, routed the papal army
which Gregory IX had sent to invade Sicily, and made new overtures of
peace to the pope. Gregory IX, who had been a fugitive at Perugia since
1228, returned to Rome in February, 1230, upon the urgent request of
the Romans, who connected an overwhelming flood of the Tiber with their
harsh treatment of the pontiff. He now opened negotiations with Hermann
of Salza, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, whom the emperor had
sent as his representative. On 20 July, 1230, a treaty was concluded at
San Germano between the pope and the emperor, by force of which that
part of the Pontifical States which was occupied by imperial troops and
the papal possessions in Sicily were restored to the pope. After the
ban was removed from the emperor by Cardinals John of Sabina and Thomas
of Capua in the imperial camp near Ceperano on 28 August, 1230, pope
and emperor met at Anagni and completed their reconciliation during the
first three days of September.
The peace concluded between the pope and the emperor was, however, to
be only temporary. The papacy as conceived by Gregory IX and the empire
as conceived by Frederick II could not exist together in peace. The
emperor aimed at supreme temporal power with which the pope should have
no right to interfere. At least in Italy he tried to establish a rule
of absolutism by suppressing all municipal liberty and holding the
cities in subjection by a revived sort of feudalism. The pope, on the
other hand, citing the example of Constantine, who exchanged Rome for
Constantinople in deference to the pope, thought that the pope should
be the supreme ruler in Italy and by force of his spiritual authority
over the whole Christian world the papacy should in all things hold the
supremacy over the empire. For a time the emperor assisted the pope in
suppressing a few minor revolts in the Pontifical States, as was
stipulated in the conditions of peace. Soon, however, he began again to
disturb the peace by impeding the liberty of the Church in Sicily and
by making war upon Lombardy. The freedom of the Lombard cities was a
strong and necessary bulwark for the safety of the Pontifical States
and it was only natural that the pope should use all his influence to
protect these cities against the imperial designs. As arbiter between
the emperor and the Lombard cities the pope had a few times decided in
favour of the latter. The emperor, therefore, no longer desired the
services of the pope as mediator and began open hostilities against the
Lombard League. He gained a signal victory at Cortenuova on 27
November, 1237. To save Lombardy from the despotic rule of the emperor
and to protect the Pontifical States, the pope entered into an alliance
with the Tuscans, Umbrians, and Lombards to impede the imperial
progress. The continuous victories of the emperor spurred his pride to
further action. He declared his intention to unite with the empire not
only Lombardy and Tuscany, but also the Patrimony of St. Peter and
practically the whole of Italy. On 12 March, 1239, the pope again
excommunicated the emperor and another disasterous struggle between the
papacy and the empire ensued. Henceforth the pope was convinced that as
long as Frederick was emperor there was no possibility of peace between
the papacy and the empire, and he left nothing undone to bring about
his disposition. He ordered a crusade to be preached against him in
Germany, instructed his Germna legate Albert of Behaim, the Archdeacon
of Passau, to urge the election of a new king upon the princes, and to
place under the ban all those that continued to side with the
excommunicated emperor. Despite papal anathemas many bishops and
princes remained loyal to the emperor who, encouraged by his large
following, decided to humiliate the pope by making himself master of
the Pontifical States. In this great distress the pope ordered all
bishops to assemble in Rome for a general council at Easter (31 March),
1241. But the emperor prevented the meeting of the council by
forbidding the bishops to travel to Rome and by capturing all those
that undertook the journey despite his prohibition. He himself marched
towards Rome with an army and lay encamped near the city, when Gregory
IX suddenly died at the age of almost one hundred years.
The mendicant orders which began to shed great lustre over the
Christian Church in the first half of the thirteenth century found a
devoted friend and liberal patron in Gregory IX. In them he saw an
excellent means for counteracting by voluntary poverty the love of
luxury and splendour which was possessing many ecclesiastics; a
powerful weapon for suppressing heresy within the Church; and an army
of brave soldiers of Christ who were ready to preach His Gospel to the
pagans even at the risk of their life. When still Cardinal-Bishop of
Ostia, Gregory IX would often don the dress of St. Francis, walk about
barefoot with the saint and his disciples, and talk of holy things.
Saint Francis loved him as his father and in a prophetic spirit
addressed him at times as "the bishop of the whole world and the father
of all nations". Upon the special request of Saint Francis, Pope
Honorius III appointed him protector of the order in 1220. He was also
a devoted friend of St. Dominic and promoted the interests of his order
in many ways. At the death of St. Dominic he held the funeral services
and buried the saint at Bologna in 1221. St. Clare and her order stood
likewise under the protection of Gregory IX, as is attested by the
convents he founded for the order in Rome, Lombardy, and Tuscia.
However, despite his great liberality towards the rising mendicant
orders he did not neglect the older ones. On 28 June, 1227, he approved
the old privileges of the Camaldolese, in the same year he introduced
the Premonstratensians into Livonia and Courland, and on 6 April, 1229,
he gave new statutes to the Carmelites. He financially and otherwise
assisted the Cistercians and the Teutonic Order in the Christianization
of Prussia and the neighboring countries of the North. On 17 January,
1235, he approved the Order of Our Lady of Mercy for the redemption of
captives. With the help of the religious orders he planned the
conversion of Asia and Africa and sent missionaries out of their ranks
to Tunis, Morocco, and other places, where not a few suffered
martyrdom. He also did much to alleviate the hard lot of the Christians
in the Holy Land, and would have done still more, if his plans to
recover the Holy Land for the Christians had not been frustrated by the
indifference of Frederick II. The calendar of saints was enriched with
some of the most popular names by Gregory IX. On 16 July, 1228, he
canonized St. Francis of Assisi, and on the next day he laid the
cornerstone of the church and monastery which were erected in honour of
the saint. He took part in the composition of the Office of St. Francis
and also wrote some hymns in his honour. It was also at his command
that Thomas of Celano wrote a biography of the saint (latest and best
edition by d'Alencon, Rome, 1906). On 30 May, 1232, he canonized St.
Anthony of Padua, at Spoleto; on 10 June, 1233, St. Virgil, Bishop of
Salzburg and Apostle of Carinthia; on 8 July, 1234, St. Dominic, at
Rieti; and on 27 May, 1235, St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, at Perugia.
Gregory IX was very severe towards heretics, who in those times were
universally looked upon as traitors and punished accordingly. Upon the
request of King Louis IX of France, he sent Cardinal Romanus as legate
to assist the king in his crusade against the Albigenses. At the synod
which the papal legate convened at Toulouse in November, 1229, it was
decreed that all heretics and their abettors should be delivered to the
nobles and magistrates for their due punishment, which, in case of
obstinacy, was usually death. When in 1224 Frederick II ordered that
heretics in Lombardy should be burnt at the stake, Gregory IX, who was
then papal legate for Lombardy, approved and published the imperial
law. During his enforced absence from Rome (1228-1231) the heretics
remained unmolested and became very numerous in the city. In February,
1231, therefore, the pope enacted a law for Rome that heretics
condemned by an ecclesiastical court should be delivered to the secular
power to receive their "due punishment". This "due punishment" was
death by fire for the obstinate and imprisonment for life for the
penitent. In pursuance of this law a number of Patarini were arrested
in Rome in 1231, the obstinate were burned at the stake, the others
were imprisoned in the Benedictine monasteries of Monte Cassino and
Cava (Ryccardus de S. Germano, ad annum 1231, in Mon. Germ. SS., XIX,
363). It must not be thought, however, that Gregory IX dealt more
severely with heretics than other rulers did. Death by fire was the
common punishment for heretics and traitors in those times. Up to the
time of Gregory IX, the duty of searching out heretics belonged to the
bishops in their respective dioceses. The so-called Monastic
Inquisition was established by Gregory IX, who in his Bulls of 13, 20,
and 22 April, 1233, appointed the Dominicans as the official
inquisitors for all dioceses of France (Ripoil and Bremond, "Bullarium
Ordinia Fratrum Praedicatorum", Rome, 1729, I, 47).
For a time Gregory IX lived in hope that he might effect a reunion of
the Latin and Greek Churches. Germanos, Patriarch of Constantinople,
after a conversation on the religious differences between the Greeks
and the Latins, which he had with some Franciscans at Nice, in 1232,
addressed a letter to Gregory IX, in which he acknowledged the papal
primacy, but complained of the persecution of the Greeks by the Latins.
Gregory IX sent him a cordial answer and commissioned four learned
monks (two Franciscans and two Dominicans) to treat with the patriarch
concerning the reunion. The papal messengers were kindly received both
by the Emperor Vatatzes and by Germanos, but the patriarchs said that
he could make no concessions on matters of faith without the consent of
the Patriarchs of Jersusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria. A synod of the
patriarchs was held at Nympha in Bithynia, to which the papal
messengers were invited. But the Greeks stubbornly adhered to their
doctrine concerning the procession of the Holy Ghost and asserted that
the Latins could not validly consecrate unleavened bread. Thus Gregory
IX failed, like many other popes before and after him, in his efforts
to reunite the two Churches. In 1237 the Patriarch of the Syrian
Monophysites and many of his bishops and monks renounced their heresy
and submitted to the pope (Raynaldus ad annum 1237, n. 87 sq.), but
their conversion was only temporary.
During the thirteen years and four months of his pontificate he created
about fourteen cardinals, many of whom were members of religious
orders. The best known among them are Sinibald of Fiesco, a learned
canonist, who afterwards ascended the papal throne as Innocent IV;
Raynald of Segni, a nephew of Gregory IX, who succeeded Innocent IV as
Alexander IV; Otto of Montferrat, who spent over three years
(1237-1240) as papal legate in England; Jacob of Vitry, an author,
confessor of St. Mary of Oignies, whose life he wrote (Acta SS., June,
IV, 636-66); St. Francis Nonatus; and the learned and pious Englishman,
Robert of Somercote, who, it is said, would have succeeded Gregory IX
on the papal throne had he not died during the conclave (26 Sept.,
1241). Gregory IX was also a man of learning, which he encouraged in
various ways. He bestowed many privileges on the University of Paris,
his Alma Mater, but also watched carefully over its professors, whom he
warned repeatedly against the growing tendency of subjecting theology
to philosophy by making the truth of the mysteries of faith dependent
on philosophical proofs. He also possesses the great merit of having
again made Aristotelianism the basis of scholastic philosophy, after
the Physics of Aristotle had been prohibited in 1210; and his
Metaphysics in 1215. The prohibition of Aristotle was meant only for
the perverted Latin translation of his works and their Averroistic
commentaries. Gregory IX commissioned William of Auvergne and other
learned men to purge the works of Aristotle of their errors and thus
made them again accessible to students. Among the greatest achievements
of Gregory IX must be counted the collection of papal decretals, a work
with which he entrusted Raymond of Pennaforte and which was completed
in 1234 (see DECRETALS). The numerous letters of Gregory IX were first
collected and published by Pamelius (Antwerp, 1572). Rodenburg edited
485 letters of Gregory IX, selected by Perts from the papal registers
of the thirteenth century, and published them in "Mon. Germ. Epist.
Rom. Pontif." (Berlin, 1883), I, 261-728. Lucian Auvray began (Paris,
1890) to edit "Les Registres de Gregoire IX, recueil des bulles de ce
pape, publiées ou analysées d'après les manuscrits
originaux du Vatican", of which the eleventh fasccle appeared in 1908.
|
1216-1227 Honorius III his
extreme kindness had endeared himself to the hearts of all;
Like his famous predecessor Innocent III, he set his mind on the
achievement of two great things, the recovery of the Holy Land in the
Fifth Crusade and a spiritual reform of the entire Church; but quite in
contrast with Innocent III he sought these achievements by kindness and
indulgence rather than by force and severity.
On July 18, 1216, nineteen cardinals assembled at Perugia
(where Innocent III had died two days previously) with the purpose of
electing a new Pope. The troubled state of affairs in Italy, the
threatening attitude of the Tatars, and the fear of a schism induced
the cardinals to agree to an election by compromise. Cardinals Ugolino
of Ostia (afterwards Pope Gregory IX) and Guido of Praeneste were
empowered to appoint the new Pope. Their choice fell upon Cencio
Savelli, who accepted the tiara with reluctance and took the name of
Honorius III. He was consecrated at Perugia on July 24th, was crowned
at Rome 31 August, and took possession of the Lateran 3 September 1216.
The Roman people were greatly elated at the election, for Honorius III
was himself a Roman and by his extreme kindness had endeared himself to
the hearts of all.
Like his famous predecessor Innocent III, he set his mind on
the achievement of two great things, the recovery of the Holy Land in
the Fifth Crusade and a spiritual reform of the entire Church; but
quite in contrast with Innocent III he sought these achievements by
kindness and indulgence rather than by force and severity.
|
1227-1241 Pope Gregory
IX During the thirteen years and four months of his pontificate he
created about fourteen cardinals, many of whom were members of
religious orders. The best known among them are Sinibald of Fiesco, a
learned canonist, who afterwards ascended the papal throne as Innocent
IV; Raynald of Segni, a nephew of Gregory IX, who succeeded Innocent IV
as Alexander IV; Otto of Montferrat, who spent over three years
(1237-1240) as papal legate in England; Jacob of Vitry, an author,
confessor of St. Mary of Oignies, whose life he wrote (Acta SS., June,
IV, 636-66); St. Francis Nonatus; and the learned and pious Englishman,
Robert of Somercote, who, it is said, would have succeeded Gregory IX
on the papal throne had he not died during the conclave (26 Sept.,
1241). Gregory IX was also a man of learning, which he encouraged in
various ways. He bestowed many privileges on the University of Paris,
his Alma Mater, but also watched carefully over its professors, whom he
warned repeatedly against the growing tendency of subjecting theology
to philosophy by making the truth of the mysteries of faith dependent
on philosophical proofs. He also possesses the great merit of having
again made Aristotelianism the basis of scholastic philosophy, after
the Physics of Aristotle had been prohibited in 1210; and his
Metaphysics in 1215. The prohibition of Aristotle was meant only for
the perverted Latin translation of his works and their Averroistic
commentaries. Gregory IX commissioned William of Auvergne and other
learned men to purge the works of Aristotle of their errors and thus
made them again accessible to students. Among the greatest achievements
of Gregory IX must be counted the collection of papal decretals, a work
with which he entrusted Raymond of Pennaforte and which was completed
in 1234 (see DECRETALS).
(UGOLINO, Count of Segni).
Born about 1145, at Anagni in the Campagna; died 22 August, 1241, at
Rome. He received his education at the Universities of Paris and
Bologna. After the accession of Innocent III to the papal throne,
Ugolino, who was a nephew of Innocent III, was successively appointed
papal chaplain, Archpriest of St. Peter's, and Cardinal-Deacon of
Saint' Eustachio in 1198. In May, 1206, he succeeded Octavian as
Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia and Velletri. A year later he and Cardinal
Brancaleone were sent as papal legates to Germany to mediate between
Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick, both of whom laid claim to the
German throne subsequent to the death of Henry VI. By order of the pope
the legates freed Philip from the ban which he had incurred under Pope
Celestine III on account of invading the Pontifical States. Though the
legates were unable to induce Otto of Brunswick to give up his claims
to the throne, they succeeded in effecting a truce between the two
claimants and returned to Rome in 1208 to treat with the pope
concerning their future procedure. On their way back to Germany early
in June, 1208, they were apprised at Verona that Philip had been
murdered, and again returned to Rome. Early in January, 1209, they
again proceeded to Germany with instructions to induce the princes to
acknowledge Otto of Brunswick as king. They were successful in their
mission and returned to Rome in June of the same year. After the death
of Pope Innocent III, 16 July, 1216, Ugolino was instrumental in the
election of Pope Honorius III on 18 July. In order to hasten the choice
the College of Cardinals had agreed to an election by compromise and
empowered Cardinals Ugolino and Guido of Preneste to appoint the new
pope.
In January, 1217, Honorius III made Ugolino plenipotentiary legate for
Lombardy and Tuscia, and entrusted him with preaching the crusade in
those territories. In this capacity he became a successful mediator
between Pisa and Genoa, in 1217, between Milan and Cremona in 1218, and
between Bologna and Pistoia in 1219. At the coronation of Frederick II
in Rome, 22 November, 1220, the emperor took the cross from Ugolino and
made the vow to embark for the Holy Land in August, 1221. On 14 March,
1221, Pope Honorius commissioned Ugolino to preach the crusade also in
Central and Upper Italy. After the death of Pope Honorius III (18
March, 1227), the cardinals again agreed upon an election by compromise
and empowered three of their number, among whom were Ugolino and Conrad
of Urach, to elect the new pope. At first Conrad of Urach was elected,
but he refused the tiara lest it might appear that he had elected
himself. Hereupon the cardinals unanimously elected Ugolino on 19
March, 1227, and he reluctantly accepted the high honour, taking the
name of Gregory IX. Though he was already far advanced in age (being
more than eighty years old), he was still full of energy.
The important diplomatic positions which Gregory IX had held before he
became pope had acquainted him thoroughly with the political situation
of Europe, and especially with the guileful and dishonest tactics of
Emperor Frederick II. Three days after his installation he sternly
ordered the emperor at last to fulfill his long delayed vow to embark
for the Holy Land. Apparently obedient to the papal mandate, Frederick
II set sail from Brindial on 8 September, 1227, but returned three days
later under the plea that the Landgrave of Thuringia, who was
accompanying him, was on the point of death, and that he himself was
seriously ill. Gregory IX, knowing that Frederick II had on eight or
nine previous occasions postponed his departure for the East,
distrusted the emperor's sincerity, and on 20 September, 1227, placed
him under the ban of the Church. He tried to justify his severe
measures towards the emperor in a Brief to the Christian princes,
while, on the other hand, the emperor addressed a manifesto to the
princes in which he condemns the actions of the pope in very bitter
terms. The imperial manifesto was read publicly on the steps of the
Capitol in Rome, whereupon the imperial party in Rome, under the
leadership of the Frangipam, stirred up an insurrection, so that when
the pope published the emperor's excommunication in the basilica of St.
Peter, 23 March, 1228, he was openly insulted and threatened by a
Ghibelline mob, and fled first to Viterbo, and then to Perugia.
In order to prove to the Christian world that the pope was too hasty in
placing him under the ban, the emperor resolved to proceed to the Holy
Land and embarked from Brindial with a small army on 28 June, 1228,
having previously asked the blessing of Gregory IX upon his enterprise.
The pope, however, denying that an excommunicated emperor had a right
to undertake a holy war, not only refused his blessing, but put him
under the ban a second time and released the crusaders from their oath
of allegiance to him. While in the Holy Land the emperor, seeing that
he could accomplish nothing as long as he was under the ban, changed
his tactics toward the pope. He now acknowledged the justice of his
excommunication and began to take steps towards a reconciliation.
Gregory IX distrusted the advances of the emperor, especially since
Rainald, the imperial Governor of Spoleto, had invaded the Pontifical
States during the emperor's absence. But the papal anathema did not
have the effect which Gregory IX had hoped for. In Germany only one
bishop, Berthold of Strasburg, published the Bull of excommunication,
and nearly all the princes and bishops remained faithful to the
emperor. Cardinal Otto of San Nicolo, whom Gregory IX had sent to
Germany to publish the emperor's excommunication, was entirely
unsuccessful, because Frederick's son Henry, his representative in
Germany, forbade the bishops and abbots to appear at the synods which
the cardinal attempted to convene. Equally futile were Gregory's
efforts to put Duke Otto of Brunswick on the German throne. In June,
1229, Frederick II returned from the Holy Land, routed the papal army
which Gregory IX had sent to invade Sicily, and made new overtures of
peace to the pope. Gregory IX, who had been a fugitive at Perugia since
1228, returned to Rome in February, 1230, upon the urgent request of
the Romans, who connected an overwhelming flood of the Tiber with their
harsh treatment of the pontiff. He now opened negotiations with Hermann
of Salza, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, whom the emperor had
sent as his representative. On 20 July, 1230, a treaty was concluded at
San Germano between the pope and the emperor, by force of which that
part of the Pontifical States which was occupied by imperial troops and
the papal possessions in Sicily were restored to the pope. After the
ban was removed from the emperor by Cardinals John of Sabina and Thomas
of Capua in the imperial camp near Ceperano on 28 August, 1230, pope
and emperor met at Anagni and completed their reconciliation during the
first three days of September.
The peace concluded between the pope and the emperor was, however, to
be only temporary. The papacy as conceived by Gregory IX and the empire
as conceived by Frederick II could not exist together in peace. The
emperor aimed at supreme temporal power with which the pope should have
no right to interfere. At least in Italy he tried to establish a rule
of absolutism by suppressing all municipal liberty and holding the
cities in subjection by a revived sort of feudalism. The pope, on the
other hand, citing the example of Constantine, who exchanged Rome for
Constantinople in deference to the pope, thought that the pope should
be the supreme ruler in Italy and by force of his spiritual authority
over the whole Christian world the papacy should in all things hold the
supremacy over the empire. For a time the emperor assisted the pope in
suppressing a few minor revolts in the Pontifical States, as was
stipulated in the conditions of peace. Soon, however, he began again to
disturb the peace by impeding the liberty of the Church in Sicily and
by making war upon Lombardy. The freedom of the Lombard cities was a
strong and necessary bulwark for the safety of the Pontifical States
and it was only natural that the pope should use all his influence to
protect these cities against the imperial designs. As arbiter between
the emperor and the Lombard cities the pope had a few times decided in
favour of the latter. The emperor, therefore, no longer desired the
services of the pope as mediator and began open hostilities against the
Lombard League. He gained a signal victory at Cortenuova on 27
November, 1237. To save Lombardy from the despotic rule of the emperor
and to protect the Pontifical States, the pope entered into an alliance
with the Tuscans, Umbrians, and Lombards to impede the imperial
progress. The continuous victories of the emperor spurred his pride to
further action. He declared his intention to unite with the empire not
only Lombardy and Tuscany, but also the Patrimony of St. Peter and
practically the whole of Italy. On 12 March, 1239, the pope again
excommunicated the emperor and another disasterous struggle between the
papacy and the empire ensued. Henceforth the pope was convinced that as
long as Frederick was emperor there was no possibility of peace between
the papacy and the empire, and he left nothing undone to bring about
his disposition. He ordered a crusade to be preached against him in
Germany, instructed his Germna legate Albert of Behaim, the Archdeacon
of Passau, to urge the election of a new king upon the princes, and to
place under the ban all those that continued to side with the
excommunicated emperor. Despite papal anathemas many bishops and
princes remained loyal to the emperor who, encouraged by his large
following, decided to humiliate the pope by making himself master of
the Pontifical States. In this great distress the pope ordered all
bishops to assemble in Rome for a general council at Easter (31 March),
1241. But the emperor prevented the meeting of the council by
forbidding the bishops to travel to Rome and by capturing all those
that undertook the journey despite his prohibition. He himself marched
towards Rome with an army and lay encamped near the city, when Gregory
IX suddenly died at the age of almost one hundred years.
The mendicant orders which began to shed great lustre over the
Christian Church in the first half of the thirteenth century found a
devoted friend and liberal patron in Gregory IX. In them he saw an
excellent means for counteracting by voluntary poverty the love of
luxury and splendour which was possessing many ecclesiastics; a
powerful weapon for suppressing heresy within the Church; and an army
of brave soldiers of Christ who were ready to preach His Gospel to the
pagans even at the risk of their life. When still Cardinal-Bishop of
Ostia, Gregory IX would often don the dress of St. Francis, walk about
barefoot with the saint and his disciples, and talk of holy things.
Saint Francis loved him as his father and in a prophetic spirit
addressed him at times as "the bishop of the whole world and the father
of all nations". Upon the special request of Saint Francis, Pope
Honorius III appointed him protector of the order in 1220. He was also
a devoted friend of St. Dominic and promoted the interests of his order
in many ways. At the death of St. Dominic he held the funeral services
and buried the saint at Bologna in 1221. St. Clare and her order stood
likewise under the protection of Gregory IX, as is attested by the
convents he founded for the order in Rome, Lombardy, and Tuscia.
However, despite his great liberality towards the rising mendicant
orders he did not neglect the older ones. On 28 June, 1227, he approved
the old privileges of the Camaldolese, in the same year he introduced
the Premonstratensians into Livonia and Courland, and on 6 April, 1229,
he gave new statutes to the Carmelites. He financially and otherwise
assisted the Cistercians and the Teutonic Order in the Christianization
of Prussia and the neighboring countries of the North. On 17 January,
1235, he approved the Order of Our Lady of Mercy for the redemption of
captives. With the help of the religious orders he planned the
conversion of Asia and Africa and sent missionaries out of their ranks
to Tunis, Morocco, and other places, where not a few suffered
martyrdom. He also did much to alleviate the hard lot of the Christians
in the Holy Land, and would have done still more, if his plans to
recover the Holy Land for the Christians had not been frustrated by the
indifference of Frederick II. The calendar of saints was enriched with
some of the most popular names by Gregory IX. On 16 July, 1228, he
canonized St. Francis of Assisi, and on the next day he laid the
cornerstone of the church and monastery which were erected in honour of
the saint. He took part in the composition of the Office of St. Francis
and also wrote some hymns in his honour. It was also at his command
that Thomas of Celano wrote a biography of the saint (latest and best
edition by d'Alencon, Rome, 1906). On 30 May, 1232, he canonized St.
Anthony of Padua, at Spoleto; on 10 June, 1233, St. Virgil, Bishop of
Salzburg and Apostle of Carinthia; on 8 July, 1234, St. Dominic, at
Rieti; and on 27 May, 1235, St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, at Perugia.
Gregory IX was very severe towards heretics, who in those times were
universally looked upon as traitors and punished accordingly. Upon the
request of King Louis IX of France, he sent Cardinal Romanus as legate
to assist the king in his crusade against the Albigenses. At the synod
which the papal legate convened at Toulouse in November, 1229, it was
decreed that all heretics and their abettors should be delivered to the
nobles and magistrates for their due punishment, which, in case of
obstinacy, was usually death. When in 1224 Frederick II ordered that
heretics in Lombardy should be burnt at the stake, Gregory IX, who was
then papal legate for Lombardy, approved and published the imperial
law. During his enforced absence from Rome (1228-1231) the heretics
remained unmolested and became very numerous in the city. In February,
1231, therefore, the pope enacted a law for Rome that heretics
condemned by an ecclesiastical court should be delivered to the secular
power to receive their "due punishment". This "due punishment" was
death by fire for the obstinate and imprisonment for life for the
penitent. In pursuance of this law a number of Patarini were arrested
in Rome in 1231, the obstinate were burned at the stake, the others
were imprisoned in the Benedictine monasteries of Monte Cassino and
Cava (Ryccardus de S. Germano, ad annum 1231, in Mon. Germ. SS., XIX,
363). It must not be thought, however, that Gregory IX dealt more
severely with heretics than other rulers did. Death by fire was the
common punishment for heretics and traitors in those times. Up to the
time of Gregory IX, the duty of searching out heretics belonged to the
bishops in their respective dioceses. The so-called Monastic
Inquisition was established by Gregory IX, who in his Bulls of 13, 20,
and 22 April, 1233, appointed the Dominicans as the official
inquisitors for all dioceses of France (Ripoil and Bremond, "Bullarium
Ordinia Fratrum Praedicatorum", Rome, 1729, I, 47).
For a time Gregory IX lived in hope that he might effect a reunion of
the Latin and Greek Churches. Germanos, Patriarch of Constantinople,
after a conversation on the religious differences between the Greeks
and the Latins, which he had with some Franciscans at Nice, in 1232,
addressed a letter to Gregory IX, in which he acknowledged the papal
primacy, but complained of the persecution of the Greeks by the Latins.
Gregory IX sent him a cordial answer and commissioned four learned
monks (two Franciscans and two Dominicans) to treat with the patriarch
concerning the reunion. The papal messengers were kindly received both
by the Emperor Vatatzes and by Germanos, but the patriarchs said that
he could make no concessions on matters of faith without the consent of
the Patriarchs of Jersusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria. A synod of the
patriarchs was held at Nympha in Bithynia, to which the papal
messengers were invited. But the Greeks stubbornly adhered to their
doctrine concerning the procession of the Holy Ghost and asserted that
the Latins could not validly consecrate unleavened bread. Thus Gregory
IX failed, like many other popes before and after him, in his efforts
to reunite the two Churches. In 1237 the Patriarch of the Syrian
Monophysites and many of his bishops and monks renounced their heresy
and submitted to the pope (Raynaldus ad annum 1237, n. 87 sq.), but
their conversion was only temporary.
During the thirteen years and four months of his pontificate he created
about fourteen cardinals, many of whom were members of religious
orders. The best known among them are Sinibald of Fiesco, a learned
canonist, who afterwards ascended the papal throne as Innocent IV;
Raynald of Segni, a nephew of Gregory IX, who succeeded Innocent IV as
Alexander IV; Otto of Montferrat, who spent over three years
(1237-1240) as papal legate in England; Jacob of Vitry, an author,
confessor of St. Mary of Oignies, whose life he wrote (Acta SS., June,
IV, 636-66); St. Francis Nonatus; and the learned and pious Englishman,
Robert of Somercote, who, it is said, would have succeeded Gregory IX
on the papal throne had he not died during the conclave (26 Sept.,
1241). Gregory IX was also a man of learning, which he encouraged in
various ways. He bestowed many privileges on the University of Paris,
his Alma Mater, but also watched carefully over its professors, whom he
warned repeatedly against the growing tendency of subjecting theology
to philosophy by making the truth of the mysteries of faith dependent
on philosophical proofs. He also possesses the great merit of having
again made Aristotelianism the basis of scholastic philosophy, after
the Physics of Aristotle had been prohibited in 1210; and his
Metaphysics in 1215. The prohibition of Aristotle was meant only for
the perverted Latin translation of his works and their Averroistic
commentaries. Gregory IX commissioned William of Auvergne and other
learned men to purge the works of Aristotle of their errors and thus
made them again accessible to students. Among the greatest achievements
of Gregory IX must be counted the collection of papal decretals, a work
with which he entrusted Raymond of Pennaforte and which was completed
in 1234 (see DECRETALS). The numerous letters of Gregory IX were first
collected and published by Pamelius (Antwerp, 1572). Rodenburg edited
485 letters of Gregory IX, selected by Perts from the papal registers
of the thirteenth century, and published them in "Mon. Germ. Epist.
Rom. Pontif." (Berlin, 1883), I, 261-728. Lucian Auvray began (Paris,
1890) to edit "Les Registres de Gregoire IX, recueil des bulles de ce
pape, publiées ou analysées d'après les manuscrits
originaux du Vatican", of which the eleventh fasccle appeared in 1908.
|
1277 Peter of
Tarentaise
-a simple, humble friar Blessed Pope Innocent V masterly tutelage of
Saint Albert the Great visited on foot all Dominican houses under his
care sent to Paris to replace Thomas Aquinas at the University of Paris
succeeded solving questions of Greek schism establishing short-lived
truce OP Pope (RM)
Romæ beáti
Innocéntii Papæ Quinti, ex Ordine
Prædicatórum, Confessóris, qui ad tuéndam
Ecclésiæ libertátem et Christianórum
concórdiam suávi prudéntia
adlaborávit. Cultum autem, ei exhíbitum, Leo
Décimus tértius, Póntifex Máximus, ratum
hábuit et confirmávit.
At Rome,
blessed Pope Innocent V, who laboured with
mildness and prudence to maintain liberty for the Church and harmony
among the Christians. The veneration paid to him was approved and
confirmed by Pope Leo XIII.
Born in
Tarentaise-en-Forez, Burgundy, France, in 1245;
died in Rome,
June 22, 1277; cultus confirmed by Pope Leo XIII in 1898. Peter of
Tarentaise was barely 10 years old when he was admitted to the
Dominican Order by Blessed Jordan of
Saxony as a boy-novice and sent to Paris to study. Like Saint
Thomas Aquinas, Blessed Ambrose of Siena, and other luminaries of the
13th century, he fell under the masterly tutelage of Saint Albert the Great.
He received his master's degree in theology in 1259, then he
taught for
some years in Paris, where he contributed a great deal to the order's
reputation for learning. He wrote a number of commentaries on Scripture
and the Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, but he devoted
most of his time to the classroom. He soon became famous as a preacher
and theologian, and in 1259, with a committee including his friend
Thomas Aquinas, composed a plan of study that is still the basis of
Dominican teaching.
At age 37, Peter began the long years of responsibility in
the various
offices he was to hold in his lifetime as prior provincial of France.
He visited on foot all Dominican houses under his care, and was then
sent to Paris to replace Saint Thomas Aquinas at the University of
Paris. Twice provincial, he was chosen archbishop of Lyons in 1272 and
administered the affairs of the diocese for some time, though he was
never actually consecrated for that see.
The next year Peter was appointed
cardinal-archbishop of Ostia, Italy,
while still administering the see of Lyons. With the great Franciscan, Saint Bonaventure, assumed much of
the labor of the Council of Lyons to which Saint Thomas was hastening at the
time of his death. To the problems of clerical reform and the healing
of the Greek schism the two gifted friars devoted their finest talents.
Before the council was
over, Bonaventure died, and Peter of Tarentaise
preached the funeral panegyric.
In January 1276, Peter was with Blessed
Pope Gregory X when the latter died at Arezzo. The conclave was
held in the following month. On January 21, 1276, Peter of Tarentaise
received every vote except his own. With a sad heart, he left the
seclusion of his religious home to ascend the Fisherman's Throne as
Pope Innocent V.
The reign of the new pope, which promised so much to a
harassed people,
was to be very brief. But, imbued with the spirit of the early
apostles, he crowded a lifetime into the short space given him.
He instigated a new crusade against the Saracens and began
reforms in
the matter of regular observance. He actually succeeded in solving many
of the questions of the Greek schism and in establishing a short-lived
truce. He struggled to reconcile the Guelphs and Ghibellines, restored
peace between Pisa and Lucca, and acted as mediator between Rudolph of
Hapsburg and Charles of Anjou. He restored the custom of personally
assisting at choral functions with the canons of the Lateran, and he
inspired all with the love that animated his heart.
Had the measures begun by Innocent V had
time to be fully realized, he
might have accomplished great good for the Church; he did at least open
the way for those who were to follow him. Death stopped the hand of the
zealous pope when he had reigned only five months. Like his friends Saint Thomas and Saint Bonaventure, he was untouched
by the honors and dignity with which he had been favored, and death
found him exactly what he had been for more than 40 years--a simple,
humble friar (Benedictines, Delaney, Dorcy).
Pope Bl. Innocent V (PETRUS A TARENTASIA)
Born in Tarentaise, towards 1225; elected at Arezzo, 21
January, 1276;
died at Rome, 22 June, 1276. Tarentaise on the upper Isère in
south-eastern France was certainly his native province, and the town of
Champagny was in all probability his birthplace. At the age of sixteen
he joined the Dominican Order. After completing his education, at the
University of Paris, where he graduated as master in sacred theology in
1259, he won distinction as a professor in that institution, and is
known as "the most famous doctor", "Doctor famosissimus" For some time
provincial of his order in France, he became Archbishop of Lyons in
1272 and Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia in 1273. He played a prominent part
at the Second Ecumenical Council of Lyons (1274), in which he delivered
two discourses to the assembled fathers and also pronounced the funeral
oration on St. Bonaventure. Elected as successor to Gregory X, whose
intimate adviser he was, he assumed the name of Innocent V and was the
first Dominican pope. His policy was peaceable. He sought to reconcile
Guelphs and Ghibellines in Italy, restored peace between Pisa and
Lucca, and mediated between Rudolph of Hapsburg and Charles of Anjou.
He likewise endeavoured to consolidate the union of the Greeks with
Rome concluded at the Council of Lyons. He is the author of several
works dealing with philosophy, theology and canon law, some of which
are still unpublished. The principal among them is his "Commentary on
the Sentences of Peter Lombard" (Toulouse, 1652). Four philosophical
treatises: "De unitate formæ", "De materia c&#aelig;li", "De
æternitate mundi", "De intellectu et voluntate", are also due to
his pen. A commentary on the Pauline Epistles frequently published
under the name of Nicholas of Gorran (Cologne, 1478) is claimed for him
by some critics.
|
 1210-1276 Pope
St.Gregory X enlisted
the help of John and his
fellow Dominicans in helping to pacify the States of Italy that were
quarreling with one another.
Teobaldo
Visconti, archdeacon of Liege, who, however, was not a cardinal
himself nor even a priest.
Beatified 12-Sep-1713
Born 1210; died 10
January, 1276. The death of Pope Clement
IV (29
November, 1268) left the Holy See vacant for almost three years. The
cardinals assembled at Viterbo were divided into two camps, the one
French and the other Italian. Neither of these parties could poll the
two-thirds majority vote, nor was either willing to give way to the
other for the election of a candidate to the papacy. In the summer of
1270 the head and burgesses of the town of Viterbo, hoping to force a
vote, resorted to the expedient of confining the cardinals within the
episcopal palace, where even their daily allowance of food was later on
curtailed. A compromise was finally arrived at through the combined
efforts of the French and Sicilian kings.
The Sacred College, which
then consisted of fifteen cardinals, designated six of their body to
agree upon and cast a final vote in the matter. These six delegates
met, and on 1 September, 1271, united their ballots in choice of
Teobaldo Visconti, archdeacon of Liege, who, however, was not a
cardinal himself nor even a priest. The new pontiff was a native of
Piacenza and had been at one time in the service of Cardinal Jacopo of
Palestrina, had become archdeacon of Liege, and accompanied Cardinal
Ottoboni on his mission to England, and at the time of his election
happened to be in Ptolemais (Acre), with Prince Edward of England, on a
pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Receiving a summons from the cardinals to
return immediately, he began his homeward journey on 19 November, 1271,
and arrived at Viterbo on 12 February, 1272. He declared his acceptance
of the dignity and took the name of Gregory X.
|
1145-1153
EUGENIUS III. (Bernardo Paganelli), pope from the 15th of
February 1145 to the 8th of July 1153, a native of Pisa, was abbot of
the Cistercian monastery of St Anastasius at Rome when suddenly elected
to succeed Lucius II.
His friend and instructor, Bernard of Clairvaux, the most
influential
ecclesiastic of the time, remonstrated against his election on account
of his "innocence and simplicity," but Bernard soon acquiesced and
continued to be the mainstay of the papacy throughout Eugenius's
pontificate.
Eugene is said to have gained the affection of the
people by his
affability and generosity. He died at Tivoli, whither he had gone to
avoid the summer heats, and was buried in front of the high altar in
St. Peters, Rome. St. Bernard followed him to the grave (20 Aug.). "The
unassuming but astute pupil of St. Bernard", says Gregorovius, "had
always continued to wear the coarse habit of Clairvaux beneath the
purple; the stoic virtues of monasticism accompanied him through his
stormy career, and invested him with that power of passive resistance
which has always remained the most effectual weapon of the popes." St.
Antoninus pronounces Eugene III "one of the greatest and most afflicted
of the popes". Pius IX by a decreed of 28 Dec., 1872, approved the cult
which from time immemorial the Pisans have rendered to their
countryman, and ordered him to be honoured with Mass and Office ritu
duplici on the anniversary of his death
It was to Eugenius that Bernard addressed his famous work De
consideratione. Immediately after his election, the Roman senators
demanded the pope's renunciation of temporal power. He refused and fled
to Farfa, where he was consecrated on the 17th of February. By treaty
of December 1145 he recognized the republic under his suzerainty,
substituted a papal prefect for the "patrician" and returned to Rome.
The celebrated schismatic, Arnold of Brescia, however, put himself
again at the head of the party opposed to the temporal power of the
papacy, re-established the patricianate, and forced the pope to leave
Rome. Eugenius had already, on hearing of the fall of Edessa, addressed
a letter to Louis VII. of France (December 1145), announcing the Second
Crusade and granting plenary indulgence under the usual conditions to
those who would take the cross; and in January 1147 he journeyed to
France to further preparations for the holy war and to seek aid in the
constant feuds at Rome. After holding synods at Paris, Reims and Trier,
he returned to Italy in June 1148 and took up his residence at Viterbo.
The following month he excommunicated Arnold of Brescia in a synod at
Cremona, and thenceforth devoted most of his energies to the recovery
of his see. As the result of negotiations between Frederick Barbarossa
and the Romans, Eugenius was finally enabled to return to Rome in
December 1152, but died in the following July. He was succeeded by
Anastasius IV. Eugenius retained the stoic virtues of monasticism
throughout his stormy career, and was deeply reverenced for his
personal character. His tomb in St Peter's acquired fame for miraculous
cures, and he was pronounced blessed by Pius IX. in 1872.
The chief sources for the career of Eugenius III. are his
letters in J.
P. Migne, Patrol. Lat., vols. 106, 180, 182, and in Bibliotheque de
l'Ecole des Charles, vol. 57 (Paris, 1896); the life by Cardinal Boso
in J. M. Watterich, Pontif. Roman. vitae, vol. 2; and the life by John
of Salisbury in Monumenta Germaniae historica. Scriptores, vol. 20.
See J. Langen, Geschichte
der riimischen Kirche von Gregor VII. bis
Innocenz III. (Bonn, 1893); F. Gregorovius, Rome in the Middle Ages,
vol. 4, trans. by Mrs G. W. Hamilton (London, 1900-1902); K. J. von
Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, Bd. 5, 2nd ed.; Jaffe-Wattenbach, Regesta
pontif. Roman. (1885-1888); M. Jocham, Geschichte des Lebens u. der
Verehrung des seligen Papstes Eugen III. (Augsburg, 1873); G. Sainaci,
Vita del beato Eugenio III (Pisa, 1868); J. Jastrow and G. Winter,
Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Hohenstaufen, i. (Stuttgart,
1897); C. Neumann, Bernhard von Clairvaux u. die Anfdnge der zweiten
Kreuzzuges (Heidelberg, 1882); B. Kugler, Analekten zur Geschichte des
zweiten Kreuzzugs (Tubingen, 1878, 1883). (C. H. HA.)
Pope Blessed Eugene III
Bernardo Pignatelli, born in the neighbourhood of Pisa,
elected 15 Feb., 1145; d. at Tivoli, 8 July, 1153. On the very day that
Pope Lucius II succumbed, either to illness or wounds, the Sacred
College, foreseeing that the Roman populace would make a determined
effort to force the new pontiff to abdicate his temporal power and
swear allegiance to the Senatus Populusque Romanus, hastily buried the
deceased pope in the Lateran and withdrew to the remote cloister of St.
Cæsarius on the Appian Way. Here, for reasons unascertained, they
sought a candidate outside their body, and unanimously chose the
Cistercian monk, Bernard of Pisa, abbot of the monastery of Tre
Fontane, on the site of St. Paul's martyrdom. He was enthroned as
Eugene III without delay in St. John Lateran, and since residence in
the rebellious city was impossible, the pope and his cardinals fled to
the country. Their rendezvous was the monastery of Farfa, where Eugene
received the episcopal consecration. The city of Viterbo, the
hospitable refuge of so many of the afflicted medieval popes, opened
its gates to welcome him; and thither he proceeded to await
developments. Though powerless in face of the Roman mob, he was assured
by embassies from all the European powers that he possessed the
sympathy and affectionate homage of the entire Christian world.
Concerning the parentage, birth-place, and even the original
name of Eugene, each of his biographers has advanced a different
opinion. All that can be affirmed as certain is that he was of the
noble family of Pignatelli, and whether he received the name of
Bernardo in baptism or only upon entering religion, must remain
uncertain. He was educated in Pisa, and after his ordination was made a
canon of the cathedral. Later he held the office of vice-dominus or
steward of the temporalities of the diocese. In 1130 he came under the
magnetic influence of St. Bernard of Clairvaux; five years later when
the saint returned home from the Synod of Pisa, the vice dominus
accompanied him as a novice. In course of time he was employed by his
order on several important affiars; and lastly was sent with a colony
of monks to repeople the ancient Abbey of Farfa; but Innocent II placed
them instead at the Tre Fontane.
St. Bernard received the
intelligence of the elevation of his disciple with astonishment and
pleasure, and gave expression to his feelings in a paternal letter
addressed to the new pope, in which occurs the famous passage so often
quoted by reformers, true and false: "Who will grant me to see, before
I die, the Church of God as in the days of old when the Apostles let
down their nets for a draught, not of silver and gold, but of souls?"
The saint, moreover, proceeded to compose in his few moments of leisure
that admirable handbook for popes called "De Consideratione". Whilst
Eugene sojourned at Viterbo, Arnold of Brescia, who had been condemned
by the Council of 1139 to exile from Italy, ventured to return at the
beginning of the new pontificate and threw himself on the clemency of
the pope. Believing in the sincerity of his repentance, Eugene absolved
him and enjoined on him as penance fasting and a visit to the tombs of
the Apostles. If the veteran demagogue entered Rome in a penitential
mood, the sight of democracy based on his own principles soon caused
him to revert to his former self. He placed himself at the head of the
movement, and his incendiary philippics against the bishops, cardinals,
and even the ascetic pontiff who treated him with extreme lenity,
worked his hearers into such fury that Rome resembled a city captured
by barbarians. The palaces of the cardinals and of such of the nobility
as held with the pope were razed to the ground; churches and
monasteries were pillaged; St. Peter's church was turned into an
arsenal; and pious pilgrims were plundered and maltreated.
But the storm was too violent to last. Only an idiot could
fail to understand that medieval Rome without he pope had no means of
subsistence. A strong party was formed in Rome and the vicinity
consisting of the principal families and their adherents, in the
interests of order and the papacy, and the democrats were induced to
listen to words of moderation. A treaty was entered into with Eugene by
which the Senate was preserved but subject to the papal sovereignty and
swearing allegiance to the supreme pontiff. The senators were to be
chosen annually by popular election and in a committee of their body
the executive power was lodged. The pope and the senate should have
separate courts, and an appeal could be made from the decisions of
either court to the other. By virtue of this treaty Eugene made a
solemn entry into Rome a few days before Christmas, and was greeted by
the fickle populace with boundless enthusiasm. But the dual system of
government proved unworkable. The Romans demanded the destruction of
Tivoli. This town had been faithful to Eugene during the rebellion of
the Romans and merited his protection. He therefore refused to permit
it to be destroyed. The Romans growing more and more turbulent, he
retired to Castel S. Angelo, thence to Viterbo, and finally crossed the
Alps, early in 1146.
Problems lay before the pope of vastly greater importance
than the maintenance of order in Rome. The Christian principalities in
Palestine and Syria were threatened with extinction. The fall of Edessa
(1144) had aroused consternation throughout the West, and already from
Viterbo Eugene had addressed a stirring appeal to the chivalry of
Europe to hasten to the defence of the Holy Places. St. Bernard was
commissioned to preach the Second Crusade, and he acquitted himself of
the task with such success that within a couple of years two
magnificent armies, commanded by the King of the Romans and the King of
France, were on their way to Palestine. That the Second Crusade was a
wretched failure cannot be ascribed to the saint or the pope; but it is
one of those phenomena so frequently met with in the history of the
papacy, that a pope who was made to subdue a handful of rebellious
subjects could hurl all Europe against the Saracens. Eugene spent three
busy and fruitful years in France, intent on the propagation of the
Faith, the correction of errors and abuses, and the maintenance of
discipline. He sent Cardinal Breakspear (afterwards Adrian IV) as
legate to Scandinavia; he entered into relations with the Orientals
with a view to reunion; he proceeded with vigour against the nascent
Manichean heresies. In several synods (Paris, 1147, Trier, 1148),
notably in the great Synod of Reims (1148), canons were enacted
regarding the dress and conduct of the clergy. To ensure the strict
execution of these canons, the bishops who should neglect to enforce
them were threatened with suspension. Eugene was inexorable in
punishing the unworthy. He deposed the metropolitans of York and Mainz,
and he for a cause which St. Bernard thought not sufficiently grave, he
withdrew the pallium from the Archbishop of Reims. But if the saintly
pontiff could at times be severe, this was not his natural disposition.
"Never", wrote Ven. Peter
of Cluny to St. Bernard, "have I found a truer friend, a sincerer
brother, a purer father. His ear is ever ready to hear, his tongue is
swift and mighty to advise. Nor does he comport himself as one's
superior, but rather as an equal or an inferior… I have never made him
a request which he has not either granted, or so refused that I could
not reasonably complain." On the occasion of a visit which he paid to
Clairvaux, his former companions discovered to their joy that "he who
externally shone in the pontifical robes remained in his heart an
observant monk".
The prolonged sojourn of the pope in France was of great
advantage to the French Church in many ways and enhanced the prestige
of the papacy. Eugene also encouraged the new intellectual movement to
which Peter Lombard had given a strong impulse. With the aid of
Cardinal Pullus, his chancellor, who had established the University of
Oxford on a lasting basis, he reduced the schools of theology and
philosophy to better form. He encouraged Gratian in his herculean task
of arranging the Decretals, and we owe to him various useful
regulations bearing on academic degrees. In the spring of 1148, the
pope returned by easy stages to Italy. On 7 July, he met the Italian
bishops at Cremona, promulgated the canons of Reims for Italy, and
solemnly excommunicated Arnold of Brescia, who still reigned over the
Roman mob. Eugene, having brought with him considerable financial aid,
began to gather his vassals and advanced to Viterbo and thence to
Tusculum. Here he was visited by King Louis of France, whom he
reconciled to his queen, Eleanor. With the assistance of Roger of
Sicily, he forced his way into Rome (1149), and celebrated Christmas in
the Lateran. His stay was not of long duration. During the next three
years the Roman court wandered in exile through the Campagna while both
sides looked for the intervention of Conrad of Germany, offering him
the imperial crown. Aroused by the earnest exhortations of St. Bernard,
Conrad finally decided to descend into Italy and put an end to the
anarchy in Rome. Death overtook him in the midst of his preparations on
15 Feb., 1152, leaving the task to his more energetic nephew, Frederick
Barbarossa. The envoys of Eugene having concluded with Frederick at
Constance, in the spring of 1153, a treaty favourable to the interests
of the Church and the empire, the more moderate of the Romans, seeing
that the days of democracy were numbered, joined with the nobles in
putting down the Arnoldists, and the pontiff was enabled to spend his
concluding days in peace.
Eugene is said to have gained the affection of the people by
his affability and generosity. He died at Tivoli, whither he had gone
to avoid the summer heats, and was buried in front of the high altar in
St. Peters, Rome. St. Bernard followed him to the grave (20 Aug.). "The
unassuming but astute pupil of St. Bernard", says Gregorovius, "had
always continued to wear the coarse habit of Clairvaux beneath the
purple; the stoic virtues of monasticism accompanied him through his
stormy career, and invested him with that power of passive resistance
which has always remained the most effectual weapon of the popes." St.
Antoninus pronounces Eugene III "one of the greatest and most afflicted
of the popes". Pius IX by a decreed of 28 Dec., 1872, approved the cult
which from time immemorial the Pisans have rendered to their
countryman, and ordered him to be honoured with Mass and Office ritu
duplici on the anniversary of his death.
|
1216 Pope Innocent III; One of the greatest popes of the Middle
Ages; a learned theologian and
one of the greatest jurists of his time; held various ecclesiastical offices during
the short reigns of Lucius III, Urban III, Gregory VIII, and Clement
III; re-established the papal
authority in Rome; scarcely a
country in Europe over which Innocent III did not in
some way or other assert the supremacy which he claimed for the papacy;
During his reign two great
founders of the mendicant orders,
St. Dominic and St. Francis, laid before him their scheme of reforming
the world. Innocent was not blind to the vices of luxury and indolence
which had infected many of the clergy and part of the laity. In Dominic
and Francis he recognized two mighty adversaries of these vices and he
sanctioned their projects with words of encouragement. He also wrote "De quadripartita specie
nuptiarum" (P. L., CCXVII,
923-968), an exposition of the fourfold marriage bond, namely, between
man and wife, between Christ and the Church, between God and the just
soul, between the Word and human nature - - entirely based on passages
from Holy Scripture.
(Lotario de' Conti)
One of the greatest popes of the Middle Ages, son of Count Trasimund of
Segni and nephew of Clement III, born 1160 or 1161 at Anagni, and died
16 June, 1216, at Perugia.
He received his early education at Rome, studied theology at Paris,
jurisprudence at Bologna, and became a learned theologian and one of
the greatest jurists of his time. Shortly after the death of Alexander
III (30 Aug., 1181) Lotario returned to Rome and held various
ecclesiastical offices during the short reigns of Lucius III, Urban
III, Gregory VIII, and Clement III. Pope Gregory VIII ordained him
subdeacon, and Clement III created him Cardinal-Deacon of St. George in
Velabro and Sts. Sergius and Bacchus, in 1190. Later he became
Cardinal-Priest of St. Pudentiana. During the pontificate of Celestine
III (1191-1198), a member of the House of the Orsini, enemies of the
counts of Segni, he lived in retirement, probably at Anagni, devoting
himself chiefly to meditation and literary pursuits. Celestine III died
8 January, 1198. Previous to his death he had urged the College of
Cardinals to elect Giovanni di Colonna as his successor; but Lotario
de' Conti was elected pope, at Rome, on the very day on which Celestine
III died. He accepted the tiara with reluctance and took the name of
Innocent III. At the time of his accession to the papacy he was only
thirty-seven years of age.
The imperial throne had become vacant by the death of Henry VI
in 1197, and no successor had as yet been elected. The tactful and
energetic pope made good use of the opportunity offered him by this
vacancy for the restoration of the papal power in Rome and in the
States of the Church. The Prefect of Rome, who reigned over the city as
the emperor's representative, and the senator who stood for the
communal rights and privileges of Rome, swore allegiance to Innocent.
When he had thus re-established the papal authority in Rome, he availed
himself of every opportunity to put in practice his grand concept of
the papacy. Italy was tired of being ruled by a host of German
adventurers, and the pope experienced little difficulty in extending
his political power over the peninsula. First he sent two cardinal
legates to Markwuld to demand the restoration of the Romagna and the
March of Ancona to the Church. Upon his evasive answer he was
excommunicated by the legates and driven away by the papal troops. In
like manner the Duchy of Spoleto and the Districts of Assisi and Sora
were wrested from the German knight, Conrad von Uerslingen. The league
which had been formed among the cities of Tuscany was ratified by the
pope after it acknowledged him as suzerain.
Death of the Emperor Henry VI left his four-year old
child, Frederick II, King of Sicily. The emperor's widow Constance, who
ruled over Sicily for her little son, was unable to cope singly against
the Norman barons of the Sicilian Kingdom, who resented the German rule
and refused to acknowledge the child-king. She appealed to Innocent III
to save the Sicilian throne for her child. The pope made use of this
opportunity to reassert papal suzerainty over Sicily, and acknowledged
Frederick II as king only after Constance had surrendered certain
privileges contained in the so-called Four Chapters, which William I
had previously extorted from Adrian IV. The pope then solemnly invested
Frederick II as King of Sicily in a Bull issued about the middle of
November, 1198. Before the Bull reached Sicily Constance had died, but
before her death she had appointed Innocent as guardian of the
orphan-king. With the greatest fidelity the pope watched over the
welfare of his ward during the nine years of his minority. Even the
enemies of the papacy admit that Innocent was an unselfish guardian of
the young king and that no one else could have ruled for him more ably
and conscientiously. To protect the inexperienced king against his
enemies, he induced him in 1209 to marry Constance, the widow of King
Emeric of Hungary.
Conditions in Germany were extremely favourable for the application of
Innocent's idea concerning the relation between the papacy and the
empire. After the death of Henry VI a double election had ensued. The
Ghibellines had elected Philip of Swabia on 6 March, 1198, while the
Guelfs had elected Otto IV, son of Henry the Lion and nephew of King
Richard of England, in April of the same year. The former was crowned
at Mainz on 8 September, 1198, the latter at Aachen on 12 July, 1198.
Immediately upon his accession to the papal throne Innocent sent the
Bishop of Sutri and the Abbot of Sant' Anastasio as legates to Germany,
with instructions to free Philip of Swabia from the ban which he had
incurred under Celestine III, on condition that he would bring about
the liberation of the imprisoned Queen Sibyl of Sicily and restore the
territory which he had taken from the Church when he was Duke of
Tuscany. When the legates arrived in Germany, Philip had already been
elected king. Yielding to the wishes of Philip, the Bishop of Sutri
secretly freed him from the ban upon his mere promise to fulfil the
proposed conditions. After the coronation Philip sent the legates back
to Rome with letters requesting the pope's ratification of his
election; but Innocent was dissatisfied with the action of the Bishop
of Sutri and refused to ratify the election. Otto IV also sent legates
to the pope after his coronation at Aachen, but before the pope took
any action, the two claimants of the German throne began to assert
their claims by force of arms. Though the pope did not openly side with
either of them, it was apparent that his sympathy was with Otto IV.
Offended at what they considered an unjust interference on the part of
the pope, the adherents of Philip sent a letter to him in which they
protested against his interference in the imperial affairs of Germany.
In his answer Innocent stated that he had no intention of encroaching
upon the rights of the princes, but insisted upon the rights of the
Church in this matter. He emphasized especially that the conferring of
the imperial crown belonged to the pope alone. In 1201 the pope openly
espoused the side of Otto IV. On 3 July, 1201, the papal legate,
Cardinal-Bishop Guido of Palestrina, announced to the people, in the
cathedral of Cologne, that Otto IV had been approved by the pope as
Roman king and threatened with excommunication all those who refused to
acknowledge him. Innocent III made clear to the German princes by the
Decree "Venerabilem" which he addressed to the Duke of Zähringen
in May, 1202, in what relation he considered the empire to stand to the
papacy. This decretal, which has become famous, was afterwards embodied
in the "Corpus Juris Canonici". It is found in Baluze, "Registrum
Innocentii III super negotio Romani Imperii", no. lxii, and is
reprinted in P. L., CCXVI, 1065-7. The following are the chief points
of the decretal:
The German princes have the
right to elect the king, who is afterwards to become emperor.
This right was given them
by the Apostolic See when it transferred the imperial dignity from the
Greeks to the Germans in the person of Charlemagne.
The right to investigate and decide whether a king thus
elected is worthy of the imperial dignity belongs to the pope, whose
office it is to anoint, consecrate, and crown him; otherwise it might
happen that the pope would be obliged to anoint, consecrate, and Crown
a king who was excommunicated, a heretic, or a pagan.
If the pope finds that the king who has been elected by the
princes is unworthy of the imperial dignity, the princes must elect a
new king or, if they refuse, the pope will confer the imperial dignity
upon another king; for the Church stands in need of a patron and
defender.
In case of a double
election the pope must exhort the princes to come to an agreement. If
after a due interval they have not reached an agreement they must ask
the pope to arbitrate, failing which, he must of his own accord and by
virtue of his office decide in favour of one of the claimants. The
pope's decision need not be based on the greater or less legality of
either election, but on the qualifications of the claimants.
Innocent's exposition of his theory concerning
the relation between the papacy and the empire was accepted by many
princes, as is apparent from the sudden increase of Otto's adherents
subsequent to the issue of the decretal. If after 1203 the majority of
the princes began again to side with Philip, it was the fault of Otto
himself, who was very irritable and often offended his best friends.
Innocent, reversing his decision, declared in favour of Philip in 1207,
and sent the Cardinals Ugolino of Ostia and Leo of Santa Croce to
Germany with instructions to endeavour to induce Otto to renounce his
claims to the throne and with powers to free Philip from the ban. The
murder of King Philip by Otto of Wittelsbach, 21 June, 1208, entirely
changed conditions in Germany. At the Diet of Frankfort, 11 November,
1208, Otto was acknowledged as king by all the princes, and the pope
invited him to Rome to receive the imperial crown. He was crowned
emperor in the Basilica of St. Peter at Rome, 4 October, 1209. Before
his coronation he had solemnly promised to leave the Church in the
peaceful possession of Spoleto, Ancona, and the gift of Countess
Matilda; to assist the pope in the exercise of his suzerainty over
Sicily; to grant freedom of ecclesiastical elections; unlimited right
of appeal to the pope and the exclusive competency of the hierarchy in
spiritual matters; he had, moreover renounced the "regalia" and the jus
spolii, i.e., the right to the revenues of vacant sees and the seizure
of the estates of intestate ecclesiastics. He also promised to assist
the hierarchy in the extirpation of heresy. But scarcely had he been
crowned emperor when he seized Ancons, Spoleto, the bequest of Matilda,
and other property of the Church, giving it in vassalage to some of his
friends. He also united with the enemies of Frederick II and invaded
the Kingdom of Sicily with the purpose of wresting it from the youthful
king and from the suzerainty of the pope.
When Otto did not listen to the remonstrances of Innocent, he
excommunicated him, 18 November, 1210, and solemnly proclaimed his
excommunication at a Roman synod held on 31 March, 1211. The pope now
began to treat with King Philip Augustus of France and with the German
princes, with the result that most princes renounced the excommunicated
emperor and elected in his place the youthful Frederick II of Sicily,
at the Diet of Nuremberg in September, 1211. The election was repeated
in presence of a representative of the pope and of Philip Augustus of
France at the Diet of Frankfort, 2 December, 1212. After making
practically the same promises to the pope which Otto IV had made
previously, and, in addition, taking the solemn oath never to unite
Sicily with the empire, his election was ratified by Innocent and he
was crowned at Aachen on 12 July, 1215. The deposed emperor Otto IV
hastened to Germany immediately upon the election of Frederick II, but
received little support from the princes. In alliance with John of
England he made war upon Philip of France, but was defeated in the
battle of Bouvines, 27 July, 1214. Then he lost all influence in
Germany and died on 19 May, 1218, leaving the pope's creature,
Frederick II, the undisputed emperor.
When Innocent ascended the papal throne a cruel war was
being waged between Philip Augustus of France and Richard of England.
The pope considered it his duty, as the supreme ruler of the Christian
world, to put an end to all hostilities among Christian princes.
Shortly after his accession he sent Cardinal Peter of Capua to France
with instructions to threaten both kings with interdict if they would
not within two months conclude peace or at least agree upon a truce of
five years. In January, 1198, the two kings met between Vernon and
Andely and a truce of five years was agreed upon. The same legate was
instructed by the pope to threaten Philip Augustus with interdict over
the whole of France if within a month he would not be reconciled with
his lawful wife, Ingeburga of Denmark, whom he had rejected and in
whose stead he had taken Agnes, daughter of the Duke of Meran. When
Philip took no heed of the pope's warning Innocent carried out his
threat and on 12 December, 1199, laid the whole of France under
interdict. For nine months the king remained stubborn, but when the
barons and the people began to rise in rebellion against him he finally
discarded his concubine and the interdict was lifted on 7 September,
1200. It was not, however, until 1213 that the pope succeeded in
bringing about a final reconciliation between the king and his lawful
wife Ingeburga.
Innocent also had an opportunity to assert the papal
rights in England. After the death of Archbishop Hubert of Canterbury,
in 1205, a number of the younger monks of Christ Church assembled
secretly at night and elected their sub-prior, Reginald, as archbishop.
This election was made without the concurrence of the bishop and
without the authority of the king. Reginald was asked not to divulge
his election until he had received the papal approbation. But on his
way to Rome the vain monk assumed the title of archbishop-elect, and
thus the episcopal body of the province of Canterbury was apprised of
the secret election. The bishops at once sent Peter of Anglesham as
their representative to Pope Innocent to protest against the
uncanonical proceedings of the monks of Christ Church. The monks also
were highly incensed at Reginald because, contrary to his promise, he
had divulged his election. They proceeded to a second election, and on
11 December, 1205, cast their votes for the royal favourite, John de
Grey, whom the king had recommended to their suffrages. The controversy
between the monks of Christ Church and the bishops concerning the right
of electing the Archbishop of Canterbury, Innocent decided in favour of
the monks, but in the present case he pronounced both elections
invalid; that of Reginald because it had been made uncanonically and
clandestinely, that of John de Grey because it had occurred before the
invalidity of the former was proclaimed by the pope. Not even King
John, who offered Innocent 3000 marks if he would decide in favour of
de Grey, could alter the pope's decision. Innocent summoned those monks
of Canterbury who were in Rome to proceed to a new election and
recommended to their choice Stephen Langton, an Englishman, whom the
pope had called to Rome from the rectorship of the University of Paris,
in order to create him cardinal. He was duly elected by the monks and
the pope himself consecrated him archbishop at Viterbo on 17 June,
1207. Innocent informed King John of the election of Langton and asked
him to accept the new archbishop. The king, however, had set his mind
on his favourite, John de Grey, and flatly refused to allow Langton to
come to England in the capacity of Archbishop of Canterbury. He,
moreover, wreaked his vengeance on the monks of Christ Church by
driving them from their monastery and taking possession of their
property. Innocent now placed the entire kingdom under interdict which
was proclaimed on 24 March, 1208. When this proved of no avail and the
king committed acts of cruelty against the clergy, the pope declared
him excommunicated in 1209, and formally deposed him in 1212. He
entrusted King Philip of France with the execution of the sentence.
When Philip threatened to invade England and the feudal lords and the
clergy began to forsake King John, the latter made his submission to
Pandulph, whom Innocent had sent as legate to England. He promised to
acknowledge Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury, to allow the exiled
bishops and priests to return to England and to make compensation for
the losses which the clergy had sustained. He went still further, and
on 13 May, 1213, probably of his own initiative, surrendered the
English kingdom through Pandulph into the hands of the pope to be
returned to him as a fief. The document of the surrender states that
henceforth the kings of England were to rule as vassals of the pope and
to pay an annual tribute of 1000 marks to the See of Rome. On 20 July,
1213, the king was solemnly freed from the ban at Winchester and after
the clergy had been reimbursed for its losses the interdict was lifted
from England on 29 June, 1214. It appears that many of the barons were
not pleased with the surrender of England into the hands of the pope.
They also resented the king's continuous trespasses upon their
liberties and his many acts of injustice in the government of the
people. They finally had recourse to violence and forced him to yield
to their demands by affixing his seal to the Magna Charta. Innocent
could not as suzerain of England allow a contract which imposed such
serious obligations upon his vassal to be made without his consent. His
legate Pandulph had repeatedly praised King John to the pope as a wise
ruler and loyal vassal of the Holy See. The pope, therefore, declared
the Great Charter null and void, not because it gave too many liberties
to the barons and the people, but because it had been obtained by
violence.
There was scarcely a country in Europe over which Innocent
III did not in some way or other assert the supremacy which he claimed
for the papacy. He excommunicated Alfonso IX of Leon, for marrying a
near relative, Berengaria, daughter of Alfonso VIII, contrary to the
laws of the Church, and effected their separation in 1204. For similar
reasons he annulled, in 1208, the marriage of the crown-prince, Alfonso
of Portugal, with Urraca, daughter of Alfonso of Castile. From Pedro II
of Aragon he received that kingdom in vassalage and crowned him king at
Rome in 1204. He prepared a crusade against the Moors and lived to see
their power broken in Spain at the battle of Navas de Tolosa, in 1212.
He protected the people of Norway against their tyrannical king,
Sverri, and after the king's death arbitrated between the two claimants
to the Norwegian throne. He mediated between King Emeric of Hungary and
his rebellious brother Andrew, sent royal crown and sceptre to King
Johannitius of Bulgaria and had his legate crown him king at Tirnovo,
in 1204; he restored ecclesiastical discipline in Poland; arbitrated
between the two claimants to the royal crown of Sweden; made partly
successful attempts to reunite the Greek with the Latin Church and
extended his beneficent influence practically over the whole Christian
world.
Like many preceding popes, Innocent had at heart the
recovery of the Holy Land, and for this end undertook the Fourth
Crusade. Venetians pledged themselves to transport the entire Christian
army and to furnish the fleet with provisions for nine months, for
85,000 marks. When the crusaders were unable to pay the sum, the
Venetians proposed to bear the financial expenses themselves on
condition that the crusaders would first assist them in the conquest of
the city of Zara. The crusaders yielded to their demands and the fleet
started down the Adriatic on 8 October, 1202. Zara had scarcely been
reduced when Alexius Comnenus arrived at the camp of the crusaders and
pleaded for their help to replace his father, Isaac Angelus, on the
throne of Constantinople from which he had been deposed by his cruel
brother Alexius. In return he promised to reunite the Greek with the
Latin Church, to add 10,000 soldiers to the ranks of the crusaders, and
to contribute money and provisions to the crusade. Venetians, who
saw their own commercial advantage in the taking of Constantinople,
induced crusaders to yield to the prayers of Alexius, and
Constantinople was taken by them in 1204. Isaac Angelus was restored to
his throne but soon replaced by a usurper.
Crusaders took Constantinople a second time on 12 April,
1204, and after a horrible pillage, Baldwin, Count of Flanders, was
proclaimed emperor and the Greek Church was united with the Latin. The
reunion, as well as the Latin empire in the East, did not last longer
than two generations. When Pope Innocent learned that the Venetians had
diverted the crusaders from their purpose of conquering the Holy Land
he expressed his great dissatisfaction first at their conquest of Zara,
and when they proceeded towards Constantinople he solemnly protested
and finally excommunicated Venetians who had caused the digression of
the crusaders from their original purpose. Since, however, he could not
undo what had been accomplished he did his utmost to destroy the Greek
schism and latinize the Eastern Empire.
Innocent was also a zealous protector of the true Faith and a strenuous
opponent of heresy.
His chief activity was turned against the Albigenses who had become so
numerous and aggressive that they were no longer satisfied with being
adherents of heretical doctrines but even endeavoured to spread their
heresy by force. They were especially numerous in a few cities of
Northern an in Southern France. During the first year of his
pontificate Innocent sent the two Cistercian monks Rainer and Guido to
the Albigenses in France to preach to them the true Faith and dispute
with them on controverted topics of religion. The two Cistercian
missionaries were soon followed by Diego, Bishop of Osma, then by St.
Dominic and the two papal legates. Peter of Castelnau and Raoul. When,
however, these peaceful missionaries were ridiculed and despised by the
Albigenses, and the papal legate Castelnau was assassinated in 1208,
Innocent resorted to force. He ordered the bishops of Southern France
to put under interdict the participants in the murder and all the towns
that gave shelter to them. He was especially incensed against Count
Raymond of Toulouse who had previously been excommunicated by the
murdered legate and whom, for good reasons, the pope suspected as the
instigator of the murder. The count protested his innocence and
submitted to the pope, probably out of cowardice, but the pope placed
no further trust in him. He called upon France to raise an army for the
suppression of the Albigenses. Under the leadership of Simon of
Montfort a cruel campaign ensued against the Albigenses which, despite
the protest of Innocent, soon turned into a war of conquest (see
ALBIGENSES). The culminating point in the glorious reign of Innocent
was his convocation of the Fourth Lateran Council, which he solemnly
opened on 15 November, 1215. It was by far the most important council
of the Middle Ages. Besides deciding on a general crusade to the Holy
Land, it issued seventy reformatory decrees, the first of which was a
creed (Firmiter credimus), against the Albigenses and Waldenses, in
which the term "transubstantiation" received its first ecclesiastical
sanction.
The labours of Innocent in the inner government of the Church appear to
be of a very subordinate character when they are put beside his great
politico-ecclesiastical achievements which brought the papacy to the
zenith of its power. Still they are worthy of memory and have
contributed their share to the glory of his pontificate. During his
reign the two great founders of the mendicant orders, St. Dominic and
St. Francis, laid before him their scheme of reforming the world.
Innocent was not blind to the vices of luxury and indolence which had
infected many of the clergy and part of the laity. In Dominic and
Francis he recognized two mighty adversaries of these vices and he
sanctioned their projects with words of encouragement. The lesser
religious orders which he approved are the Hospitallers of the Holy
Ghost on 23 April, 1198, the Trinitarians on 17 December, 1198, and the
Humiliati, in June, 1201. In 1209 he commissioned the Cistercian monk,
Christian, afterwards bishop, with the conversion of the heathen
Prussians. At Rome he built the famous hospital Santo Spirito in
Sassia, which became the model of all future city hospitals and exists
to the present time (see Walsh, "The Popes and Science", New York,
1908, p. 249-258; and the article HOSPITALS). The following saints were
canonized by Innocent: Homobonus, a merchant of Cremona, on 12 January,
1199; the Empress Cunegond, on 3 March, 1200; William, Duke of
Aquitaine in 1202; Wulstan, Bishop of York, on 14 May, 1203; Procopius,
abbot at Prague, on 2 June, 1204; and Guibert, the founder of the
monastery at Gembloux, in 1211.
Innocent died at Perugia, while travelling through Italy
in the interests of the crusade which had been decided upon at the
Lateran Council. He was buried in the cathedral of Perugia where his
body remained until Leo XIII, a great admirer of Innocent, had it
transferred to the Lateran in December, 1891. Innocent is also the
author of various literary works reprinted in P. L., CCXIV-CCXVIII,
where may also be found his numerous extant epistles and decretals, and
the historically important "Registrum Innocentii III super negotio
imperii". His first work, "De contemptu mundi, sive de miseria
conditionis humanæ libri III" (P. L., CCXVII, 701-746) was
written while he lived in retirement during the pontificate of
Celestine III. It is an ascetical treatise and gives evidence of
Innocent's deep piety and knowledge of men. Concerning it see Reinlein
"Papst Innocenz der dritte und seine Schrift 'De contemptu mundi"
(Erlangen, 1871). His treatise "De sacro altaris mysterio libri VI" (P.
L., CCXVII, 773-916) is of great liturgical value, because it
represents the Roman Mass as it was at the time of Innocent. See Franz,
"Die Messe im deutschen Mittelalter" (Freiburg, 1902), 453-457. It was
printed repeatedly, and translated into German by Hurter (Schaffhausen,
1845). He also wrote "De quadripartita specie nuptiarum" (P. L.,
CCXVII, 923-968), an exposition of the fourfold marriage bond, namely,
between man and wife, between Christ and the Church, between God and
the just soul, between the Word and human nature - - entirely based on
passages from Holy Scripture.
"Commentarius in septem psalmos pœnitentiales" (P. L., CCXVII,
967-1130) is of doubtful authorship. Among his seventy-nine sermons
(ibidem, 314-691) is the famous one on the text "Desiderio desideravi"
(Luke 22:15), which he delivered at the Fourth Lateran Council.
|
1283 BD JOHN OF VERCELLI
THIS John was born near Vercelli about the year 1205, but he is not
first certainly heard of till forty years later, when he was prior of
the Dominicans at Vercelli and a marked man for his abilities and
character. After filling various offices and missions he was elected
sixth master general of the Order of Preachers in 1264, an office which
he held with great distinction for nineteen years. John was rather
short of stature—in his first letter to his brethren he refers to
himself as a “poor little man”—and so amiable of expression that he is
said to have required of his socius that he should be of a severe and
awe-inspiring countenance. But he made up for lack of size by
sufficiency of energy and was tireless in his visitation and correction
of the Dominican houses up and down Europe; nor would he on these
journeys dispense himself from the fasts either of the Church or of his
order. 1283 BD JOHN OF
VERCELLI Immediately on his election to the see of
Rome, Bd Gregory X
imposed on John of Vercelli and his friars the task of again pacifying
the quarrelling states of Italy, and three years later he was ordered
to draw up a schema for the second ecumenical Council of Lyons. At the
council he met Jerome of Ascoli (afterwards Pope Nicholas IV), who had
succeeded St Bonaventure as minister general of the Franciscans, and
the two addressed a joint letter to the whole body of friars. Later on
they were sent together by the Holy See to mediate between Philip III
of France and Alfonso X of Castile, continuing the work of peace-maker,
in which John excelled.
Bd John of Vercelli was
one of
the early propagators of devotion to the name of Jesus, which the
Council of
Lyons prescribed in reparation for Albigensian blasphemies. Bd Gregory
X
selected John particularly, as head of a great body of preachers, to
spread
this devotion, and the master general at once addressed all his
provincial
priors accordingly. It was decided that there should be an altar of the
Holy
Name in every Dominican church and that confraternities against
blasphemy and
profanity should be formed. In 1278 Bd John sent a visitor into
England, where
some friars had been attacking the teaching of St Thomas Aquinas, then
lately
dead, whom John had reappointed to the chair of theology at Paris after
the
refusal of St Albert the Great. Two years later John came himself to
Oxford,
where a general chapter was held. Like Humbert of Romans, his
predecessor, he
refused episcopacy and a curial office at Rome; but he was induced to
withdraw
his resignation of the generalate, which he retained until his death at
Montpellier on November 30, 1283. The cultus of Bd John of Vercelli was
approved in 1903.
Gregory X, born Tebaldo Visconti, Roman Catholic Pope from the 1st of
September 1271, to the 10th of January 1276, was born at Piacenza in
1208, studied for the church, and became archdeacon of Liege. The
eighteen cardinals who met to elect a successor to Pope Clement IV were
divided into French and Italian factions, which wrangled over the
election for nearly three years in the midst of great popular
excitement, until finally, stirred by the eloquence of St. Bonaventura,
the Franciscan monk, they entrusted the choice to six electors, who hit
on Visconti, at that time accompanying Edward of England on the
crusade. He returned to Rome and was ordained priest on the 19th of
March 1272, and consecrated on the 27th. He at once summoned the
fourteenth general council of the Catholic Church, which met at Lyons
in 1274, with an attendance of some 1600 prelates, for the purpose of
considering the eastern schism, the condition of the Holy Land, and the
abuses in the church. The Greeks were persuaded, thanks to St.
Bonaventura, to consent to a union with Rome for the time being, and
Rudolph of Habsburg renounced at the council all imperial rights in the
States of the Church. The most celebrated among the many reform decrees
issued by Gregory was the constitution determining for the first time
the form of conclave at papal elections, which in large measure has
remained ever since the law of the church. Gregory was on his way to
Rome to crown Rudolph and send him out on a great crusade in company
with the kings of England, France, Aragon and Sicily, when he died at
Arezzo on the 10th of January 1276. He was a nobleman, fond of peace
and actuated by the consciousness of a great mission. He has been
honored as a saint by the inhabitants of Arezzo and Piacenza. His
successor in the papacy was Pope Innocent V.
Roman Catholic Pope
1-Sep-1271 to 10-Jan-1276 Beatified 12-Sep-1713
|
1227 1292 Jerome
Masci of
Ascoli Pope Nicholas IV 1288-92 second ecumenical Council of Lyons
Pope Nicholas IV
(Lisciano, near Ascoli Piceno, September 30, 1227 – April 4, 1292),
born Girolamo Masci, was Pope
from February 22, 1288 to April 4, 1292. A Franciscan monk, he had been
legate to the Greeks under Pope Gregory X (1271–76) in 1272, succeeded
Bonaventure as general of his order in 1274, was made Cardinal Priest
of Santa Prassede and Latin Patriarch of Constantinople by Pope
Nicholas III (1277–80), Cardinal Bishop of Palestina by Pope Martin IV
(1281–85), and succeeded Pope Honorius IV (1285–87) after a ten-months'
vacancy in the papacy.
He was a pious, peace-loving monk with no ambition save for the Church,
the crusades and the extirpation of heresy. He steered a middle course
between the factions at Rome, and sought a settlement of the Sicilian
question. In May 1289 he crowned King Charles II of Naples and Sicily
(1285–1309) after the latter had expressly recognized papal suzerainty,
and in February 1291 concluded a treaty with Alfonso III of Aragon
(1285–91) and Philip IV of France (1285–1314) looking toward the
expulsion of James II of Aragon (1285–96) from Sicily. The loss of Acre
in 1291 stirred Nicholas IV to renewed enthusiasm for a crusade. He
sent missionaries, among them the celebrated Franciscan missionary,
John of Monte Corvino, to labour among the Bulgarians, Ethiopians,
Tatars and Chinese.
Nicholas IV issued an important constitution on July 18, 1289, which
granted to the cardinals one-half of all income accruing to the Roman
see and a share in the financial management, and thereby paved the way
for that independence of the College of Cardinals which, in the
following century, was to be of detriment to the papacy.
Nicholas IV died in the
palace which he had built beside Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.
1283 BD JOHN OF VERCELLI
THIS John was born near Vercelli about the year 1205, but he
is not first certainly heard of till forty years later, when he was
prior of the Dominicans at Vercelli and a marked man for his abilities
and character. After filling various offices and missions he was
elected sixth master general of the Order of Preachers in 1264, an
office which he held with great distinction for nineteen years. John
was rather short of stature—in his first letter to his brethren he
refers to himself as a “poor little man”—and so amiable of expression
that he is said to have required of his socius that he should be of a
severe and awe-inspiring countenance. But he made up for lack of size
by sufficiency of energy and was tireless in his visitation and
correction of the Dominican houses up and down Europe; nor would he on
these journeys dispense himself from the fasts either of the Church or
of his order. Immediately on his election to the see of Rome, Bd
Gregory X imposed on John of Vercelli and his friars the task of again
pacifying the quarrelling states of Italy, and three years later he was
ordered to draw up a schema for the second ecumenical Council of Lyons.
At the council he met Jerome of Ascoli (afterwards Pope Nicholas IV),
who had succeeded St Bonaventure as minister general of the
Franciscans, and the two addressed a joint letter to the whole body of
friars. Later on they were sent together by the Holy See to mediate
between Philip III of France and Alfonso X of Castile, continuing the
work of peace-maker, in which John excelled.
Nicholas IV
After the death of Honorius IV, the folly of abrogating Gregory X's
election regulations was starkly evident. For almost a year the
cardinals wrangled, quite unable to come to a decision. Finally they
elected Jerome of Ascoli, but it took a week and a repeated election to
convince the Franciscan cardinal that he should accept. On February 22,
1288, Jerome accepted and took the name Nicholas IV.
Jerome Masci was born on September 30, 1227 at Lisciano, near Ascoli.
Although his parents were lowly folk, he formed a strong friendship
with a noble boy named Conrad.
The two became Franciscans and studied together at Assisi. At Perugia
they received their doctorate in theology. Both went to Rome to teach
theology, and then their paths separated.
Conrad went to Africa to
preach to the infidel; Jerome to Dalmatia to serve as minister
provincial of Slavonia.
Sent by Gregory X to Constantinople to prepare the way for
the reunion of the churches at Lyons, Jerome accomplished his mission
work with distinction. He was elected minister general of the
Franciscan order in 1274 to succeed St. Bonaventure.
Nicholas III made him cardinal priest and sent him on a peace mission
to France, where he was joined by his old friend, Conrad. Martin IV made him
cardinal-bishop of Praeneste, and there he worked until his election to
the papacy. One of his first moves as pope was to call Conrad from
Paris to make him a cardinal, but his old friend died.
Nicholas IV, as might be expected of a Franciscan, was intensely
interested in missionary projects. He sent the famous Franciscan John
of Montecorvino to follow the tracks of Marco Polo and preach
Christianity in far-off China. He corresponded with Mongols,
Bulgarians, and Tartars.
Nicholas was also interested in art, and he made Rome quite a center
for artists and architects. He has been called the Maecenas of his age.
He did much to foster universities, helping those already existing and
granting charters to new foundations.
The reluctance of Nicholas to accept the heavy duty of ruling the
Church may have been due to real self-knowledge. Good, kind, holy,
Nicholas was not a successful ruler. He seems to have been too narrow
in his views, too slow in transacting business, and too little gifted
with a sense of the practical.
The papal states, so well ruled by Honorius IV, were soon in an uproar.
The Pope was accused of favoring the Colonna family and the
Franciscans. In his relations with Sicily, Nicholas persisted in an
intransigent attitude towards the Aragonese. Indeed, he even annulled a
treaty which Edward I had negotiated between Charles of Salerno, the
rightful king, and James of Aragon, who actually held the island. At a
time when all efforts should have been centered on saving the Holy
Land, Nicholas was urging the French to attack Aragon. His policy, on
the verge of success, crashed in ruin when James of Sicily succeeded
his brother as king of Aragon.
The fall of Acre in 1291 caused Nicholas at long last to go all out for
a crusade. Earnestly he urged Philip of France and Edward of England to
take the cross. He called a council to arrange matters for 1293, but on
Good Friday, April 4, 1292, Pope Nicholas IV died.
November 29, 2007 Servant of God John of Monte Corvino
(1247-1328)
At a time when the Church was heavily embroiled in nationalistic
rivalries within Europe, it was also reaching across Asia to spread the
gospel of Jesus Christ to the Mongols. John of Monte Corvino went to
China about the same time Marco Polo was returning.
John was a soldier, judge and doctor before he became a friar. Prior to
going to Tabriz, Persia (present-day Iran), in 1278, he was well known
for his preaching and teaching. In 1291 John of Monte
Corvino (1247-1328) left Tabriz as a legate of Pope
Nicholas IV to the court of Kublai Khan. An Italian merchant, a
Dominican friar and John traveled to western India where the Dominican
died. When John and the Italian merchant arrived in China in 1294,
Kublai Khan had recently died.
Nestorian Christians, successors to the dissidents of the fifth-century
Council of Ephesus’ teaching on Jesus Christ, had been in China since
the seventh century. John converted some of them and also some of the
Chinese, including Prince George from Tenduk, northwest of Beijing.
Prince George named his son after this holy friar.
John established his headquarters in Khanbalik (now Beijing), where he
built two churches; his was the first resident Catholic mission in the
country. By 1304 he had translated the Psalms and the New Testament
into the Tatar language.
Responding to two letters from John, Pope Clement V named John
Archbishop of Khanbalik in 1307 and consecrated seven friars as bishops
of neighboring dioceses. One of the seven never left Europe. Three
others died along the way to China; the remaining three bishops and the
friars who accompanied them arrived there in 1308.
When John died in 1328, he was mourned by Christians and
non-Christians. His tomb quickly became a place of pilgrimage. In 1368,
Christianity was banished from China when the Mongols were expelled and
the Ming dynasty began. John’s cause has been introduced in Rome.
Comment: When John of Monte Corvino went to China, he
represented the Church’s desire to preach the gospel to a new culture
and to be enriched by it. The travels of Pope John Paul II have
demonstrated the universality of the Good News and the urgent need to
continue the challenging work of helping the Good News take root in a
variety of cultural situations.
Quote: In 1975, Pope Paul VI wrote, "The Church
evangelizes when she seeks to convert, solely through the divine power
of the Message she proclaims, both the personal and collective
consciences of people, the activities in which they engage, and the
lives and concrete milieus which are theirs" (Evangelization in the
Modern World, #18).
|
1277 Peter of
Tarentaise
-a simple, humble friar Blessed Pope Innocent V masterly tutelage of
Saint Albert the Great visited on foot all Dominican houses under his
care sent to Paris to replace Thomas Aquinas at the University of Paris
succeeded solving questions of Greek schism establishing short-lived
truce OP Pope (RM)
Romæ beáti
Innocéntii Papæ Quinti, ex Ordine
Prædicatórum, Confessóris,
qui ad tuéndam Ecclésiæ libertátem et
Christianórum concórdiam suávi
prudéntia adlaborávit. Cultum autem, ei
exhíbitum, Leo Décimus
tértius, Póntifex Máximus, ratum hábuit et
confirmávit.
At Rome,
blessed Pope Innocent V, who laboured with
mildness and
prudence to maintain liberty for the Church and harmony among the
Christians. The veneration paid to him was approved and confirmed
by
Pope Leo XIII.
Born in
Tarentaise-en-Forez, Burgundy, France, in 1245;
died in Rome,
June 22, 1277; cultus confirmed by Pope Leo XIII in 1898. Peter of
Tarentaise was barely 10 years old when he was admitted to the
Dominican Order by Blessed Jordan of
Saxony as a boy-novice and sent to Paris to study. Like Saint
Thomas Aquinas, Blessed Ambrose of Siena, and other luminaries of the
13th century, he fell under the masterly tutelage of Saint Albert the Great.
He received his master's degree in theology in 1259, then he
taught for
some years in Paris, where he contributed a great deal to the order's
reputation for learning. He wrote a number of commentaries on Scripture
and the Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, but he devoted
most of his time to the classroom. He soon became famous as a preacher
and theologian, and in 1259, with a committee including his friend
Thomas Aquinas, composed a plan of study that is still the basis of
Dominican teaching.
At age 37, Peter began the long years of responsibility in
the various
offices he was to hold in his lifetime as prior provincial of France.
He visited on foot all Dominican houses under his care, and was then
sent to Paris to replace Saint Thomas Aquinas at the University of
Paris. Twice provincial, he was chosen archbishop of Lyons in 1272 and
administered the affairs of the diocese for some time, though he was
never actually consecrated for that see.
The next year Peter was appointed cardinal-archbishop of
Ostia, Italy,
while still administering the see of Lyons. With the great Franciscan, Saint Bonaventure, assumed much of
the labor of the Council of Lyons to which Saint Thomas was hastening at the
time of his death. To the problems of clerical reform and the healing
of the Greek schism the two gifted friars devoted their finest talents.
Before the council was over, Bonaventure died, and Peter of Tarentaise
preached the funeral panegyric.
In January 1276, Peter was with Blessed
Pope Gregory X when the latter died at Arezzo. The conclave was
held in the following month. On January 21, 1276, Peter of Tarentaise
received every vote except his own. With a sad heart, he left the
seclusion of his religious home to ascend the Fisherman's Throne as
Pope Innocent V.
The reign of the new pope,
which promised so much to a harassed people,
was to be very brief. But, imbued with the spirit of the early
apostles, he crowded a lifetime into the short space given him.
He instigated a new crusade against the Saracens and began
reforms in
the matter of regular observance. He actually succeeded in solving many
of the questions of the Greek schism and in establishing a short-lived
truce. He struggled to reconcile the Guelphs and Ghibellines, restored
peace between Pisa and Lucca, and acted as mediator between Rudolph of
Hapsburg and Charles of Anjou. He restored the custom of personally
assisting at choral functions with the canons of the Lateran, and he
inspired all with the love that animated his heart.
Had the measures begun by Innocent V had time to be fully
realized, he
might have accomplished great good for the Church; he did at least open
the way for those who were to follow him. Death stopped the hand of the
zealous pope when he had reigned only five months. Like his friends Saint Thomas and Saint Bonaventure, he was untouched
by the honors and dignity with which he had been favored, and death
found him exactly what he had been for more than 40 years--a simple,
humble friar (Benedictines, Delaney, Dorcy).
Pope Bl. Innocent V (PETRUS A TARENTASIA)
Born in Tarentaise, towards 1225; elected at Arezzo, 21
January, 1276;
died at Rome, 22 June, 1276. Tarentaise on the upper Isère in
south-eastern France was certainly his native province, and the town of
Champagny was in all probability his birthplace. At the age of sixteen
he joined the Dominican Order. After completing his education, at the
University of Paris, where he graduated as master in sacred theology in
1259, he won distinction as a professor in that institution, and is
known as "the most famous doctor", "Doctor famosissimus" For some time
provincial of his order in France, he became Archbishop of Lyons in
1272 and Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia in 1273. He played a prominent part
at the Second Ecumenical Council of Lyons (1274), in which he delivered
two discourses to the assembled fathers and also pronounced the funeral
oration on St. Bonaventure. Elected as successor to Gregory X, whose
intimate adviser he was, he assumed the name of Innocent V and was the
first Dominican pope. His policy was peaceable. He sought to reconcile
Guelphs and Ghibellines in Italy, restored peace between Pisa and
Lucca, and mediated between Rudolph of Hapsburg and Charles of Anjou.
He likewise endeavoured to consolidate the union of the Greeks with
Rome concluded at the Council of Lyons. He is the author of several
works dealing with philosophy, theology and canon law, some of which
are still unpublished. The principal among them is his "Commentary on
the Sentences of Peter Lombard" (Toulouse, 1652). Four philosophical
treatises: "De unitate formæ", "De materia c&#aelig;li", "De
æternitate mundi", "De intellectu et voluntate", are also due to
his
pen. A commentary on the Pauline Epistles frequently published under
the name of Nicholas of Gorran (Cologne, 1478) is claimed for him by
some critics.
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Pope St. Celestine
V The birthday of
St. Peter of Moroni who, while
leading the life of an anchoret, was created Sovereign Pontiff and
called Celestine V. He later abdicated the pontificate, and led a
religious life in solitude, where, renowned for virtues and miracles,
he went to the Lord.
(PIETRO DI MURRONE.)
Born 1215
- D. 1296 St. Celestine V Pope
Natalis sancti Petri de Moróno, Confessóris, qui ex
Anachoréta Summus Póntifex creátus, dictus est
Cælestínus Quintus. Sed Pontificátu se
póstmodum abdicávit, et in solitúdine
religiósam vitam agens, virtútibus et miráculis
clarus, migrávit ad Dóminum.
The birthday of St. Peter of Moroni who, while
leading the life of an anchoret, was created Sovereign Pontiff and
called Celestine V. He later abdicated the pontificate, and led a
religious life in solitude, where, renowned for virtues and miracles,
he went to the Lord.
When the father of this Italian saint died, his good mother brought up
her twelve children well, even though they were very poor. "Oh, if I
could only have the joy of seeing one of you become a saint!" she use
to say. Once when she asked as usual, "which one of you is going to
become a saint?" little Peter (who was to become Pope Celestine)
answered with all his heart, "Me, mama! I'll become a saint!" And he
did.
When he was twenty, Peter became a hermit and spent
his days praying
and reading the Holy Bible. If he was not praying or reading, he would
copy books or do some hard work so that the devil would not find him
doing nothing, and tempt him. Because other hermits kept coming to him
and begging him to guide them, he started a new Order.
Peter was an old monk, eighty-four years of age when
he was made Pope.
It came about in a very unusual way. For two years, there had been no
Pope, because the Cardinals could not decide whom to choose. St. Peter
sent them a message to decide quickly, for God was not pleased at the
long delay. Then and there, they chose the holy old hermit himself!
Poor Peter wept when he heard the news, but he sorrowfully accepted and
took the name Celestine V.
He was Pope only about five months. Because he was
so humble and
simple, everyone took advantage of him. He could not say "no" to
anyone, and soon matters were in great confusion. At last, the Saint
decided that he had better give up his position as Pope. He did so and
then threw himself at the feet of the Cardinals for not having been
capable of governing the Church. What an impression his humility made
on all of them!
St. Celestine hoped to live in one of
his monasteries in peace. But the
new Pope thought it would be safer to keep him where wicked people
could not take advantage of him. The saint was put in a cell and died
there. Yet he was cheerful and close to God. "You wanted a cell,
Peter," he would repeat to himself, "and a cell you have."
Peter Morrone, Pope, Hermit (RM) (also known as Peter Celestine V) Born
at Isernia in the Abruzzi, Italy, c. 1210-1214; died near Anagni, on
May 19, 1296; canonized in 1313 by Pope Clement V. Peter was the 11th
of 12 children of a peasant family. He became a hermit at age 20, but
left his cell to study for the priesthood and was ordained in Rome.
Later he professed himself as a Benedictine monk at Faizola in 1246.
Then, in 1251, he was permitted to return to the solitary life on Monte
Morrone in the Abruzzi hills near Sulmona. His holiness attracted large
crowds around him. After five years, he retired with two companions to
Monte Majella in quest of greater solitude but was persuaded to go back
to Monte Morrone, where he lived for many years as the head of a group
of hermits that he organized first into a community and later into a
monastery with a strict rule. In 1274, he received approval of his
order of monks, the Celestines. In 1287, Morone began the construction
of Santa Maria di Collemaggio Basilica in Aquila.
After the death of Pope Nicholas IV over two years passed without any
agreement on a successor, until on July 5, 1294, the cardinals gathered
in Perugia despairingly sought to end the deadlock by electing a
'stop-gap': their choice fell on the 84-year-old Peter of Morrone. (One
source says that Peter reputedly threatened the cardinals with the
wrath of God if they did not elect a new pope at once.)
Peter was shocked by the cardinals' choice. Despite his grave
misgivings he submitted, taking the name of Celestine, and was
consecrated bishop of Rome at Aquila on August 29, 1294. The results
were disastrous because Celestine was unfitted for the papal office in
every respect except his holiness.
In his simplicity, otherworldliness, and naivete he made the most
elementary blunders; he became the innocent tool of the politics of
King Charles II of Naples. Heartbroken at his failure, miserable in his
new surroundings, and overwhelmed by the burden of the office he had
not sought and was incapable of filling, he abdicated his office before
a consistory of cardinals at Naples on December 13 the same year. He
had been pope for less than five months.
A few days later the stern and rigid Cardinal Gaetani was elected as
Boniface VIII in his place. Boniface feared that the popularity of his
holy predecessor might lead some plotters to attempt to use Celestine
for their own ends, put him back on the papal throne, and cause a
further split in Christendom. The old man tried to slip away to the
mountains or across the seas, but he was found and at Boniface's orders
shut up in narrow quarters at the castle of Fumone, near Anagni. Saint
Celestine said, "I wanted nothing in the world but a cell, and a cell
they have given me." Ten months later he died, and was buried at
Aquila, the most pathetic figure in the history of the papacy
(Attwater, Ayscough, Benedictines, Delaney).
In art, Saint Peter Celestine is depicted as a pope with a dove at his
ear and the devil trying to disturb him. He is the patron of
bookbinders (Roeder).
Born 1215, in the Neapolitan province of Moline; elected at
Perugia 5 July, 1294; consecrated and crowned at Aquila, 29 August;
abdicated at Naples, 13 Dec., 1294; died in the castle of Fumone, 19
May, 1296. He was of humble parentage, became a Benedictine at the age
of seventeen, and was eventually ordained priest at Rome. His love of
solitude led him first into the wilderness of Monte Morone in the
Abruzzi, whence his surname, and later into the wilder recesses of Mt.
Majella. He took for his model the Baptist. His hair-cloth was
roughened with knots; a chain of iron encompassed his emaciated frame;
he fasted every day except Sunday; each year he kept four Lents,
passing three of them on bread and water; the entire day and a great
part of the night he consecrated to prayer and labour. As generally
happens in the case of saintly anchorites, Peter's desire for solitude
was not destined to be gratified. Many kindred spirits gathered about
him eager to imitate his rule of life, and before his death there were
thirty- six monasteries, numbering 600 religious, bearing his papal
name (Celestini). The order was approved, as a branch of the
Benedictines, by Urban IV, in 1264. This congregation of (Benedictine)
Celestines must not be confounded with other (Franciscan) Celestines,
extreme Spirituals whom Pope Celestine permitted (1294) to live as
hermits according to the Rule of St. Francis, but were pendent of the
Franciscan superiors. In gratitude they called themselves after the
pope (Pauperes eremitæ Domini Celestine), but were dissolved and
dispersed (1302) by Boniface VIII, whose legitimacy the Spirituals
contested [Heimbucher, Orden und Kongregationen (2nd ed. Paderborn,
1907); I, 280; II, 360]. In 1284, Pietro, weary of the cares of
government, appointed a certain Robert as his vicar and plunged again
into the depths of the wilderness. It would be well if some Catholic
scholar would devote some time to a thorough investigation of his
relations to the extreme spiritual party of that age; for though it is
certain that the pious hermit did not approve of the heretical tenets
held by the leaders, it is equally true that the fanatics, during his
life and after his death, made copious use of his name.
In July, 1294, his pious exercises were suddently interrupted by a
scene unparalleled in ecclesiastical history. Three eminent
dignitaries, accompanied by an immense multitude of monks and laymen,
ascended the mountain, announced that Pietro had been chosen pope by
unanimous vote of the Sacred College and humbly begged him to accept
the honour. Two years and three months had elapsed since the death of
Nicholas IV (4 Apr., 1292) without much prospect that the conclave at
Perugia would unite upon a candidate. Of the twelve Cardinals who
composed the Sacred College six were Romans, four Italians and two
French. The factious spirit of Guelph and Ghibelline, which was then
epidemic in Italy, divided the conclave, as well as the city of Rome,
into two hostile parties of the Orsini and the Colonna, neither of
which could outvote the other. A personal visit to Perugia, in the
spring of 1294, of Charles II of Naples, who needed the papal authority
in order to regain Sicily, only exasperated the affair, hot words being
exchanged betrween the Angevin monarch and Cardinal Gaetani, at that
time the intellectual leader of the Colonna, later, as Pope Boniface
VIII, their bitter enemy. When the situation seemed hopeless, Cardinal
Latino Orsini admonished the fathers that God had revealed to a saintly
hermit that if the cardinals did not perform their duty within four
months, He would visit the Church with severe chastisement. All knew
that he referred to Pietro di Murrone. The proposition was seized upon
by the exhausted conclave and the election was made unanimous. Pietro
heard of his elevation with tears; but, after a brief prayer, obeyed
what seemed the clear voice of God, commanding him to sacrifice his
personal inclination on the altar of the public welfare. Flight was
impossible, even if he contemplated it; for no sooner did the news of
this extraordinary event spread abroad than multitudes (numbered at
200,000) flocked about him. His elevation was particularly welcome to
the Spirituals, who saw in it the realization of current prophecies
that the reign of the Holy Spirit ruling through the monks was at hand;
and they proclaimed him the first legitimate pope since Constantine's
donation of wealth and worldly power to "the first rich father"
(Inferno, Canto XIX). King Charles of Naples, hearing of the election
of his subject, hastened with his son Charles Martel, titular King of
Hungary, ostensibly to present his homage to the new pope, in reality
to take the simple old man into honourable custody. Had Charles known
how to preserve moderation in exploiting his good luck, this windfall
might have brought him incalculable benefits; as it was, he ruined
everything by excessive greed.
In reply to the request of the cardinals, that he should come to
Perugia to be crowned, Pietro, at the instigation of Charles, summoned
the Sacred College to meet him at Aquila, a frontier town of the
Kingdom of Naples. Reluctantly they came, and one by one, Gaetani being
the last to appear. Seated on an humble ass, the rope held by two
monarchs, the new pontiff proceeded to Aquila, and, although only three
of the cardinals had arrived, the king ordered him to be crowned, a
ceremony which had to be repeated in traditional form some days later,
the only instance of a double papal coronation. Cardinal Latino was so
grief-stricken at the course which affairs were evidently taking that
he fell sick and died. Pietro took the name of Celestine V. Urged by
the cardinals to cross over into the States of the Church, Celestine,
again at the behest of the king, ordered the entire Curia to repair to
Naples. It is wonderful how many serious mistakes the simple old man
crowded into five short months. We have no full register of them,
because his official acts were annulled by his successor. On the 18th
of September he created twelve new cardinals, seven of whom were
French, and the rest, with one possible exception, Neapolitans, thus
paving the road to Avignon and the Great Schism. Ten days later he
embittered the cardinals by renewing the rigorous law of Gregory X,
regulating the conclave, which Adrian V had suspended. He is said to
have appointed a young son of Charles to the important See of Lyons,
but no trace of such appointment appears in Gams or Eubel. At Monte
Cassino on his way to Naples, he strove to force the Celestine
hermit-rule on the monks; they humoured him while he was with them. At
Benevento he created the bishop of the city a cardinal, without
observing any of the traditional forms. Meanwhile he scattered
privileges and offices with a lavish hand. Refusing no one, he was
found to have granted the same place or benefice to three or four rival
suitors; he also granted favours in blank. In consequence, the affairs
of the Curia fell into extreme disorder. Arrived in Naples, he took up
his abode in a single apartment of the Castel Nuovo, and on the
approach of Advent had a little cell built on the model of his beloved
hut in the Abruzzi. But he was ill at ease. Affairs of State took up
time that ought to be devoted to exercises of piety. He feared that his
soul was in danger. The thought of abdication seems to have occurred
simultaneously to the pope and to his discontented cardinals, whom he
rarely consulted.
That the idea originated with Cardinal Gaetani the latter vigorously
denied, and maintained that he originally opposed it. But the serious
canonical doubt arose: Can a pope resign? As he has no superior on
earth, who is authorized to accept his resignation? The solution of the
question was reserved to the trained canonist, Cardinal Gaetani, who,
basing his conclusion on common sense and the Church's right to
self-preservation, decided affirmatively.
It is interesting to notice how curtly, when he became Boniface VIII,
he dispatches the delicate subject on which the validity of his claim
to the papacy depended. In the "Liber Sextus" I, vii, 1, he issued the
following decree: "Whereas some curious persons, arguing on things of
no great expediency, and rashly seeking, against the teaching of the
Apostle, to know more than it is meet to know, have seemed, with little
forethought, to raise an anxious doubt, whether the Roman Pontiff,
especially when he recognizes himself incapable of ruling the Universal
Church and of bearing the burden of the Supreme Pontificate, can
validly renounce the papacy, and its burden and honour: Pope Celestine
V, Our predecessor, whilst still presiding over the government of the
aforesaid Church, wishing to cut off all the matter for hesitation on
the subject, having deliberated with his brethren, the Cardinals of the
Roman Church, of whom We were one, with the concordant counsel and
assent of Us and of them all, by Apostolic authority established and
decreed, that the Roman Pontiff may freely resign. We, therefore, lest
it should happen that in course of time this enactment should fall into
oblivion, and the aforesaid doubt should revive the discussion, have
placed it among other constitutions ad perpetuam rei memoriam by the
advice of our brethren."
When the report spread that Celestine contemplated resigning, the
excitement in Naples was intense. King Charles, whose arbitrary course
had brought things to this crisis, organized a determined opposition. A
huge procession of the clergy and monks surrounded the castle, and with
tears and prayers implored the pope to continue his rule. Celestine,
whose mind was not yet clear on the subject, returned an evasive
answer, whereupon the multitude chanted the Te Deum and withdrew. A
week later (13 December) Celestine's resolution was irrevocably fixed;
summoning the cardinals on that day, he read the constitution mentioned
by Boniface in the "Liber Sextus", announced his resignation, and
proclaimed the cardinals free to proceed to a new election. After the
lapse of the nine days enjoined by the legislation of Gregory X, the
cardinals entered the conclave, and the next day Benedetto Gaetani was
proclaimed Pope as Boniface VIII. After revoking many of the provisions
made by Celestine, Boniface brought his predecessor, now in the dress
of a humble hermit, with him on the road to Rome. He was forced to
retain him in custody, lest an inimical use should be made of the
simple old man. Celestine yearned for his cell in the Abruzzi, managed
to effect his escape at San Germano, and to the great joy of his monks
reappeared among them at Majella. Boniface ordered his arrest; but
Celestine evaded his pursuers for several months by wandering through
the woods and mountains. Finally, he attempted to cross the Adriatic to
Greece; but, driven back by a tempest, and captured at the foot of Mt.
Gargano, he was delivered into the hands of Boniface, who confined him
closely in a narrow room in the tower of the castle of Fumone near
Anagni (Analecta Bollandiana, 1897, XVI, 429-30). Here, after nine
months passed in fasting and prayer, closely watched but attended by
two of his own religious, though rudely treated by the guards, he ended
his extraordinary career in his eighty-first year. That Boniface
treated him harshly, and finally cruelly murdered him, is a calumny.
Some years after his canonization by Clement V in 1313, his remains
were transferred from Ferentino to the church of his order at Aquila,
where they are still the object of great veneration. His feast is
celebrated on 19 May.
|
1304
Blessed Benedict XI, OP Pope he had "a vast store of knowledge, a
prodigious memory, a penetrating
genius, and (that) everything about him endeared him to all." In 1295,
he received the degree of master of theology As papal legate Nicholas
travelled to Hungary to try to settle a civil war there He worked to
reconcile warring parties in Europe and the Church and to
increase spirituality. His reign, short though it was, was noted for
its leniency and kindness Many miracles were performed at his tomb, and
there were several cures even before his burial (RM)
Born in Treviso, Italy, 1240; died in Perugia, Italy, April
25, 1304;
beatified by Pope Clement XII in 1736. Nicholas Boccasini was born into
a poor family of which we know little else, though there are several
different traditions concerning it. One claims that his father was a
poor shepherd. Another that he was an impoverished nobleman. Whichever
he was, he died when Nicholas was very small, and the little boy was
put in the care of an uncle, a priest at Treviso.
The child proved to be very intelligent, so his uncle had
him trained
in Latin and other clerical subjects. When Nicholas was ten, his uncle
got him a position as tutor to some noble children. He followed this
vocation until he was old enough to enter the Dominican community at
Venice in 1254. Here, and in various parts of Italy, Nicholas spent the
next 14 years, completing his education. It is quite probable that he
had Saint Thomas Aquinas for one of his teachers.
Nicholas was pre-eminently a teacher at Venice and Bologna.
He did his
work well according to several sources, including a testimonial from
Saint Antoninus, who said that he had "a vast store of knowledge, a
prodigious memory, a penetrating genius, and (that) everything about
him endeared him to all." In 1295, he received the degree of master of
theology.
The administrative career of Nicholas Boccasini began with
his election
as prior general of Lombardy and then as the ninth master general of
the Order of Preachers in 1296. His work in this office came to the
notice of the pope, who, after Nicholas had completed a delicate piece
of diplomacy in Flanders, appointed him cardinal in 1298.
The Dominicans hurried to
Rome to protest that he should not be given
the dignity of a cardinal, only to receive from the pope the mystifying
prophecy that God had reserved an even heavier burden for Nicholas. As
papal legate Nicholas travelled to Hungary to try to settle a civil war
there.
Boniface VIII did not always agree with the man he had appointed
cardinal-bishop of Ostia and dean of the sacred college. But they
respected one another, and in the tragic affair that was shaping up
with Philip the Fair of France, Cardinal Boccasini was to be one of
only two cardinals who defended the Holy Father, even to the point of
offering his life.
Philip the Fair, like several other monarchs, discovered that his
interests clashed with those of the papacy.
His action was particularly
odious in an age when the papal power had not yet been separated
completely from temporal concerns.
The French monarch, who
bitterly hated Boniface, besieged the pope in
the Castle of Anagni, where he had taken refuge, and demanded that he
resign the papacy. His soldiers even broke into the house and were met
by the pope, dressed in full pontifical vestments and attended by two
cardinals, one of whom was Cardinal Boccasini. For a short time it
looked as though the soldiers, led by Philip's councilor William
Nogaret, might kill all three of them, but they refrained from such a
terrible crime and finally withdrew after Nicholas rallied the papal
forces and rescued Boniface from Anagni.
Cardinal Boccasini set about the difficult task of swinging public
opinion to the favor of the pope. Successful at this, he stood
sorrowfully by when the pontiff died, broken-hearted by his treatment
at the hands of the French soldiers. On October 22, 1303, at the
conclave following the death of Boniface, the prophesied burden fell
upon the shoulders of the cardinal-bishop of Ostia, who took the name
Benedict XI.
The reign of Benedict XI was too short to give him time to work out any
of his excellent plans for settling the troubles of the Church. Most of
his reign was taken up with undoing the damage done by Philip the Fair.
He lifted the interdict on the French people that had been laid down by
his predecessor and made an uneasy peace with Philip.
He worked to reconcile warring
parties
in Europe and the Church and to increase spirituality. His reign, short
though it was, was noted for its leniency and kindness.
There are few personal
anecdotes regarding Benedict, but at least one
worth telling. Once, during his pontificate, his mother came to the
papal court to see him. The court attendants decided that she was too
poorly dressed to appear in the presence of the Holy Father, so they
dressed her up in unaccustomed finery before allowing her to see her
son. Benedict, sensing what had happened, told them he did not
recognize this wealthy woman, and he asked them where was the little
widow, pious and poorly dressed, whom he loved so dearly.
Benedict XI died suddenly in 1304. He had continued to the end with his
religious observances and penances. Some people believed that he had
been poisoned, but there has never been any evidence that this was the
case. Many miracles were performed at his tomb, and there were several
cures even before his burial (Benedictines, Delaney, Dorcy).
In art, Pope Benedict
wears a
Dominican habit and papal tiara, while holding the keys. He is
venerated in Perugia (Roeder).
1304 Blessed
Benedict XI Servites were solemnly approved by Blessed Benedict XI
As always, the hermits prayed for light, and again Our
Lady appeared to
them. On Good Friday, April 13, 1240, their mission was further defined
in what they believed to be a vision of the Blessed Virgin, who they
understood to say, "You will found a new order and you will be my
witnesses throughout the world. This is your name: Servants of Mary.
This is your rule: that of Saint Augustine. And here is your
distinctive sign: The Black scapular, in memory of my sufferings." She
held in her hand the black habit, while an angel bore a scroll
inscribed with the title "Servants of Mary."
From that time they became known
as Servites (or 'the Servants of
Mary') because they meditated especially on the sorrows in the life of
the mother of God.
They were clothed in the habit by their bishop, took
new names in religion, and all except Saint
Alexis, who in his humility
begged to be excused, were ordained as priests. So many joined the
Servites that new groups were set up in neighboring Tuscan cities, such
as Siena, Pistoia, Arezzo, Carfaggio, and Lucca. In 1250, to
commemorate the appearance of the Angel Gabriel to Mary, the seven
founders built the superb church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence,
which is still served by their order.
The Servites were recognized in
1259 by the papal legate Raniero
Cardinal Capocci and solemnly approved by Blessed Benedict XI in 1304.
It has since spread into many parts of the world and
continues to
attract men and women, devoted to the Blessed Virgin. Many of their
houses are dedicated to the education of children and the care of the
poor and sick. The Servites fostered the devotion known as the Seven
Sorrows of Mary, a development of the late medieval devotion to Our
Lady of Pity, which offers a counterpart to the older one of the Seven
Joys of Mary.
|
Pope Bl. Urban V Bl.
Urban V 1362-1370 Guillaume de
Grimoard
Guillaume de Grimoard, born at Grisac in Languedoc, 1310;
died at Avignon, 19 December, 1370. Born of a knightly family, he was
educated at Montpellier and Toulouse, and became a Benedictine monk at
the little priory of Chirac near his home. A Bull of 1363 informs us
that he was professed at the great Abbey of St. Victor at Marseilles,
where he imbibed his characteristic love for the Order of St. Benedict;
even as pope he wore its habit. He was ordained at Chirac, and after a
further course of theology and canon law at the universities of
Toulouse, Montpellier, Paris, and Avignon, he received the doctorate in
1342. He was one of the greatest canonists of his day; was professor of
canon law at Montpellier, and also taught at Toulouse, Paris, and
Avignon; he acted successively as vicar-general of the Dioceses of
Clermont and Uzès, was at an unknown date (before 1342)
affiliated to Cluny, became prior of Notre-Dame du Pré (a priory
dependent on St. Germain d'Auxerre), and in 1352 was named abbot of
that famous house by Clement VI. With this date begins his diplomatic
career. His first mission was to Giovanni Visconti, Archbishop and
despot of Milan, and this he carried out successfully; in 1354 and 1360
he was employed on the affairs of the Holy See in Italy; in 1361 he was
appointed by Innocent VI to the Abbacy of St. Victor at Marseilles, but
in 1362 was once more dispatched to Italy, this time on an embassy to
Joanna of Naples. It was while engaged on this business that the abbot
heard of his election to the papacy. Innocent VI had died on 12 Sept.
The choice of one who was not a cardinal was due to jealousies within
the Sacred College, which made the election of any one of its members
almost impossible. Guillaume de Grimoard was chosen for his virtue and
learning, and for his skill in practical affairs of government and
diplomacy. He arrived at Marseilles on 28 Oct., entered Avignon three
days later, and was consecrated on 6 November, taking the name of Urban
because, as he said, "all the popes who had borne the name had been
saints". The general satisfaction which this election aroused was
voiced by Petrarch, who wrote to the pope, "It is God alone who has
chosen you".
On 20 November King John
of France visited Avignon; his main purpose was to obtain the hand of
Joanna of Naples, ward of the Holy See, for his son Philip, Duke of
Touraine. In a letter of 7 November Urban had already approved her
project of marriage with King James of Majorca, a king without a
kingdom; by so doing the pope safeguarded his own independence at
Avignon, which would have been gravely imperilled had the marriage of
Joanna, who was also Countess of Provence, united to the Crown of
France the country surrounding the little papal principality. The
letter written by Urban to Joanna on 29 Nov., urging the marriage with
Philip, was probably meant rather to appease the French king than to
persuade the recipient. The betrothal of the Queen of Naples to James
of Majorca was signed on 14 Dec. The enormous ransom of 3,000,000 gold
crowns, due to Edward III of England from John of France by the treaty
of Bretigny, was still in great part unpaid, and John now sought
permission to levy a tithe on the revenues of the French clergy. Urban
refused this request as well as another for the nomination of four
cardinals chosen by the king. John also desired to intervene between
the pope and Barnabò Visconti, tyrant of Milan. He was again
refused, and when Barnabò failed to appear within the three
months allowed by his citation, the pope excommunicated him (3 March,
1363). In April of the same year Visconti was defeated before Bologna.
Peace was concluded in March, 1364; Barnabò restored the castles
seized by him, while Urban withdrew the excommunication and undertook
to pay half a million gold florins.
The Benedictine pope was a lover of peace, and much of his
diplomacy was directed to the pacification of Italy and France. Both
countries were overrun by mercenary bands known as the "Free
Companies", and the pope made many efforts to secure their dispersal or
departure. His excommunication was disregarded and the companies
refused to join the distant King of Hungary in his battles with the
Turks although the Emperor Charles IV, who came to Avignon in May,
1365, guaranteed the expenses of their journey and offered them the
revenues of his kingdom of Bohemia for three years. War now broke out
between Pedro the Cruel of Navarre and his brother Henry of Trastamare.
Pedro was excommunicated for his cruelties and persecutions of the
clergy, and Bertrand Duguesclin, the victor of Cocherel, led the
companies into Navarre; yet they visited Avignon on their way and wrung
blackmail from the pope. The Spanish war was quickly ended, and Urban
returned to his fomer plan of employing the companies against the Turk.
The Count of Savoy was to have led them to the assistance of the King
of Cyprus and the Eastern Empire, but this scheme too was a failure.
Urban's efforts were equally fruitless in Italy, where the whole land
was overrun with bands led by such famous condottieri as the German
Count of Landau and the Englishman Sir John Hawkwood. In 1365, after
the failure of a scheme to unite Florence, Pisa, and the Italian
communes against them, the pope commissioned Albornoz to persuade these
companies to join the King of Hungary. In 1366 he solemnly
excommunicated them, forbade their employment, and called on the
emperor and all the powers of Christendom to unite for their
extirpation. All was in vain, for though a league of Italian cities was
formed in September of that year, it was disolved about fifteen months
later owing to Florentine jealousy of the emperor.
1370
Blessed Pope Urban V deeply spiritual Benedictine monk canon lawyer
reformer b.1310
In 1362, the man elected pope declined the office. When the
cardinals
could not find another person among them for that important office,
they turned to a relative stranger: the holy person we honor today.
The new Pope Urban V proved a wise choice.
A Benedictine monk and canon lawyer, he was deeply spiritual
and
brilliant. He lived simply and modestly, which did not always earn him
friends among clergymen who had become used to comfort and privilege.
Still, he pressed for reform and saw to the restoration of churches and
monasteries. Except for a brief period he spent most
of his eight years as pope
living away from Rome at Avignon, seat of the papacy from 1309 until
shortly after his death.
He came close but was not able to achieve one of his biggest
goals—reuniting the Eastern and Western churches.
As pope, Urban continued to follow the Benedictine Rule.
Shortly before
his death in 1370 he asked to be moved from the papal palace to the
nearby home of his brother so he could say goodbye to the ordinary
people he had so often helped.
Blessed Urban V OSB, Pope (RM) Born in Grisac, Languedoc,
France, 1310;
died in Avignon, France, December 19, 1370; cultus confirmed by Pope
Pius IX on March 10, 1870.
William (Guillaume) de Grimoard, later Pope Urban V, was
born in a
chateau and given his name by his godfather Elzear de Sabran. His
mother, Amphelise de Montferrand, remarked: "My son, I don't understand
you! . . . But God does."
William had a most distinguished academic career, both
studying
philosophy, letters and law at Montpellier and Toulouse, and teaching
canon law at four universities: Montpellier, Toulouse, Avignon, and
Paris. The Benedictines pleased him. He entered the Chirac abbey and
followed his vocation, which included ordination as a priest. His
serious smile won all hearts; his diplomas opened doors. He was vicar
general at Clermont and Uzés. Pope Clement VI appointed him
abbot of
St. Germain, Auxerre, in 1352, and nine years later Pope Innocent VI
appointed him abbot of St. Victor, Marseilles, and legate to Queen
Joanna of Naples. He retained such fond memories of St. Victor's that
he asked to be buried there.
Popes Clement VI and Innocent VI used his services as a
diplomat. The
latter sent him all over as papal legate to obtain the submission of
the Italian cities and the little republics that had so clamorously
broken loose and, in the disorder of temporal authority, more and more
contested the authority of the Holy See.
William succeeded, not by
the ruses of diplomats or severity, but by
negotiations and candor. He had no enemies. On September 28, 1362, he
was on a papal mission to Naples when he learned that Innocent VI had
died and that he himself had been elected pope, though he was not a
cardinal. Together with his new name Urban, he took on his new mission
without any pomp for he had a horror of all display. He prayed the way
everyone prayed. He ate and died as the common folk.
He immediately began to reform the Church. Because his
studies had
served him well, he came to the aid of students with all his might,
creating thousands of scholarships, reforming or creating new
universities. He said, "The first sin of Christians is their
ignorance." He restored churches and monasteries that had fallen into
disorder. He made peace with Barnabo Visconti in 1364, though he was
unsuccessful in his attempts to suppress the marauding condottieri in
France and Italy. Through Peter de Lusignan, Urban temporarily occupied
Alexandria in 1365, but his crusade against the Turks did not succeed.
For 50 years the papacy had been based at Avignon but in
1366 Urban
decided to bring back the papacy to Rome. Unfortunately, the French
court and cardinals opposed this move. Once in Rome, he set about
restoring the dilapidated city, tightening clerical discipline, and
reviving religion. The Emperor Charles IV was won over to a new treaty
with the papacy. After Urban crowned Charles' consort German Empress,
Charles agreed to respect the rights of the Church in Germany.
Because the split church seemed to him a permanent injury to
Jesus
Christ, he made advances to the Christians of the East. Even the Greek
emperor, John V Palaeologus, was reconciled to Rome, in an attempt to
heal the deep rift between the Eastern and Western Church. It is sad
that the emperor was unable to win over the hearts of his people to
reconcile with Rome.
But many princes remained hostile. Because he knew how to
live
modestly, Urban demanded the same of his entourage. Because he did not
value money, he made no economies and condemned the clergy who made
profit and business from their positions. If the goodness of Pope Urban
has any defect, it is that he didn't hide it under his hat. He did
everything in all innocence. Though he was pope, he remained a monk and
continued to follow the Benedictine Rule.
The condottieri, led by Barnabo Visconti, were once again
his
implacable enemies. The Perugians rose against him. The leaders of
France threatened the stability of the Church. Sadly, Urban left Rome
on September 5, 1370, and returned to Avignon, despite the prediction
of Saint Bridget that he would die an early death if he left Rome. He
died less than four months later.
On Tuesday Urban had a premonition that he would not finish
his mission
and that he was not the man to reconcile the French and the British. He
made them remove him from the Papal Palace at Avignon to his brother's
house at the foot of the hill. He did not want to die in fine sheets.
He had all the door to the street opened, for many of the people whom
he used to help wanted to say goodbye to him (Benedictines, Bentley,
Delaney, Encyclopedia).
|
1389-1404 Pope Boniface IX; He lacked good theological training and
skill in the conduct of
curial business, but was by nature tactful and prudent. His firm
charater and mild manner did much to restore respect for the papacy in
the countries of his own obedience (Germany, England, Hungary, Poland,
and the greater part of Italy);
In the course of his reign Boniface extinguished the municipal
independence of Rome and established the supremacy of the pope. He
secured the final adhesion of the Romans (1398) by fortifying anew the
Castle of Sant' Angelo, the bridges, and other points of vantage. He
also took over the port of Ostia from its cardinal-bishop. In the Papal
States Boniface gradually regained control of the chief strongholds and
cities, and is the true founder of these States as they appear in the
fifteenth century. Owing to the faithlessness and violence of the
Romans he resided frequently at Perugia, Assisi, and elsewhere. Clement
VII, the Avignon pope, died 16 September, 1394. Boniface had
excommunicated him shortly after his own election, and in turn had been
excommunicated by Clement. In 1392 Boniface attempted, but in vain, to
enter into closer relations with Clement for the re-establishment of
ecclesiastical unity, whereupon Boniface reasserted with vigour his own
legitimacy. Clement was succeeded at Avignon, 28 September, 1394, by
Cardinal Pedro de Luna, as Benedict XIII. Suffice it to say here that
Boniface always claimed to be the true pope, and at all times rejected
the proposal to abdicate even when it was supported by the principal
members of his own obedience, e.g. Richard II of England (1396), the
Diet of Frankfort (1397), and King Wenceslaus of Germany (Reims, 1398);
Contemporary and later
chroniclers praise the political virtues of
Boniface, also the purity of his life, and the grandeur of his spirit.
Elected at Rome, 2 November, 1389, as successor of the
Roman Pope, Urban VI; d. there, 1 October, 1404. Piero (Perino, Pietro)
Tomacelli came of an ancient but impoverished baronial family of
Naples. He lacked good theological training and skill in the conduct of
curial business, but was by nature tactful and prudent. His firm
charater and mild manner did much to restore respect for the papacy in
the countries of his own obedience (Germany, England, Hungary, Poland,
and the greater part of Italy). The Avignon Pope, Clement VII, had just
crowned (1 November, 1389) as King of Naples the French prince, Louis
of Anjou.
Boniface took up the cause of the youthful Ladislaus, heir
of Charles III of Naples and Margaret of Durazzo, had him crowned King
of Naples at Gaeta (29 May, 1390), and for the next decade aided him
efficiently to expel the Angevin forces from Italy. In the course of
his reign Boniface extinguished the municipal independence of Rome and
established the supremacy of the pope. He secured the final adhesion of
the Romans (1398) by fortifying anew the Castle of Sant' Angelo, the
bridges, and other points of vantage. He also took over the port of
Ostia from its cardinal-bishop. In the Papal States Boniface gradually
regained control of the chief strongholds and cities, and is the true
founder of these States as they appear in the fifteenth century. Owing
to the faithlessness and violence of the Romans he resided frequently
at Perugia, Assisi, and elsewhere. Clement VII, the Avignon pope, died
16 September, 1394. Boniface had excommunicated him shortly after his
own election, and in turn had been excommunicated by Clement. In 1392
Boniface attempted, but in vain, to enter into closer relations with
Clement for the re-establishment of ecclesiastical unity, whereupon
Boniface reasserted with vigour his own legitimacy. Clement was
succeeded at Avignon, 28 September, 1394, by Cardinal Pedro de Luna, as
Benedict XIII. Suffice it to say here that Boniface always claimed to
be the true pope, and at all times rejected the proposal to abdicate
even when it was supported by the principal members of his own
obedience, e.g. Richard II of England (1396), the Diet of Frankfort
(1397), and King Wenceslaus of Germany (Reims, 1398).
During the reign of Boniface two jubilees were celebrated at Rome. The
first took place in 1396, in compliance with an ordinance of his
predecessor Urban VI, and was largely frequented from Germany, Hungary,
Poland, Bohemia, and England. Several cities of Germany obtained the
privileges of the jubilee, but the preaching of the indulgences gave
rise to abuses and to impositions on the part of unaccredited agents of
the pope, so that he was obliged to proceed against them with severity.
The jubilee of 1400 drew to Rome great crowds of pilgrims, particularly
from France. In spite of a disastrous plague Boniface remained at his
post. In the latter part of 1399 bands of penitents, known as the
Bianchi, or Albati (White Penitents), arose, especially in Provence and
Italy. They went in procession from city to city, clad in white
garments, with faces hooded, only the eyes being left uncovered, and
wearing on their backs a red cross. For a while their penitential
enthusiasm had some good results. After they had satisfied their
spiritual ardour at Rome, Boniface gradually discountenanced these
wandering crowds, an easy prey of agitators and conspirators, and
finally dissolved them. In England the anti-papal virulence of Wycliff
increased the opposition of both Crown and clergy to the methods of
Boniface in the granting of such English benefices as fell vacant in
the Roman Curia through the death or promotion of the incumbent.
The Parliament confirmed and extended more than once the
statutes of Provisors and Præmunire, of Edward III. Boniface
protested vigorously, particularly in 1391, but in the end found
himself unable to execute his grants without the king's consent and
sanction. "Thus ended", says Lingard (ad. an. 1393), "this long and
angry controversy entirely to the advantage of the Crown."
Nevertheless, at the Synod of London (1396), the English Church
condemned the anti-papal teachings of Wyclif, and in 1398 the
University of Oxford, consulted by Richard II, issued in favour of
Boniface an influential document, while in 1390 and again in 1393 the
spiritual peers upheld the right of the pope to excommunicate even
those who obeyed the statutes of Provisors. In Germany the electors had
deposed at Rhense (20 August, 1400) the unworthy Wenceslaus, King of
the Romans, and had chosen in his place Rupert, Duke of Bavaria and
Rhenish Count Palatine. In 1403 Boniface abandoned his uncertain
attitude towards both, approved the deposition of Wenceslaus as done by
papal authority, and recognized the election of Rupert. In 1398 and
1399 Boniface appealed to Christian Europe in favour of Emperor
Emmanuel, threatened at Constantinople by Sultan Bajazet. St. Bridget
of Sweden was canonized by Boniface, 7 October, 1391. The universities
of Ferrara (1391) and Fermo (1398) owe him their origin, and that of
Erfurt its confirmation (1392). In 1404 Benedict XIII sent the last of
his embassies to Boniface, who received the agents of Benedict 29
September, but the interview ended unfavourably. The pope, highly
irritated, took to his bed with an attack of gravel, and died after an
illness of two days.
Contemporary and later chroniclers praise the political virtues of
Boniface, also the purity of his life, and the grandeur of his spirit.
Some, like Dietrich of Niem, charge him with an inordinate love of
money, dishonest traffic in benefices, the sale of dispensations, etc.
But Dietrich is no impartial writer and is blamed by Reynaldus for
being bitter and unjust (acertus et iniquis). In his gossipy pages one
misses a proper appreciation of the difficulties that surrounded
Boniface—local sources of revenue lost in the long absence of the
papacy from Rome, foreign revenue diminished by the schism,
extraordinary expenses for the restoration of papal Rome and the
reconquest of the Papal States, the constant wars necessitated by
French ambition, the inheritance of the financial methods of Avignon,
and the obligation of conciliating supporters in and out of Italy.
Boniface sought nothing for himself and died poor. He is also charged
with nepotism and he certainly provided generously for his mother,
brothers, and nephews. It may be said, however, that in the
semi-anarchic conditions of the time good government depended upon such
personal support as a temporal ruler could gather and retain, i.e.
could reward, while fidelity was best secured by close domestic ties.
Boniface was the first pope to introduce the form of revenue known as
annates perpetuæ, or reservation of one-half the first year's
fruits of every benefice granted in the Roman Court, this in addition
to other traditional expenses. It must be remembered that at this time
the cardinals claimed a large part of these revenues, so that the Curia
was perhaps more responsible than the pope for new financial methods
destined in the next century to arouse bitter feelings against Rome,
particularly in Germany.
|
1417 - 1431 Pope
Martin V; his journey to Rome,
where he arrived on 28 September, 1420. He at
once set to work, establishing order and restoring the dilapidated
churches, palaces, bridges, and other public structures. For this
reconstruction he engaged some famous masters of the Tuscan school, and
thus laid the foundation for the Roman Renaissance. When practically a
new Rome had risen from the ruins of the old, the pope turned his
attention to the rest of the Papal States, which during the schism had
become an incoherent mass of independent cities and provinces. After
the death of Braccio di Montone in June 1424, Perugia, Assisi, Todi and
Jesi freely submitted to the papal territory. Bologna again revolted in
1428, but returned to the papal allegiance in the following year. In
these activities, Martin V was greatly assisted by his kindred, the
Colonna family, whom he overwhelmed with important civil and
ecclesiastical offices. In his case, however, the charge of nepotism
loses some of its odiousness, for, when, he came to Rome, he was a
landless ruler and could look for support to no one except his
relatives.
(Oddone Colonna)
Born at Genazzano in the
Campagna di Roma, 1368; died at Rome, 20 Feb., 1431.
He studied at the University of Perugia, became prothonotary
Apostolic under Urban VI, papal auditor and nuncio at various Italian
courts under Boniface IX, and was administrator of the Diocese of
Palestrina from 15 December 1401, to 1405, and from 18 to 23 September,
1412. On 12 June, 1402 he was made Cardinal Deacon of San Giorgio in
Velabro. He deserted the lawful pope, Gregory XII, was present at the
council of Pisa, and took part in the election of the antipopes
Alexander V and John XXIII. At the Council of Constance he was, after a
conclave of three days, unanimously elected pope on on 11 November,
1417 by the representatives of the five nations (Germany, France,
Italy, Spain and England) and took the name Martin V in honor of the
saint of Tours whose feast fell on the day of his election. Being then
only subdeacon, he was ordained deacon on 12, and priest on 13, and was
consecrated bishop on 14 November. On 21 November he was crowned pope
in the great court of the episcopal palace of Constance. (Concerning
his further activity at the council see COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE.)
The influential family of the Colonnas had already given twenty-seven
cardinals to the church, but Martin V was the first to ascend the papal
throne. He was in the full vigor of life being only forty-one. Of
simple and unassuming manners and stainless character, he possessed a
great knowledge of canon law, was pledged to no party, and had numerous
other good qualities. He seemed the right man to rule the Church which
had passed through the most critical period in its history — the so
called Western Schism. The antipopes, John XXIII and Benedict XIII were
still recalcitrant. The former, however, submitted to Martin at
Florence on 23 June, 1419, and was made Dean of the Sacred College and
Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati. The latter remained stubborn to the end,
but had little following. His successor Clement VIII submitted to
Martin V in 1429, while another successor to Benedict XIII, who had
been elected by only one cardinal and styled himself Benedict XIV, was
excommunicated by Martin V, and thereafter had only a few supporters
(see WESTERN SCHISM).
On 22 April, 1418 Martin V dissolved the council but
remained in Constance, concluding separate concordats with Germany
(Mansi, "Sacrorun Conc. Nova et ampl. Coll" XXVII, 1189-93), France
(ibid.,1184-9) England (ibid., 1193-5), Spain (Colección
completa de concordatos españoles", Madrid, 1862, 9 sq.). A
separate concordat was probably made also with Italy, though some
believe it identical with the concordat with Spain. King Sigismund of
Germany used every effort to induce Martin V to reside in a German city
while France begged him to come to Avignon, but, rejecting all offers
he set out for Rome on 16 May, 1418.
The sad state of Rome, however, made it impossible at that time to
re-establish the papal throne there. The city was wellnigh in ruins,
famine and sickness had decimated its inhabitants, and the few people
that still lived there were on the verge of starvation. Martin V
therefore, proceeded slowly on his way thither, stopping for some time
at Berne, Geneva, Mantua and Florence. While sojourning in the two
last-named cities, he gained the support of Queen Joanna of Naples, who
was in possession of Rome and Naples, by consenting to recognize her as
Queen of Naples, and to permit her coronation by Cardinal Legate
Morosini on 28 October, 1419. She ordered her general Sforza Attendolo,
to evacuate Rome on 6 March, 1419 and granted important fiefs in her
kingdom to the pope's two brothers, Giordano and Lorenzo. With the help
of the Florentines, Martin also came to an understanding with the
famous condottiere Bracco di Montone, who had gained mastery over half
of central Italy. The pope allowed him to retain Perugia, Assisi, Todi
and Jesi as vicar of the church, whereupon Bracci restored all his
other conquests, and in July 1420, compelled Bologna to submit to the
pope.
Martin was now able to continue on his journey to Rome, where he
arrived on 28 September, 1420. He at once set to work, establishing
order and restoring the dilapidated churches, palaces, bridges, and
other public structures. For this reconstruction he engaged some famous
masters of the Tuscan school, and thus laid the foundation for the
Roman Renaissance. When practically a new Rome had risen from the ruins
of the old, the pope turned his attention to the rest of the Papal
States, which during the schism had become an incoherent mass of
independent cities and provinces. After the death of Braccio di Montone
in June 1424, Perugia, Assisi, Todi and Jesi freely submitted to the
papal territory. Bologna again revolted in 1428, but returned to the
papal allegiance in the following year. In these activities, Martin V
was greatly assisted by his kindred, the Colonna family, whom he
overwhelmed with important civil and ecclesiastical offices. In his
case, however, the charge of nepotism loses some of its odiousness,
for, when, he came to Rome, he was a landless ruler and could look for
support to no one except his relatives.
The tendency which some of the cardinals had manifested at the Council
of Constance to substitute constitutional for monarchial government in
the Church and to make the pope subject to a General Council, was
firmly and successfully opposed by Martin V. The council had decided
that a new council should be convened every five years. Accordingly,
Martin convened a council, which opened at Pavia in April 1423, but had
to be transferred to Siena in June in consequence of the plague. He
used the small attendance and the disagreement of the cardinals as a
pretext to dissolve it again on 26 February, 1424, but agreed to summon
a new council in Basel within seven years. He died, however, before
this convened, though he had previously appointed Cardinal Giuliano
Cesarini as president of the council with powers to transfer and, if
necessary suspend it.
Though Martin V allowed adjustment of the temporal affairs of the
Church to draw his attention from the more important duty of reforming
the papal court and the clergy, still the sorry condition of Rome and
of the Papal States at his accession palliate this neglect. He did not
entirely overlook the inner reform of the Church; especially during the
early part of his pontificate, he made some attempts at reforming the
clergy at St. Peter's and abolishing the most crying abuses of the
Curia. In a Bull issued on 16, March 1425, he made some excellent
provisions for a thorough reform but the Bull apparently remained a
dead letter. (This Bull is printed in Döllinger, "Beiträge
sur politischen kirchlichen and Kulturgeschichte der sechs lletxten
Jahrhunderte",II, Raisbon,1863, pp335-44.) He also opposed the secular
encroachments upon the rights of the Church in France by issuing a
Constitution (13 April 142), which greatly limited the Gallican
liberties in that part of France which was subject to King Henry VI of
England, and by entering a new concordat with King Charles VII of
France in August, 1426 (see Valois,"Concordats antérieurs a
celui de François I, Pontificat de Martin V" in "Revue des
questions historiques", LXXVII, Paris, 1905, pp.376-427). Against the
Hussites in Bohemia he ordered a crusade, and negotiated with
Constantinople in behalf of a reunion of the Greek with the Latin
Church. His bulls, diplomas, letters, etc. are printed in Mansai,
"Sacrorum Conc. Et amp., Coll.," XXVII-XXVIII.
|
1455 - 1458 Pope
Callistus III Alfonso de Borja (Italian Borgia) remarkable for
his mortified life, his firmness of purpose, and prudence in face of
serious difficulties; proclaimed innocence of the Maid of
Orléans; chiefly concerned with the organization of
Christian Europe against the invasion of the Turks.
Callistus III must ever be regarded as a man of lofty ideals, of
boundless courage, energy, and perseverance. He realized the dangers
which then confronted Europe, and made every effort to unite its
Christian princes for the defence of their own countries; if he failed,
the blame must fall not on the pope, but on those who refused to
hearken to his counsels.
Born near
Valencia in Spain, 31 December, 1378; died at Rome, 6 August, 1458.
Alfonso de Borja (Italian Borgia), as he was known before he became
pope, came of a noble family, and having finished his studies espoused
the cause of the antipope Benedict XIII, and received from the latter
the title of canon. When Alfonso V of Aragon resolved to withdraw from
the Schism and place himself and his kingdom under the jurisdiction of
Martin V, Alfonso Borgia acted the part of mediator with Benedict's
successor, Clement VIII, and induced the latter to submit to the lawful
pope. Martin V appointed Borgia Bishop of Valencia (1429), and in 1444
Eugene IV made him cardinal. In both offices he was remarkable for his
mortified life, his firmness of purpose, and his prudence in face of
serious difficulties. Already popular opinion had marked him as a
candidate for the papacy.
On the 25th of
March, 1455, Nicholas V died, and Alfonso Borgia was elected (8 April)
and assumed the name of Callistus III. As pope he was chiefly concerned
with the organization of Christian Europe against the invasion of the
Turks. Constantinople had been captured by Mohammed II (1453), and
though Pope Nicholas V had made every effort nothing had been done to
stay the victorious march of the forces of Islam. Already, as cardinal,
Callistus had manifested a special interest in this work, and on his
election he set himself to carry out the programme which he had already
planned. Nuncios were dispatched to all the countries of Europe to
beseech the princes to forget for a time their national jealousies and
to join once more in a final effort to check the danger of a Turkish
invasion. Missionaries were sent to England, France, Germany, Hungary,
Portugal, and Aragon to preach the Crusade, to secure volunteers for
active service in the wars, to collect the taxes necessary for the
support of those in the field, and to engage the prayers of the
faithful for the success of the enterprise. It was by order of
Callistus III that the bells were rung at midday to remind the faithful
that they should pray for the welfare of the crusaders.
But the princes of Europe
were slow in responding to the call of the pope.
In Germany, Frederick III, through hatred of Ladislaus of
Hungary, was unwilling to join a movement from which Hungary was
certain to derive an immediate advantage, while the bishops and
electors were opposed to the collection of the papal tax imposed in
favour of the crusaders.
England and France were at war and refused to allow their forces to be
weakened by participation in the plans of Callistus III. Genoa did
organize a fleet and dispatch it against the Turks, but only to lay
herself open to attack by Aragon, while Portugal, disheartened by lack
of success, withdrew the fleet that it had already dispatched.
Fortunately
for Europe, the efforts of the pope were not entirely in vain. The
crusading forces led by Hunyady, and inspired by the zeal and courage
of the papal legate Carvajal and St. John Capistran, met the Turks at
Belgrade (22 July, 1456) and inflicted upon them one of the worst
defeats they underwent during their long conflict with Christian
Europe. The pope had longed for such a success in the hope that it
might encourage the princes of Europe to respond to his call for
assistance. The news of the victory was duly announced to the courts by
special messengers of the pope, but warm congratulations were the only
reply. Unfortunately, too, shortly after his victory over Mohammed II
at Belgrade, Hunyady himself died of a fever, and it seemed as if no
Christian general could be found equal to the task of saving Europe.
In the next year of this
pontificate renewed efforts were made to enlist the co-operation of
Germany.
The pope endeavoured to
make peace between Frederick III and Ladislaus of Hungary, but during
the negotiations Ladislaus died (1457), after a reign of seven years,
and his death was the occasion of renewed disputes between the three
great representatives of the House of Hapsburg, Frederick III, Albrecht
VI, and Sigismund of Tyrol.
In Albania alone
was found a leader, Scanderbeg, who had steadily resisted the invasion
of the Turks, and against whom all the powers of Mohammed were
unavailing. Callistus III summoned (1457) another assembly of the
princes of Europe to devise measures against the inroads of Mohammed.
But again his efforts were unavailing. In France, the Dauphin was in
favour of the proposals of Callistus, but the king refused to join in
the enterprise, and the clergy were so discontented with the levy of
the crusading tax that in many provinces they refused to pay, and
appealed to a general council. Similar sentiments of distrust and
resentment were felt by the clergy and the prince-electors of the
German Empire. England, on account of the war against the allied
powers, France and Scotland, was unwilling to embark in any new
expedition.
The war
between Aragon and Genoa continued, while, as usual, Venice was more
anxious to promote her own commerce than to take part in the
destruction of the Turkish fleet. In Bohemia disputes raged about the
succession to the throne, and even when an assembly of the nobles
declared in favour of George Von Podiebrad, he was too much concerned
in trying to reconcile his Catholic and Utraquist subjects, and to
secure an understanding with Frederick III, to permit himself to join
in the Crusade.
Hungary, too, was
distracted by the disputes between the rival claimants to the throne.
William of Saxony and Casimir of Poland, in the names of their wives,
put forward pretensions, but found little or no support from the people
of Hungary. A national assembly held at Pesth chose as king Matthias
Hunyady, a son of the conqueror of Belgrade, but the rival parties
refused to submit to this choice. At last (1459) they proceeded to the
election of Frederick III.
The result of so many disputes was that the countries most
closely affected by the Turkish danger were unable to do anything, and
though the younger Hunyady was anxious to follow in the footsteps of
his father, and to join in the imperial plans for a general crusade, he
was too much occupied with provisions against internal disorder and the
pretensions of Frederick III to be able to lend any real assistance.
Scanderbeg
was still in the field, but with the small forces at his command he
could at most hope to defend his country, Albania, against attack. The
pope was involved in new disputes after the death of Alfonso V of
Aragon. According to the arrangements made, the latter's brother was to
succeed him in Aragon and Sicily, while his son Ferdinand, previously
recognized as legitimate by Callistus III, was to have Naples. But the
pope refused to acknowledge Ferdinand's claim to Naples and, as feudal
lord of the territory, asserted for himself the power of disposing of
it as he wished. This dispute prevented him from continuing the work of
organizing the Crusade and alienated from the cause the powerful family
of Aragon.
Moreover, it
injured the reputation of Callistus III, as it gave more colour to the
charges of nepotism which were even then freely levelled against him.
He had already raised to the cardinalate two of his nephews, one of whom, the
youthful Rodrigo, was later to become Pope Alexander VI; he
bestowed upon a third the governorship of the Castle of Sant' Angelo
and the title of Duke of Spoleto. Many asserted that his opposition to
Ferdinand of Aragon was due to his desire of securing Naples for the
worthless Duke of Spoleto. In this way the early part of 1458 was
spent, and during the last few months of his life even Callistus
himself had begun to clearly realize that the work to which he had
devoted his pontificate had proved a failure, and that on other
shoulders must devolve the task of driving back the Turk.
His reign is
also remarkable for the revision of the trial of Joan of Arc, which was
carried out by direction of the pope, and according to which the
sentence of the first court was quashed, and the innocence of the Maid
of Orléans proclaimed. He also had the honour of placing the
name of Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury, on the list of canonized saints.
The energies of Callistus were too much directed towards the campaign
against the Turks to permit him to devote so much attention to the
literary revival of the time as did some of his predecessors,
especially Nicholas V, and this neglect of the Humanists made some of
them his enemies; yet he seems to have spent a considerable sum of
money in securing some valuable additions to the treasures of the
Vatican.
Callistus III
must ever be regarded as a man of lofty ideals, of boundless courage,
energy, and perseverance. He realized the dangers which then confronted
Europe, and made every effort to unite its Christian princes for the
defence of their own countries; if he failed, the blame must fall not
on the pope, but on those who refused to hearken to his counsels. It is
unfortunate that a character, otherwise straightforward and unsullied,
should have been damaged by contemporary charges of nepotism and
avarice. He left, at his death, a rather remarkable sum of money. His
letters are to be found in Raynaldus, "Annales Eccl." from 1455 to
1458; see also Harduin, "Concilia", IX, 1375-78, D'Achéry,
"Spicilegium", III (Paris ed. 796-804), and "Magn. Bullar. Rom."
(Lyons, 1692), I, 279-82.
|
1481 Sixtus
IV The tomb of stands apart
as
the most beautiful work in the collection. Made for Pope Sixtus IV
della Rovere (1471-1481) by Florentine sculptor Antonio Pollaiuolo,
this 14- by 7-foot floor tomb in bronze is one of the most ambitious
burial projects in the history of art.
The bronze effigy of the Pope rests on a raised bier flanked by
allegorical personifications of the virtues. The platform in turn, lies
atop a supported decorated with the liberal arts, the first time they
were showed in a funerary monument.
The recently restored monument occupies a whole room with a balcony so
visitors can climb up and view the astonishing tomb from above. It
becomes easy to see how the nephew of Sixtus, Pope Julius II, could
dream of the grand tomb planned by Michelang elo, three stories high
and covered with 40 sculptures, but never completed.
|
 1523-1534 Clement VII (GIULIO DE’ MEDICI). Giulio, in the
words of a modern historian, was "learned, clever, respectable and
industrious, though he had little enterprise and less decision";
Born 1478; died 25 September, 1534. Giulio de' Medici was
born a few months after the death of his father, Giuliano, who was
slain at Florence in the disturbances which followed the Pazzi
conspiracy. Although his parents had not been properly married, they
had, it was alleged, been betrothed per sponsalia de presenti, and
Giulio, in virtue of a well-known principle of canon law, was
subsequently declared legitimate.
The youth was educated by his uncle,
Lorenzo the Magnificent. He was made a Knight of Rhodes and Grand Prior
of Capua, and, upon the election of his cousin Giovanni de' Medici to
the papacy as Leo X, he at once became a person of great consequence.
On 28 September, 1513, he was made cardinal, and he had the credit of
being the prime mover of the papal policy during the whole of Leo's
pontificate. He was one of the most favoured candidates in the
protracted conclave which resulted in the election of Adrian VI;
neither did the Cardinal de' Medici, in spite of his close connection
with the luxurious regime of Leo X, altogether lose influence under his
austere successor. Giulio, in the words of a modern historian, was
"learned, clever, respectable and industrious, though he had little
enterprise and less decision" (Armstrong, Charles V, I, 166). After
Adrian's death (14 September, 1523) the Cardinal de' Medici was
eventually chosen pope, 18 November, 1523, and his election was hailed
at Rome with enthusiastic rejoicing. But the temper of the Roman people
was only one element in the complex problem which Clement VII had to
face. The whole political and religious situation was one of extreme
delicacy, and it may be doubted if there was one man in ten thousand
who would have succeeded by natural tact and human prudence in guiding
the Bark of Peter through such tempestuous waters. Clement was
certainly not such a man. He had unfortunately been brought up in all
the bad traditions of Italian diplomacy, and over and above this a
certain fatal irresolution of character seemed to impel him, when any
decision had been arrived at, to hark back upon the course agreed on
and to try to make terms with the other side.
The early years of his
pontificate were occupied with the negotiations which culminated in the
League of Cognac. When Clement was crowned, Francis I and the Emperor
Charles V were at war. Charles had supported Clement's candidature and
hoped much from his friendship with the Medici, but barely a year had
elapsed after his election before the new pope concluded a secret
treaty with France. The pitched battle which was fought between Francis
and the imperial commanders at Pavia in February, 1525, ending in the
defeat and captivity of the French king, put into Charles' hands the
means of avenging himself. Still he used his victory with moderation.
The terms of the Treaty of Madrid (14 January, 1526) were not really
extravagant, but Francis seems to have signed with the deliberate
intention of breaking his promises, though confirmed by the most solemn
of oaths. That Clement, instead of accepting Charles' overtures, should
have made himself a party to the French king's perfidy and should have
organized a league with France, Venice, and Florence, signed at Cognac,
22 May, 1526, must certainly have been regarded by the emperor as
almost unpardonable provocation. No doubt Clement was moved by genuine
patriotism in his distrust of imperial influence in Italy and
especially by anxiety for his native Florence. Moreover, he chafed
under dictation which seemed to him to threaten the freedom of the
Church. But though he probably feared that the bonds might be drawn
tighter, it is hard to see that he had at that time any serious ground
of complaint. We cannot be much surprised at what followed. Charles'
envoys, obtaining no satisfaction from the pope, allied themselves with
the disaffected Colonna who had been raiding the papal territory. These
last peretended reconciliation until the papal commanders were lulled
into a sense of security. Then the Colonna made a sudden attack upon
Rome and shut up Clement in the Castle of Sant’ Angelo while their
followers plundered the Vatican (20 September, 1526). Charles disavowed
the action of the Colonna but took advantage of the situation created
by their success. A period of vacillation followed. At one time Clement
concluded a truce with the emperor, at another he turned again
despairingly to the League, at another, under the encouragement of a
slight success, he broke off negotiations with the imperial
representatives and resumed active hostilities, and then again, still
later, he signed a truce with Charles for eight months, promising the
immediate payment of an indemnity of 60,000 ducats.
In the mean time the
German mercenaries in the north of Italy were fast being reduced to the
last extremities for lack of provisions and pay. On hearing of the
indemnity of 60,000 ducats they threatened mutiny, and the imperial
commissioners extracted from the pope the payment of 100,000 ducats
instead of the sum first agreed upon. But the sacrifice was
ineffectual. It seems probable that the Landsknechte, a very large
proportion of whom were Lutherans, had really got completely out of
hand, and that they practically forced the Constable Bourbon, now in
supreme command, to lead them against Rome. On the 5th of May they
reached the walls, which, owing to the pope's confidence in the truce
he had concluded, were almost undefended. Clement had barely time to
take refuge in the Castle of Sant’ Angelo, and for eight days the "Sack
of Rome" continued amid horrors almost unexampled in the history of
war. "The Lutherans", says an impartial authority, "rejoiced to burn
and to defile what all the world had adored. Churches were desecrated,
women, even the religious, violated, ambassadors pillaged, cardinals
put to ransom, ecclesiastical dignitaries and ceremonies made a
mockery, and the soldiers fought among themselves for the spoil"
(Leathes in "Camb. Mod. History", II, 55). It seems probable that
Charles V was really not implicated in the horrors which then took
place. Still he had no objection against the pope bearing the full
consequences of his shifty diplomacy, and he allowed him to remain a
virtual prisoner in the Castle of Sant’ Angelo for more than seven
months. Clement's pliability had already given offence to the other
members of the League, and his appeals were not responded to very
warmly. Besides this, he was sorely in need of the imperial support
both to make head against the Lutherans in Germany and to reinstate the
Medici in the government of Florence from which they had been driven
out. The combined effect of these various considerations and of the
failure of the French attempts upon Naples was to throw Clement into
the emperor's arms. After a sojourn in Orvieto and Viterbo, Clement
returned to Rome, and there, before the end of July, 1529, terms
favourable to the Holy See were definitely arranged with Charles. The
seal was set upon the compact by the meeting of the emperor and the
pope at Bologna, where, on 24 February, 1530, Charles was solemnly
crowned. By whatever motives the pontiff was swayed, this settlement
certainly had the effect of restoring to Italy a much-needed peace.
Meanwhile events, the
momentous consequence of which were not then fully foreseen, had been
taking place in England. Henry VIII, tired of Queen Catherine, by whom
he had no heir to the throne, but only one surviving daughter, Mary,
and passionately enamoured of Anne Boleyn, had made known to Wolsey in
May, 1527, that he wished to be divorced. He pretended that his
conscience was uneasy at the marriage contracted under papal
dispensation with his brother's widow. As his first act was to solicit
from the Holy See contingently upon the granting of the divorce, a
dispensation from the impediment of affinity in the first degree (an
impediment which stood between him and any legal marriage with Anne on
account of his previous carnal intercourse with Anne's sister Mary),
the scruple of conscience cannot have been very sincere. Moreover, as
Queen Catherine solemnly swore that the marriage between herself and
Henry's elder brother Arthur had never been consummated, there had
consequently never been any real affinity between her and Henry but
only the impedimentum publicæ honestatis. The king's impatience,
however, was such that, without giving his full confidence to Wolsey,
he sent his envoy, Knight, at once to Rome to treat with the pope about
getting the marriage annulled. Knight found the pope a prisoner in
Sant’ Angelo and could do little until he visited Clement, after his
escape, at Orvieto. Clement was anxious to gratify Henry, and he did
not make much difficulty about the contingent dispensation from
affinity, judging, no doubt, that, as it would only take effect when
the marriage with Catherine was concelled, it was of no practical
consequence. On being pressed, however, to issue a commission to Wolsey
to try the divorce case, he made a more determined stand, and Cardinal
Pucci, to whom was submitted a draft instrument for the purpose,
declared that such a document would reflect discredit upon all
concerned. A second mission to Rome organized by Wolsey, and consisting
of Gardiner and Foxe, was at first not much more successful. A
commission was indeed granted and taken back to England by Foxe, but it
was safeguarded in ways which rendered it practically innocuous. The
bullying attitude which Gardiner adopted towards the pope seems to have
passed all limits of decency, but Wolsey, fearful of losing the royal
favour, egged him on to new exertions and implored him to obtain at any
cost a "decretal commission". This was an instrument which decided the
points of law beforehand, secure from appeal, and left only the issue
of fact to be determined in England. Against this Clement seems
honestly to have striven, but he at last yielded so far as to issue a
secret commission to Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio jointly to
try the case in England. The commission was to be shown to no one, and
was never to leave Compeggio's hands. We do not know its exact terms;
but if it followed the drafts prepared in England for the purpose, it
pronounced that the Bull of dispensation granted by Julius for the
marriage of Henry with his deceased brother's wife must be declared
obreptitious and consequently void, if the commissioners found that the
motives alleged by Julius were insufficient and contrary to the facts.
For example, it had been pretended that the dispensation was necessary
to cement the friendship between England and Spain, also that the young
Henry himself desired the marriage, etc.
Camapeggio reached England
by the end of September, 1528, but the proceedings of the legatine
court were at once brought to a standstill by the production of a
second dispensation granted by Pope Julius in the form of a Brief. This
had a double importance. Clement's commission empowered Wolsey and
Campeggio to pronounce upon the sufficiency of the motives alleged in a
certain specified document, viz., the Bull; but the Brief was not
contemplated by, and lay outside, their commission. Moreover, the Brief
did not limit the motives for granting the dispensation to certain
specified allegations, but spoke of "aliis causis animam nostram
moventibus". The production of the Brief, now commonly admitted to be
quite authentic, though the king's party declared it a forgery,
arrested the proceedings of the commission for eight months, and in the
end, under pressure from Charles V, to whom his Aunt Catherine had
vehemently appealed for support as well as to the pope, the cause was
revoked to Rome. There can be no doubt that Clement showed much
weakness in the concessions he had made to the English demands; but it
must also be remembered, first, that in the decision of this point of
law, the technical grounds for treating the dispensation as
obreptitious were in themselves serious and, secondly, that in
committing the honour of the Holy See to Campeggio's keeping, Clement
had known that he had to do with a man of exceptionally high principle.
How far the pope was
influenced by Charles V in his resistance, it is difficult to say; but
it is clear that his own sense of justice disposed him entirely in
favour of Queen Catherine. Henry in consequence shifted his ground, and
showed how deep was the rift which separated him from the Holy See, by
now urging that a marriage with a deceased husband's brother lay beyond
the papal powers of dispensation. Clement retaliated by pronouncing
censure against those who threatened to have the king's divorce suit
decided by an English tribunal, and forbade Henry to proceed to a new
marriage before a decision was given in Rome.
The king on his side (1531) extorted a vast sum of money from
the English clergy upon the pretext that the penalties of
præmunire had been incurred by them through their recognition of
the papal legate, and soon afterwards he prevailed upon Parliament to
prohibit under certain conditions the payment of annates to Rome. Other
developments followed. The death of Archbishop Warham (22 August, 1532)
allowed Henry to press for the institution of Cranmer as Archbishop of
Canterbury, and through the intervention of the King of France this was
conceded, the pallium being granted to him by Clement. Almost
immediately after his consecration Cranmer proceeded to pronounce
judgment upon the divorce, while Henry had previously contracted a
secret marriage with Anne Boleyn, which marriage Cranmer, in May, 1533,
declared to be valid. Anne Boleyn was consequently crowned on June the
1st. Meanwhile the Commons had forbidden all appeals to Rome and
exacted the penalties of præmunire against all who introduced
papal Bulls into England. It was only then that Clement at last took
the step of launching a sentence of excommunication against the king,
declaring at the same time Cranmer's pretended decree of divorce to be
invalid and the marriage with Anne Boleyn null and void. The papal
nuncio was withdrawn from England and diplomatic relations with Rome
broken off. Henry appealed from the pope to a general council, and in
January, 1534, the Parliament pressed on further legislation abolishing
all ecclesiastical dependence on Rome. But it was only in March, 1534,
that the papal tribunal finally pronounced its verdict upon the
original issue raised by the king and declared the marriage between
Henry and Catherine to be unquestionably valid. Clement has been much
blamed for this delay and for his various concessions in the matter of
the divorce; indeed he has been accused of losing England to the
Catholic Faith on account of the encouragement thus given to Henry, but
it is extremely doubtful whether a firmer attitude would have had a
more beneficial result. The king was determined to effect his purpose,
and Clement had sufficient principle not to yield the one vital point
upon which all turned.
With regard to Germany, though Clement never broke away from
his friendship with Charles V, which was cemented by the coronation at
Bologna in 1530, he never lent to the emperor that cordial co-operation
which could alone have coped with a situation the extreme difficulty
and danger of which Clement probably never understood. In particular,
the pope seems to have had a horror of the idea of convoking a general
council, foreseeing, no doubt, grave difficulties with France in any
such attempt. Things were not improved when Henry, through his envoy
Bonner, who found Clement visiting the French king at Marseilles,
lodged his appeal to a future general council on the divorce question.
In the more ecclesiastical
aspects of his pontificate Clement was free from reproach. Two
Franciscan reforms, that of the Capuchins and that of the Recollects,
found in him a sufficiently sympathetic patron. He was genuinely in
earnest over the crusade against the Turks, and he gave much
encouragement to foreign missions. As a patron of art, he was much
hampered by the sack of Rome and the other disastrous events of his
pontificate. But he was keenly interested in such matters, and
according to Benvenuto Cellini he had excellent taste. By the
commission given to the last-named artist for the famous cope-clasp of
which we hear so much in the autobiography, he became the founder of
Benvenuto's fortunes. (See CELLINI, BENVENUTO.) Clement also continued
to be the patron of Raphael and of Michelangelo, whose great fresco of
the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel was undertaken by his orders.
In their verdict upon the character of Pope Clement VII
almost all historians are agreed. He was an Italian prince, a de’
Medici, and a diplomat first, and a spiritual ruler afterwards. His
intelligence was of a high order, though his diplomacy was feeble and
irresolute. On the other hand, his private life was free from reproach,
and he had many excellent impulses, but despite good intention, all
qualities of heroism and greatness must emphatically be denied him.
|
 1534 1549 Pope
Paul III; v contemporaries praise
his proficiency in all the learning of the
Renaissance, especially in his mastery of classical Latin and Italian; He wore the purple for over forty years,
passing through the several gradations, until he became Dean of the
Sacred College. In
accordance with the abuses of his time, he accumulated a number
of opulent benefices, and spent his immense revenue with a generosity
which won for him the praises of artists and the affection of the Roman
populace. His native ability and diplomatic skill, acquired by long
experience, made him tower above his colleagues in the Sacred College,
even as his Palazzo Farnese excelled in magnificence all the other
palaces of Rome. That he continued to grow in favour under pontiffs so
different in character as the Borgia, Rovera, and Medici popes is a
sufficient proof of his tact.
(ALESSANDRO FARNESE).
Born at Rome or Canino, 29 Feb., 1468; elected, 12 Oct., 1534; died at
Rome, 10 Nov., 1549. The Farnese were an ancient Roman family whose
possessions clustered about the Lake at Bolsena. Although counted among
the Roman aristocrats, they first appear in history associated with
Viterbo and Orvieto. Among the witnesses to the Treaty of Venice
between Barbarossa and the pope, we find the signature of a Farnese as
Rector of Orvieto; a Farnese bishop consecrated the cathedral there.
During the interminable feuds which distracted the peninsula, the
Farnese were consistently Guelph. The grandfather of the future pontiff
was commander-in-chief of the papal troops under Eugenius IV; his
oldest son perished in the battle of Fornuovo; the second, Pier Luigi,
married Giovannella Gaetani, sister to the Lord of Sermoneta. Among
their children were the beautiful Giulia, who married an Orsini, and
Alessandro, later Paul III. Alessandro received the best education that
his age could offer; first at Rome, where he had Pomponio Leto for a
tutor; later at Florence in the palace of Lorenzo the Magnificent,
where he formed his friendship with the future Leo X, six years his
junior. His contemporaries praise his proficiency in all the learning
of the Renaissance, especially in his mastery of classical Latin and
Italian. With such advantages of birth and talent, his advancement in
the ecclesiastical career was assured and rapid.
On 20 Sept., 1493 (Eubel), he was created by
Alexander VI cardinal-deacon with the title SS. Cosmas and Damian. He
wore the purple for over forty years, passing through the several
gradations, until he became Dean of the Sacred College. In accordance
with the abuses of his time, he accumulated a number of opulent
benefices, and spent his immense revenue with a generosity which won
for him the praises of artists and the affection of the Roman populace.
His native ability and diplomatic skill, acquired by long experience,
made him tower above his colleagues in the Sacred College, even as his
Palazzo Farnese excelled in magnificence all the other palaces of Rome.
That he continued to grow in favour under pontiffs so different in
character as the Borgia, Rovera, and Medici popes is a sufficient proof
of his tact.
He had already on two previous occasions, come within measurable
distance of the tiara, when the conclave of 1534, almost without the
formality of a ballot, proclaimed him successor to Clement VII. It was
creditable to his reputation and to the good will of the cardinals,
that the factions which divided the Sacred College were concordant in
electing him. He was universally recognized as the man of the hour, and
the piety and zeal, which had characterized him after he was ordained
priest, caused men to overlook the extravagance of his earlier years.
The Roman people rejoiced at the election to the tiara of the first
citizen of their city since Martin V.
Paul III was crowned 3 Nov., and lost no time in setting about the most
needed reforms. No one, who has once studied his portrait by Titian, is
likely to forget the wonderful expression of countenance of that
worn-out, emaciated form. Those piercing little eyes, and that peculiar
attitude of one ready to bound or to shrink, tell the story of a
veteran diplomat who was not to be deceived or taken off guard. His
extreme caution, and the difficulty of binding him down to a defininte
obligation, drew from Pasquino the facetious remark that the third Paul
was a "Vas dilationis." The elevation to the cardinalate of his
grandsons, Alessandro Farnese, aged fourteen, and Guido Ascanio Sforza,
aged sixteen, displeased the reform party and drew a protest from the
emperor, but this was forgiven, when shortly after, he introduced into
the Sacred College men of the calibre of Reginald Pole, Contanini,
Sadoleto, and Caraffa.
Soon after his elevation, 2 June, 1536, Paul III summoned a general
council to meet at Mantua in the following May; but the opposition of
the Protestant princes and the refusal of the Duke of Mantua to assume
the responsibility of maintaining order frustrated the project. He
issued a new bull, convoking a council at Vicenza, 1 May, 1538; the
chief obstacle was the renewed enmity of Charles V and Francis I. The
aged pontiff induced them to hold a conference with him at Nizza and
conclude a ten years' truce. As a token of good will, a granddaughter
of Paul was married to a French prince, and the emperor gave his
daughter, Margaret, to Ottavio, the son of Pier Luigi, founder of the
Farnese dynasty of Parma.
Many causes contributed to delay the opening of the general council.
The extension of power which a re-united Germany would place in the
hands of Charles was so intolerable to Francis I, that he, who
persecuted heresy in his own realm with such cruelty that the pope
appealed to him to mitigate his violence, became the sworn ally of the
Smalcaldic League, encouraging them to reject all overtures to
reconciliation. Charles himself was in no slight measure to blame, for,
notwithstanding his desire for the assembling of a council, he was led
into the belief that the religious differences of Germany might be
settled by conferences between the two parties. These conferences, like
all such attempts to settle differences outside of the normal court of
the Church, led to a waste of time, and did far more harm than good.
Charles had a false idea of the office of a general council. In his
desire to unite all parties, he sought for vague formulæ to which
all could subscribe, a relapse into the mistakes of the Byzantine
emperors. A council of the Church, on the other hand, must formulate
the Faith with such precision that no heretic can subscribe to it. It
took some years to convince the emperor and his mediating advisors that
Catholicism and Protestantism are as opposite as light and darkness.
Meanwhile Paul III set about the reform of the papal court with a
vigour which paved the way for the disciplinary canons of Trent. He
appointed commissions to report abuses of every kind; he reformed the
Apostolic Camera, the tribunal of the Rota, the Penitentiaria, and the
Chancery. He enhanced the prestige of the papacy by doing single-handed
what his predecessors had reserved to the action of a council. In the
constantly recurring quarrels between Francis and Charles, Paul III
preserved a strict neutrality, notwithstanding that Charles urged him
to support the empire and subject Francis to the censures of the
Church. Paul's attitude as a patriotic Italian would have been
sufficient to prevent him from allowing the emperor to be sole arbiter
of Italy. It was as much for the purpose of securing the integrity of
the papal dominions, as for the exaltation of his family, that Paul
extorted from Charles and his reluctant cardinals the erection of
Piacenza and Parma into a duchy for his son, Pier Luigi. A feud arose
with Gonzaga, the imperial Governor of Milan, which ended later in the
assassination of Pier Luigi and the permanent alienation of Piacenza
from the Papal States.
When the Treaty of Crespi (18 Sept., 1544) ended the disastrous wars
between Charles and Francis, Paul energetically took up the project of
convening a general council. Meanwhile it developed that the emperor
had formed a programme of his own, quite at variance in some important
points with the pope's. Since the Protestants repudiated a council
presided over by the Roman pontiff, Charles was resolved to reduce the
princes to obedience by force of arms. To this Paul did not object, and
promised to aid him with three hundred thousand ducats and twenty
thousand infantry; but he wisely added the proviso, that Charles should
enter into no separate treaties with the heretics and make no agreement
prejudicial to the Faith or to the rights of the Holy See. Charles now
contended that the council should be prorogued, until victory had
decided in favour of the Catholics. Furthermore, foreseeing that the
struggle with the preachers of heresy would be more stubborn than the
conflict with the princes, he urged the pontiff to avoid making dogmas
of faith for the present and confine the labours of the council to the
enforcement of discipline. To neither of these proposals could the pope
agree. Finally, after endless difficulties (13 Dec., 1545) the Council
of Trent held its first session. In seven sessions, the last 3 March,
1547, the Fathers intrepidly faced the most important questions of
faith and discipline. Without listening to the threats and
expostulations of the imperial party, they formulated for all time the
Catholic doctrine on the Scriptures, original sin, justification, and
the Sacraments. The work of the council was half ended, when the
outbreak of the plague in Trent caused an adjournment to Bologna. Pope
Paul was not the instigator of the removal of the council; he simply
acquiesced in the decision of the Fathers. Fifteen prelates, devoted to
the emperor, refused to leave Trent. Charles demanded the return of the
council to German territory, but the deliberations of the council
continued in Bologna, until finally, 21 April, the pope, in order to
avert a schism, prorogued the council indefinitely. The wisdom of the
council's energetic action, in establishing thus early the fundamental
truths of the Catholic creed, became soon evident, when the emperor and
his semi-Protestant advisers inflicted upon Germany their Interim
religion, which was despised by both parties. Pope Paul, who had given
the emperor essential aid in the Smalcaldic war, resented his dabbling
in theology, and their estrangement continued until the death of the
pontiff.
Paul's end came rather suddenly. After the assassination of Pier Luigi,
he had struggled to retain Piacenza and Parma for the Church and had
deprived Ottavio, Pier Luigi's son and Charles's son-in-law, of these
duchies. Ottavio, relying on the emperor's benevolence, refused
obedience; it broke the old man's heart, when he learned that his
favourite grandson, Cardinal Farnese, was a party to the transaction.
He fell into a violent fever and died at the Quirinal, at the age of
eighty-two. He lies buried in St. Peter's in the tomb designed by
Michelangelo and erected by Guglielmo della Porta. Not all the popes
repose in monuments corresponding to their importance in the history of
the Church; but few will be disposed to contest the right of Farnese to
rest directly under Peter's chair. He had his faults; but they injured
no one but himself. The fifteen years of his pontificate saw the
complete restoration of Catholic faith and piety. He was succeeded by
many saintly pontiffs, but not one of them possessed all his commanding
virtues. In Rome his name is written all over the city he renovated.
The Pauline chapel, Michelangelo's work in the Sistine, the streets of
Rome, which he straightened and broadened, the numerous objects of art
associated with the name of Farnese, all speak eloquently of the
remarkable personality of the pontiff who turned the tide in favour of
religion. If to this we add the favour accorded by Paul to the new
religious orders then appearing, the Capuchins, Barnabites, Theatines,
Jesuits, Ursulines, and many others, we are forced to confess that his
reign was one of the most fruitful in the annals of the Church.
|
1566-1572 Pope St. Pius V
(MICHELE GHISLERI).
Pope Pius V made this Missal
mandatory throughout the Latin
rite of the
Catholic Church, except where a Mass liturgy dating from before 1370
was in use . He worked incessantly to unite the Christian princes
against the
hereditary enemy, the Turks. In the first year of his pontificate he
had ordered a solemn jubilee, exhorting the faithful to penance and
almsgiving to obtain the victory from God. He supported the Knights of
Malta, sent money for the fortification of the free towns of Italy,
furnished monthly contributions to the Christians of Hungary, and
endeavoured especially to bring Maximilian, Philip II, and Charles I
together for the defence of Christendom.
Born at Bosco, near
Alexandria,
Lombardy, 17 Jan., 1504 elected 7 Jan., 1566; died 1 May, 1572. Being
of a poor though noble family his lot would have been to follow a
trade, but he was taken in by the Dominicans of Voghera, where he
received a good education and was trained in the way of solid and
austere piety. He entered the order, was ordained in 1528, and taught
theology and philosophy for sixteen years. In the meantime he was
master of novices and was on several occasions elected prior of
different houses of his order in which he strove to develop the
practice of the monastic virtues and spread the spirit of the holy
founder. He himself was an example to all. He fasted, did penance,
passed long hours of the night in meditation and prayer, traveled on
foot without a cloak in deep silence, or only speaking to his
companions of the things of God. In 1556 he was made Bishop of Sutri by
Paul IV. His zeal against heresy caused him to be selected as
inquisitor of the faith in Milan and Lombardy, and in 1557 Paul II made
him a cardinal and named him inquisitor general for all Christendom. In
1559 he was transferred to Mondovì, where he restored the purity
of faith and discipline, gravely impaired by the wars of Piedmont.
Frequently called to Rome, he displayed his unflinching zeal in all the
affairs on which he was consulted. Thus he offered an insurmountable
opposition to Pius IV when the latter wished to admit Ferdinand de'
Medici, then only thirteen years old, into the Sacred College. Again it
was he who defeated the project of Maximilian II, Emperor of Germany,
to abolish ecclesiastical celibacy. On the death of Pius IV, he was,
despite his tears and entreaties, elected pope, to the great joy of the
whole Church.
He began his pontificate by giving large alms to the poor,
instead of
distributing his bounty at haphazard like his predecessors. As pontiff
he practiced the virtues he had displayed as a monk and a bishop. His
piety was not diminished, and, in spite of the heavy labours and
anxieties of his office, he made at least two meditations a day on
bended knees in presence of the Blessed Sacrament. In his charity he
visited the hospitals, and sat by the bedside of the sick, consoling
them and preparing them to die. He washed the feet of the poor, and
embraced the lepers. It is related that an English nobleman was
converted on seeing him kiss the feet of a beggar covered with ulcers.
He was very austere and banished luxury from his court, raised the
standard of morality, laboured with his intimate friend, St. Charles
Borromeo, to reform the clergy, obliged his bishops to reside in their
dioceses, and the cardinals to lead lives of simplicity and piety. He
diminished public scandals by relegating prostitutes to distant
quarters, and he forbade bull fights. He enforced the observance of the
discipline of the Council of Trent, reformed the Cistercians, and
supported the missions of the New World. In the Bull "In Coena Domini"
he proclaimed the traditional principles of the Roman Church and the
supremacy of the Holy See over the civil power.
But the great thought and
the
constant preoccupation of his pontificate seems to have been the
struggle against the Protestants and the Turks. In Germany he supported
the Catholics oppressed by the heretical princes. In France he
encouraged the League by his counsels and with pecuniary aid. In the
Low Countries he supported Spain. In England, finally, he
excommunicated Elizabeth, embraced the cause of Mary Stuart, and wrote
to console her in prison. In the ardour of his faith he did not
hesitate to display severity against the dissidents when necessary, and
to give a new impulse to the activity of the Inquisition, for which he
has been blamed by certain historians who have exaggerated his conduct.
Despite all representations on his behalf he condemned the writings of
Baius, who ended by submitting.
He worked incessantly to unite the Christian princes against
the
hereditary enemy, the Turks. In the first year of his pontificate he
had ordered a solemn jubilee, exhorting the faithful to penance and
almsgiving to obtain the victory from God. He supported the Knights of
Malta, sent money for the fortification of the free towns of Italy,
furnished monthly contributions to the Christians of Hungary, and
endeavoured especially to bring Maximilian, Philip II, and Charles I
together for the defence of Christendom. In 1567 for the same purpose
he collected from all convents one-tenth of their revenues. In 1570
when Solyman II attacked Cyprus, threatening all Christianity in the
West, he never rested till he united the forces of Venice, Spain, and
the Holy See. He sent his blessing to Don John of Austria, the
commander-in-chief of the expedition, recommending him to leave behind
all soldiers of evil life, and promising him the victory if he did so.
He ordered public prayers, and increased his own supplications to
heaven. On the day of the Battle of Lepanto, 7 Oct., 1571, he was
working with the cardinals, when, suddenly, interrupting his work
opening the window and looking at the sky, he cried out, "A truce to
business; our great task at present is to thank God for the victory
which He has just given the Christian army". He burst into tears when
he heard of the victory, which dealt the Turkish power a blow from
which it never recovered. In memory of this triumph he instituted for
the first Sunday of October the feast of the Rosary, and added to the
Litany of Loreto the supplication "Help of Christians". He was hoping
to put an end to the power of Islam by forming a general alliance of
the Italian cities Poland, France, and all Christian Europe, and had
begun negotiations for this purpose when he died of gravel, repeating
"O Lord, increase my sufferings and my patience!" He left the memory of
a rare virtue and an unfailing and inflexible integrity. He was
beatified by Clement X in 1672, and canonized by Clement XI in 1712.
|
1572-1585 Pope Gregory
XIII; No other act of Gregory
has gained for him a more lasting
fame than reform of the Julian calendar completed introduced 1578.
Closely connected with
the reform of the calendar is the emendation of the Roman martyrology
ordered by Gregory 1580. In a brief, dated 14 January, 1584,
Gregory XIII ordered
that the new martyrology should supersede all others. Another great
literary achievement of Gregory XIII is an official Roman edition of
the Corpus juris canonici. Shortly after the conclusion of the Council
of Trent, Pius IV appointed a committee to bring out a
critical edition of the Decree of Gratian; increased
to 35 (correctores Romani) by Pius V 1566. Gregory
XIII a member from the beginning; finally
completed in 1582. In the Briefs "Cum pro munere", dated 1 July, 1580,
and "Emendationem", dated 2 June, 1582, Gregory ordered that
henceforth only the emended official text was to be used and that in
the future no other text should be printed. Perhaps one of the happiest events during
his pontificate was his
arrival at Rome of four Japanese ambassadors on 22 March, 1585. They
had been sent by the converted kings of Bungo, Arima, and Omura, in
Japan, to thank the pope for the fatherly care he had shown their
country by sending them Jesuit missionaries who had taught them the
religion of Christ.
(UGO BUONCOMPAGNI).
Born at Bologna, 7 Jan., 1502; died at Rome, 10 April, 1585. He studied
jurisprudence at the University of Bologna, from which he was graduated
at an early age as doctor of canon and of civil law. Later, he taught
jurisprudence at the same university, and had among his pupils the
famous future cardinals, Alessandro Farnese, Cristoforo Madruzzi, Otto
Truchsess von Waldburg, Reginald Pole, Carlo Borromeo, and Stanislaus
Hosius. In 1539 he came to Rome at the request of Cardinal Parizzio,
and Paul III appointed him judge of the Capitol, papal abbreviator, and
referendary of both signatures. In 1545 the same pope sent him to the
Council of Trent as one of his jurists. On his return to Rome he held
various offices in the Roman Curia under Julius III (1550-1555), who
also appointed him prolegate of the Campagna in 1555. Under Paul IV
(1555-1559) he accompanied Cardinal Alfonso Caraffa on a papal mission
to Philip II in Flanders, and upon his return was appointed Bishop of
Viesti in 1558. Up to this time he had not been ordained a priest. In
1559 the newly-elected pope, Pius IV, sent him as his confidential
deputy to the Council of Trent, where he remained till its conclusion
in 1563. Shortly after his return to Rome, the same pope created him
Cardinal Priest of San Sisto in 1564, and sent him as legate to Spain
to investigate the case of Archbishop Bartolomé Carranza of
Toledo, who had been suspected of heresy and imprisoned by the
Inquisition. While in Spain he was appointed secretary of papal Briefs,
and after the election of Pius V, 7 Jan., 1566, he returned to Rome to
enter upon his new office. After the death of Pius V on 1 May, 1572,
Ugo Buoncompagni was elected pope on 13 May, 1572, chiefly through the
influence of Cardinal Antoine* Granvella, and took the name of Gregory
XIII. At his election to the papal throne he had already completed his
seventieth year, but was still strong and full of energy.
His youth was not stainless. While still at Bologna, a son, named
Giacomo, was born to him of an unmarried woman. Even after entering the
clerical state he was worldly-minded and fond of display. But from the
time he became pope he followed in the footsteps of his holy
predecessor, and was thoroughly imbued with the consciousness of the
great responsibility connected with his exalted position. His election
was greeted with joy by the Roman people, as well as by the foreign
rulers. Emperor Maximilian II, the kings of France, Spain, Portugal,
Hungary, Poland, the Italian and other princes sent their
representatives to Rome to tender their obedience to the newly-elected
pontiff. At the first consistory he ordered the Constitution of Pius V,
which forbade the alienation of church property, to be read publicly,
and pledged himself to carry into execution the decrees of the Council
of Trent. He at once appointed a committee of cardinals, consisting of
Borromeo, Paleotti, Aldobrandini, and Arezzo, with instructions to find
out and abolish all ecclesiastical abuses; decided that the cardinals
who were at the head of dioceses were not exempt from the Tridentine
decree of episcopal residence; designated a committee of cardinals to
complete the Index of Forbidden Books, and appointed one day in each
week for a public audience during which everyone had access to him. In
order that only the most worthy persons might be vested with
ecclesiastical dignities, he kept a list of commendable men in and out
of Rome, on which he noted their virtues and faults that came to his
notice. The same care he exercised in the appointment of cardinals.
Thirty-four cardinals were appointed during his pontificate, and in
their appointment he always had the had the welfare of the Church in
view. He cannot be charged with nepotism. Two of his nephews, Filippo
Buoncompagni and Filippo Vastavillano, he created cardinals because he
considered them worthy of the dignity; but when a third one aspired
after the purple, he did not even grant him an audience. His son
Giacomo he appointed castellan of St. Angelo and gonfalonier of the
Church, but refused him every higher dignity, although Venice enrolled
him among its nobili and the King of Spain appointed him general of his
army.
Like his holy predecessor, Gregory XIII spared no efforts to further an
expedition against the Turks. With this purpose in view he sent special
legates to Spain, France, Germany, Poland, and other countries, but the
discord of the Christian princes among themselves, the peace concluded
by the Venetians with the Turks, and the treaty effected by Spain with
the Sultan, frustrated all his exertions in this direction.
For stemming the tide of Protestantism, which already had wrested
entire nations from the bosom of the Church, Gregory XIII knew of no
better means than a thorough training of the candidates for holy
priesthood in Catholic philosophy and theology. He founded numerous
colleges and seminaries at Rome and other suitable places and put most
of them under the direction of the Jesuits. At least twenty-three such
institutions of learning owe their existence or survival to the
munificence of Gregory XIII. The first of these institutions that
enjoyed the pope's liberality was the German College at Rome, which for
lack of funds was in danger of being abandoned. In a Bull dated 6
August, 1573, he ordered that no less than one hundred students at a
time from Germany and its northern borderland should be educated in the
German College, and that it should have an annual income of 10,000
ducats, to be paid, as far as necessary, out of the papal treasury. In
1574 he gave the church and the palace of Sant' Apollinare to the
institution, and in 1580 united the Hungarian college with it. The
following Roman colleges were founded by Gregory XIII: the Greek
college on 13 Jan., 1577; the college for neophytes, i.e. converted
Jews and infidels, in 1577; the English college on 1 May, 1579; the
Maronite college on 27 June, 1584. For the international Jesuit college
(Collegium Romanum) he built in 1582 the large edifice known as the
Collegio Romano which was occupied by the faculty and students of the
Collegium Romanum (Gregorian University) until the Piedmontese
Government declared it national property and expelled the Jesuits in
1870. Outside of Rome the following colleges were either founded or
liberally endowed by Gregory XIII: the English college at Douai, the
Scotch college at Pont-à-Mousson, the papal seminaries at Graz,
Vienna, Olmutz, Prague, Colosvar, Fulda, Augsburg, Dillingen,
Braunsberg, Milan, Loreto, Fribourg in Switzerland, and three schools
in Japan. In these schools numerous missionaries were trained for the
various countries where Protestantism had been made the state religion
and for the missions among the pagans in China, India, and Japan. Thus
Gregory XIII at least partly restored the old faith in England and the
northern countries of Europe, supplied the Catholics in those countries
with their necessary priests, and introduced Christianity into the
pagan countries of Eastern Asia. Perhaps one of the happiest events
during his pontificate was his arrival at Rome of four Japanese
ambassadors on 22 March, 1585. They had been sent by the converted
kings of Bungo, Arima, and Omura, in Japan, to thank the pope for the
fatherly care he had shown their country by sending them Jesuit
missionaries who had taught them the religion of Christ.
In order to safeguard the Catholic religion in Germany, he instituted a
special Congregation of Cardinals for German affairs, the so-called
Congregatio Germanica, which lasted from 1573-1578. To remain informed
of the Catholic situation in that country and keep in closer contact
with its rulers, he erected resident nunciatures at Vienna in 1581 and
at Cologne in 1582. By his Bull "Provisionis nostrae" of 29 Jan., 1579,
he confirmed the acts of his predecessor Pius V, condemning the errors
of Baius, and at the same time he commissioned the Jesuit, Francis of
Toledo, to demand the abjuration of Baius. In the religious orders
Gregory XIII recognized a great power for the conversion of pagans, the
repression of heresy and the maintenance of the Catholic religion. He
was especially friendly towards the Jesuits, whose rapid spread during
the pontificate was greatly due to his encouragement and financial
assistance. Neither did he neglect the other orders. He approved the
Congregation of the Oratory in 1574, the Barnabites in 1579, and the
Discaleed Carmalites in 1580. The Premonstratensians he honoured by
canonizing their founder, St. Norbert, in 1582.
Gregory XIII spared no efforts to restore the Catholic Faith in the
countries that had become Protestant. In 1574 he sent the Polish Jesuit
Warsiewicz to John III of Sweden in order to convert him to
Catholicity. Being then unsuccessful, he sent another Jesuit, the
Norwegian Lawrence Nielssen in 1576, who succeeded in converting the
king on 6 May, 1578. The king, however, soon turned Protestant again
from political motives. In 1581, Gregory XIII dispatched the Jesuit
Antonio Possevino as nuncio to Russia, to mediate between Tsar Ivan IV
and King Bathory of Poland. He not only brought about an amicable
settlement between the two rulers, but also obtained for the Catholics
of Russia the right to practice their religion openly. Gregory's
efforts to procure religious liberty for the Catholics of England were
without avail. The world knows of the atrocities committed by Queen
Elizabeth on many Catholic missionaries and laymen. No blame,
therefore, attaches to Gregory XIII for trying to depose the queen by
force of arms. As early as 1578 he sent Thomas Stukeley with a ship and
an army of 800 men to Ireland, but the treacherous Stukeley joined his
forces with those of King Sebastian of Portugal against Emperor
Abdulmelek of Morocco. Another papal expedition which sailed to Ireland
in 1579 under the command of James Fitzmaurice, accompanied by Nicholas
Sanders as papal nuncio, was equally unsuccessful. Gregory XIII had
nothing whatever to do with the plot of Henry, Duke of Guise, and his
brother, Charles, Duke of Mayenne, to assassinate the queen, and most
probably knew nothing whatever about it (see Bellesheim, "Wilhelm
Cardinal Allen", Mainz, 1885, p. 144).
Some historians have severely criticized Gregory XIII for ordering that
the horrible massacre of the Huguenots on St. Bartholomew's Day in 1572
be celebrated in Rome by a "Te Deum" and other marks of rejoicing. In
defence of Gregory XIII it must be stated that he had nothing whatever
to do with the massacre itself, and that he as well as Salviati, his
nuncio in Paris, were kept in ignorance concerning the intended
slaughter. The pope indeed participated in the Roman festivities, but
he was probably not acquainted with the circumstances of the Parisian
horrors and, like other European rulers, had been informed that the
Huguenots had been detected in a conspiracy to kill the king and the
whole royal family, and had been thus punished for their treacherous
designs. But even if Gregory XIII was aware of all the circumstances of
the massacre (which has never been proven), it must be borne in mind
that he did not rejoice at the bloodshed, but at the suppression of a
political and religious rebellion. That Gregory XIII did not approve of
the massacre, but detested the cruel act and shed tears when he was
apprised of it, is expressly stated even by the apostate Gregario Leti
in his "Vita di Sisto V" (Cologne, 1706), I, 431-4, anad by Beautome, a
contemporary of Gregory XIII, in his "Vie de M. l'Amiral de Chastillon"
(Complete works, The Hague, 1740, VIII, 196). The medal which Gregory
XIII had struck in memory of the event bears his effigy on the obverse,
which ion the reverse under the legend Vgonotiorum Strages (overthrow
of the Huguenots) stands an angel with cross and drawn sword, killing
the Huguenots.
No other act of Gregory XIII has gained for him a more lasting fame
than his reform of the Julian calendar which was completed and
introduced into most Catholic countries in 1578. Closely connected with
the reform of the calendar is the emendation of the Roman martyrology
which was ordered by Gregory XIII in the autumn of 1580. The emendation
was to consist chiefly in the restoration of the original text of
Usuard's martyrology, which was in common use at the time of Gregory
XIII. He entrusted the learned Cardinal Sirleto with the difficult
undertaking. The cardinal formed a committee, consisting of ten
members, who assisted him in the work. The first edition of the new
martyrology, which came out in 1582, was full of typographical errors;
likewise the second edition of 1583. Both editions were suppressed by
Gregory XIII, and in January, 1584, appeared a third and better edition
under the title of "Martyrologium Romanum Gregorii XIII jussu editum"
(Rome, 1583). In a brief, dated 14 January, 1584, Gregory XIII ordered
that the new martyrology should supersede all others. Another great
literary achievement of Gregory XIII is an official Roman edition of
the Corpus juris canonici. Shortly after the conclusion of the Council
of Trent, Pius IV had appointed a committee which was to bring out a
critical edition of the Decree of Gratian. The committee was increased
to thirty-five members (correctores Romani) by Pius V in 1566. Gregory
XIII had been a member of it from the beginning. The work was finally
completed in 1582. In the Briefs "Cum pro munere", dated 1 July, 1580,
and "Emendationem", dated 2 June, 1582, Gregory XIII ordered that
henceforth only the emended official text was to be used and that in
the future no other text should be printed.
It has already been mentioned that Gregory XIII spent large sums for
the erection of colleges and seminaries. No expense appeared too high
to him, if only it was made for the benefit of the Catholic religion.
For the education of poor candidates for the priesthood he spent two
million sendi during his pontificate, and for the good of Catholicity
he sent large sums of money to Malta, Austria, England, France, Spain,
and the Netherlands. In Rome he built the magnificent Gregorian chapel
in the church of St. Peter, and the Quirinal palace in 1580; a
capacious granary in the Thermae of Diocletian in 1575, and fountains
at the Piazza Navona, the Piazza del Pantheon, and the Piazza del
Popolo. In recognition of his many improvements in Rome the senate and
the people erected a statue in his honour on the Capitoline Hill, when
he was still living.
The large sums of money spent in this manner necessarily reduced the
papal treasury. Acting on the advice of Bonfigliuoto, the secretary of
the Camera, he confiscated various baronial estates and castles,
because some forgotten feudal liabilities to the papal treasury had not
been paid, or because their present owners were not the rightful heirs.
The barons were in continual fear lest some of their property would be
wrested from them in this way. The result was that the aristocracy
hated the papal government, and incited the peasantry to do the same.
The papal influence over the aristocracy being thus weakened, the
barons of the Romagna made war against each other, and a period of
bloodshed ensued which Gregory XIII was helpless to prevent. Moreover,
the imposition of port charges at Aneona and the levy of import taxes
on Venetian goods by the papal government, crippled commerce to a
considerable extent. The banditti who infested the Campagna were
protected by the barons and the peasantry and became daily more bold.
They were headed by young men of noble families, such as Alfonso
Piccolomim, Roberto Malatesta, and others. Rome itself was filled with
these outlaws, and the papal officers were always and everywhere in
danger of life. Gregory was helpless against these lawless bands. Their
suppression was finally effected by his rigorous successor, Sixtus V.
|
1592-1605 Pope
Clement VIII St. Philip Neri,
for thirty years was his confessor; To him we owe the institution of the Forty
Hours' Devotion. He
founded at Rome the Collegio Clementino for the education of the sons
of the richer classes, and augmented the number of national colleges in
Rome by opening the Collegio Scozzese for the training of missionaries
to Scotland. The "Bullarium Romanum" contains many important
constitutions of Clement, notably one denouncing duelling and one
providing for the inviolability of the States of the Church. He issued
revised editions of the Vulgate (1598), the Breviary, the Missal, also
the "Cæremoniale", and the "Pontificale". His remains repose in Santa Maria Maggiore,
where the Borghesi,
who succeed the Aldobrandini in the female line, erected a gorgeous
monument to his memory.
(IPPOLITO ALDOBRANDINI).
Born at Fano, March, 1536, of a distinguished Florentine family; died
at Rome, 5 March, 1605. He was elected pope 30 January, 1592, after a
stormy conclave graphically described by Ranke (Geschichte der
römischen Päpste, 9th ed., II, 150 sqq.). In his youth he
made excellent progress in jurisprudence under the direction of his
father, an able jurist. Through the stages of consistorial advocate,
auditor of the Rota and the Datary, he was advanced in 1585 to the
dignity of Cardinal-Priest of the Title of St. Pancratius and was made
grand penitentiary. He won the friendship of the Hapsburgs by his
successful efforts, during a legation to Poland, to obtain the release
of the imprisoned Archduke Maximilian, the defeated claimant to the
Polish throne. During the conclave of 1592 he was the unwilling
candidate of the compact minority of cardinals who were determined to
deliver the Holy See from the prepotency of Philip II of Spain. His
election was greeted with boundless enthusiasm by the Italians and by
all who knew his character.
He possessed all qualifications needed in the Vicar
of Christ. Blameless in morals from childhood, he had at an early
period placed himself under the direction of St. Philip Neri, who for
thirty years was his confessor. Upon Clement's elevation to the papacy,
the aged saint gave over this important office to Baronius, whom the
pope, notwithstanding his reluctance, created a cardinal, and to whom
he made his confession every evening. The fervour with which he said
his daily Mass filled all present with devotion. His long association
with the Apostle of Rome caused him to imbibe the saint's spirit so
thoroughly, that in him St. Philip himself might be said to have
ascended the papal chair. Though vast political problems clamoured for
solution, the pope first turned his attention to the more important
spiritual interests of the Church. He made a personal visitation of all
the churches and educational and charitable institutions of Rome,
everywhere eliminating abuses and enforcing discipline. To him we owe
the institution of the Forty Hours' Devotion. He founded at Rome the
Collegio Clementino for the education of the sons of the richer
classes, and augmented the number of national colleges in Rome by
opening the Collegio Scozzese for the training of missionaries to
Scotland. The "Bullarium Romanum" contains many important constitutions
of Clement, notably one denouncing duelling and one providing for the
inviolability of the States of the Church. He issued revised editions
of the Vulgate (1598), the Breviary, the Missal, also the
"Cæremoniale", and the "Pontificale".
The complicated situation in France presented no insuperable
difficulties to two consummate statesmen like Henry of Navarre and
Clement VIII. It was clear to Henry that, notwithstanding his
victories, he could not peacefully retain the French Crown without
adopting the Catholic Faith. He abjured Calvinism 25 July, 1593. It was
equally clear to Pope Clement that it was his duty to brave the selfish
hostility of Spain by acknowledging the legitimate claims of Henry, as
soon as he convinced himself that the latter's conversion was something
more than a political manoeuvre. In the autumn of 1595 he solemnly
absolved Henry IV, thus putting an end to the thirty years' religious
war in France and winning a powerful ally in his struggle to achieve
the independence of Italy and of the Holy See. Henry's friendship was
of essential importance to the pope two years later, when Alfonso II,
Duke of Ferrara, died childless (27 Oct., 1597), and Pope Clement
resolved to bring the stronghold of the Este dynasty under the
immediate jurisdiction of the Church. Though Spain and the empire
encouraged Alfonso's illegitimate cousin, Cesare d'Este, to withstand
the pope, they were deterred from giving him aid by Henry's threats,
and the papal army entered Ferrara almost unopposed. In 1598 Pope
Clement won still more credit for the papacy by bringing about a
definite treaty of peace between Spain and France in the Treaty of
Vervins and between France and Savoy. He also lent valuable assistance
in men and money to the emperor in his contest with the Turks in
Hungary. He was as merciless as Sixtus V in crushing out brigandage and
in punishing the lawlessness of the Roman nobility. He did not even
spare the youthful patricide Beatrice Cenci, over whom so many tears
have been shed. (Bertolotti, Francesco Cenci e la sua famiglia,
Florence, 1879.) On 17 Feb., 1600, the apostate Giordano Bruno was
burned at the stake on the Piazza dei Fiori. The jubilee of 1600 was a
brilliant witness to the glories of the renovated papacy, three million
pilgrims visiting the holy places. In 1595 was held the Synod of Brest,
in Lithuania, by which a great part of the Ruthenian clergy and people
were reunited to Rome (Likowski, Union zu Brest, 1094). Although
Clement, in spite of constant fasting, was tortured with gout in feet
and hands, his capacity for work was unlimited, and his powerful
intellect grasped all the needs of the Church throughout the world. He
entered personally into the minutest detail of every subject which came
before him, e.g., in the divorce between Henry IV and Margaret of
Valois, yet more in the great controversy on grace between the Jesuits
and the Dominicans (see BAÑEZ, MOLINA). He was present at all
the sessions of the Congregatio de auxiliis (q.v.), but wisely
refrained from issuing a final decree on the question. Clement VIII
died in his seventieth years after a pontificate of thirteen years. His
remains repose in Santa Maria Maggiore, where the Borghesi, who succeed
the Aldobrandini in the female line, erected a gorgeous monument to his
memory.
|
 1605
Pope Leo XI; an intimate friend
of St. Philip Neri with whom he spent much
time in spiritual conversation and whose advice he sought in all
important matters. When Alessandro was Tuscan ambassador at the court
of Pius V Philip predicted his election to the papacy. He had such an aversion for nepotism that he
firmly refused the
request. When his confessor urged him to grant it, he dismissed him and
sent for another confessor to prepare him for death.
(ALESSANDRO OTTAVIANO DE' MEDICI).
Born at Florence in 1535; died at Rome 27 April, 1605, on the
twenty-seventh day after his election to the papacy. His mother,
Francesca Salviati, was a daughter of Giacomo Salviati and Lucrezia
Medici, the latter being a sister of Leo X. From his boyhood he led a
life of piety and always had an earnest desire to enter the
ecclesiastical state, but could not obtain his mother's consent. After
her death he was ordained priest and somewhat later Grand Duke Cosimo
of Tuscany sent him as ambassador to Pius V, a position which he held
for fifteen years. Gregory XIII made him Bishop of Pistoia in 1573,
Archbishop of Florence in 1574, and cardinal in 1583. Clement VIII sent
him, in 1596, as legate to France where he did good service for the
Church in repressing the Huguenot influence at the court of Henry IV,
and helping to restore the Catholic religion. On his return to Italy he
was appointed prefect of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars. In
1600 he became Bishop of the suburbicarian Diocese of Albano, whence he
was transferred to Palestrina in 1602. Alessandro was an intimate
friend of St. Philip Neri with whom he spent much time in spiritual
conversation and whose advice he sought in all important matters. When
Alessandro was Tuscan ambassador at the court of Pius V Philip
predicted his election to the papacy.
On 14 March, 1605, eleven days after the death of Clement VIII,
sixty-two cardinals entered the conclave. Prominent among the
candidates for the papacy were the great historian Baronius and the
famous Jesuit controversialist Bellarmine. But Aldobrandini, the leader
of the Italian party among the cardinals, made common cause with the
French party and brought about the election of Alessandro against the
express wish of King Philip III of Spain. King Henry IV of France, who
had learned to esteem Alessandro when papal legate at his court, and
whose wife, Maria de' Medici was related to Alessandro, is said to have
spent 300,000 écus in the promotion of Alessandro's candidacy.
On 1 April, 1605, Alessandro ascended the papal throne as Leo XI, being
then seventy years of age. He took sick immediately after his
coronation. During his sickness he was importuned by many members of
the Curia and by a few ambassadors from foreign courts to confer the
cardinalate on one of his grandnephews, whom he had himself educated
and whom he loved dearly, but he had such an aversion for nepotism that
he firmly refused the request. When his confessor urged him to grant
it, he dismissed him and sent for another confessor to prepare him for
death.
|
1605-1621 Pope Paul
V; a canonist of marked
ability; watched vigilantly
over the interests of the Church in every nation. Paul V was no more free from nepotism than
the other pontiffs of
that century. But if he seemed to show too many favours to his
relatives, it must be said that they were capable men of blameless
lives, and devoted their large revenues to the embellishment of Rome.
Paul had the honour of putting the finishing touches to St. Peter's,
which had been building for a century. He enriched the Vatican Library,
was fond of art, and encouraged Guido Reni. He canonized St. Charles
Borromeo and St. Frances of Rome. He beatified Sts. Ignatius Loyola,
Francis Xavier, Philip Neri, Theresa the Carmelite, Louis Bertrand,
Thomas of Villanova, and Isidore of Madrid. During his pontificate a
large number of new institutes for education and charity added new
lustre to religion. His remains were placed in the magnificent Borghese
chapel in St. Mary Major's, where his monument is universally admired.
(CAMILLO BORGHESE).
Born at Rome, 17 Sept., 1550; elected 16 May, 1605; died 28 Jan., 1621.
Although proud to call himself, as we read on the
façade of St. Peter's and on his epitaph, a Roman, Borghese was
descended from a noble family of Siena which held important positions
in that city, and claimed St. Catherine for a relative. Their removal
to Rome was caused by the endless disturbances which made life in Siena
unbearable. Camillo was carefully trained in jurisprudence at Perugia
and Padua, and became a canonist of marked ability. He rose in the
ecclesiastical career steadily, if not rapidly; in 1596 he was made
cardinal by Clement VIII, and became Cardinal-Vicar of Rome. He held
aloof from all parties and factions, devoting all his spare time to his
law-books. In consequence, on the death of Leo XI, all eyes were
centred on him, and he ascended the papal throne without engagement or
obligation of any sort. His legal training was soon visible in all his
words and actions.
He knew nothing of compromises, and proceeded to rule the Church
not from the standpoint of diplomacy but from the decretals. He
conceived it his duty to maintain inviolate every right and claim
advanced by his predecessors. This made his character at times assume a
very stern and uncompromising aspect. His first public act was to send
home to their sees the prelates and even the cardinals who were
sojourning at Rome upon one or other pretext. The Council of Trent had
declared it a grave sin for a bishop to be an absentee. That he was
engaged in Rome doing the business of the Holy See made no difference.
Paul was soon involved in controversy with various cities of Italy on
matters concerning ecclesiastical jurisdiction and the relations
between Church and State. The bitterest quarrel was with the proud
Republic of Venice, which refused to acknowledge the exemption of the
clergy from the jurisdiction of the civil courts and passed two laws
obnoxious to the Roman Curia, the first forbidding the alienation of
real property in favour of the clergy, the second demanding approval of
the civil power for the building of new churches. Paul demanded the
repeal of these anti-clerical ordinances, and insisted that two clerics
who had been committed to prison should be surrendered to the
ecclesiastical court. The dispute became daily more bitter and
gradually developed into a broad discussion of the relative position of
the Church and State. What gave the quarrel a European importance was
the ability of the champions who entered the field on either side. For
the claims of the Church stood Cardinals Baronius and Bellarmine; the
cause of Venice was defended by the Servite Paolo Sarpi, a man of
wonderful literary skill and a sworn enemy of the Roman Court. On 17
April, 1600, the pope pronounced sentence of excommunication against
the doge, Senate, and Government collectively. He allowed a very short
space for submission, after which he imposed an interdict on the city.
The clergy had now to take sides for or against the pope. With the
exception of the Jesuits, the Theatines, and the Capuchins, who were
immediately expelled, the entire body of secular and regular clergy
held with the Government and continued to hold services,
notwithstanding the interdict. The festival of Corpus Christi was
celebrated with unusual splendour, and Sarpi said Mass for the first
time in years. The schism lasted about a year; and peace was patched up
through the mediation of France and Spain. The Republic refused to
repeal the obnoxious laws openly, but promised "to conduct itself with
its accustomed piety". With these obscure words the pope was forced to
be content; he removed the censures 22 March, 1607. The Theatines and
Capuchins were permitted to return; an exception was made against the
Jesuits.
The pope watched vigilantly over the interests of the Church in every
nation. On 9 July, 1606, he wrote a friendly letter to James I of
England to congratulate him on his accession to the throne, and
referred with grief to the plot recently made against the life of the
monarch. But he prays him not to make the innocent Catholics suffer for
the crime of a few. He promises to exhort all the Catholics of the
realm to be submissive and loyal to their sovereign in all things not
opposed to the honour of God. Unfortunately the oath of allegiance
James demanded of his subjects contained clauses to which no Catholic
could in conscience subscribe. It was solemnly condemned in two Briefs,
22 Sept., 1606, and 23 Aug., 1607. This condemnation occasioned the
bitter dissension between the party of the archpriest George Blackwell
and the Catholics who submitted to the decision of the Holy See. In
Austria the efforts of the pope were directed to healing the disputes
among the Catholics and to giving moral and material aid to the
Catholic Union. He survived the battle of Prague, which put an end to
the short reign of the Calvinistic "winter-king".
Paul V was no more free from nepotism than the other pontiffs of that
century. But if he seemed to show too many favours to his relatives, it
must be said that they were capable men of blameless lives, and devoted
their large revenues to the embellishment of Rome. Paul had the honour
of putting the finishing touches to St. Peter's, which had been
building for a century. He enriched the Vatican Library, was fond of
art, and encouraged Guido Reni. He canonized St. Charles Borromeo and
St. Frances of Rome. He beatified Sts. Ignatius Loyola, Francis Xavier,
Philip Neri, Theresa the Carmelite, Louis Bertrand, Thomas of
Villanova, and Isidore of Madrid. During his pontificate a large number
of new institutes for education and charity added new lustre to
religion. His remains were placed in the magnificent Borghese chapel in
St. Mary Major's, where his monument is universally admired.
|
1667-1669
Pope Clement IX; elected
to the papacy by the unanimous Sacred
College vote; idol of the Romans erudition application
to business, his extreme charity, and his affability towards
great and small; 2 days/week
occupied confessional in St. Peter's
church heard any one who wished to confess; frequently
visited hospitals, lavish in alms to the poor; he did little or nothing
to advance or enrich his
family; aversion to notoriety, refused to permit his name to
be placed on the buildings erected during his reign; declared blessed,
Rose of Lima, first American saint, solemnly canonized S. Maria
Maddalena dei Pazzi and St.
Peter of Alcantara; death of
the beloved pontiff was long lamented by Romans, who
considered him, if not the greatest, at least the most amiable of the
popes.
(GIULIO ROSPIGLIOSI)
Born 28 January, 1600, at Pistoja, of an ancient family originally from
Lombardy; elected 20 June, 1667; d. at Rome, 9 December, 1669. He made
a brilliant course of studies at the Roman Seminary, and the University
of Pisa, where he received the doctorate in his twenty-third year and
was made professor of philosophy. His talents and virtuous life brought
him rapid promotion in the Roman Court at a period when Tuscan
influence under Tuscan pontiffs was everywhere predominant. He enjoyed
the special favour of Urban VIII,
like himself fond of literature and poetry, and was made titular
Archbishop of Tarsus and sent as nuncio to the Spanish Court.
He lived in retirement during the pontificate of Innocent X, who disliked the
Barberini and their adherents, was recalled to office by Alexander VII, appointed
by him secretary of state and Cardinal-Priest of the
Title of San Sisto (1657). Ten years later, one month after the death
of Alexander, Cardinal Rospigliosi was elected to the papacy by the
unanimous vote of the Sacred College. He was the idol of the Romans,
not so much for his erudition and application to business, as for his
extreme charity and his affability towards great and small. He
increased the goodwill of his subjects by buying off the monopolist who
had secured the macinato, or privilege of selling grain, and as his
predecessor had collected the money for the purpose, Clement had the
decree published in the name of Alexander VII. Two days each week he
occupied a confessional in St. Peter's church and heard any one who
wished to confess to him. He frequently visited the hospitals, and was
lavish in his alms to the poor. In an age of nepotism, he did little or
nothing to advance or enrich his family. In his aversion to notoriety,
he refused to permit his name to be placed on the buildings erected
during his reign. On 15 April, 1668, he declared blessed, Rose of Lima,
the first American saint. On 28 April, 1669, he solemnly canonized S.
Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi and St. Peter of Alcantara. He reorganized
the Church in Portugal, after that nation had achieved its independence
from Spain. By a mild compromise in the affair of French Jansenism,
known as the Clementine Peace, (Pax Clementina), he procured a lull in
the storm, which, unfortunately, owing to the insincerity of the
sectaries, was but temporary. He brought about, as arbiter, the Peace
of Aix-la-Chapelle between France and Spain, and gravely admonished
Louis XIV against the aggressive career upon which he was setting
forth. By strict economy he brought the papal finances into good order,
and was able to furnish material aid to Venice for the defence of
Crete, then besieged by the Turks. Had the European powers listened to
his exhortations, that important island would not have been lost to
Christendom. The news of its fall, after a gallant resistance of twenty
years, hastened the pope's death. He died after a pontificate of two
years, five months, and nineteen days. He ordered his remains to be
buried under the pavement of Santa Maria Maggiore, with the simple
inscription Clementis IX, Cineres, but his successor, Clement X,
erected in his honour the sumptuous monument which stands at the
right-hand side of the nave, near the door. The death of the beloved
pontiff was long lamented by the Romans, who considered him, if not the
greatest, at least the most amiable of the popes.
|
1689 Bl. Innocent XI Benedetto
Odescalchi
(Sept. 21, 1676 -
Aug 12, 1689) Innocent XI was beatified Oct. 7, 1956, his feast day is
August 13.
From: 'St. Peter's - Guide
to the Basilica and Square'
On the left, towards the central nave, is the funeral
Monument of Innocent XI (1676-1689), the work of the French sculptor
Pierre Etienne Monnot. The Pontiff, making a solemn, oratorical
gesture, is seated on the throne set above a sarcophagus, in giallo
antico marble. A bas-relief on the urn of John Sobieski, shows the
Victory over the Turks in Vienna in 1683.
From: 'St. Peter's Basilica - A Virtual Tour' by Our Sunday
Visitor
Facing it is the Monument to Innocent XI, executed by P. E.
Monnot who, inspired equally by Algardi and Bernini, created a work
with a harmonious compositional unity. The bas-relief shows the
Liberation of Vienna from the Turks in 1683 thanks to Sobiesky, which
undoubtedly was a decisive episode in the history of Europe.
The two metal lions sustaining the black marble urn overlaid
with bronze refer to the arms of the Odescalchi family to which the
Pope belonged. He is solemnly represented above as if talking to the
people. The two allegorical figures do not represent, as is often
repeated, Religion and Justice but rather, as rightly indicated by R.
U. Montini in his "Tombs of the Popes" (1957), Faith and Fortitude,
symbolizing the Christian virtues shown by the Pope in his struggle
against the Turks, with prayer, diplomacy and huge financial aid,
though a donation of 5 million florins.
Other Sources
Innocent XI was elected pope on Sept. 21, 1676, against the
opposition of King Louis XIV of France, who proved to be an enemy of
ecclesiastical privileges during Innocent's pontificate. He inherited
an insolvent papal treasury but averted bankruptcy through wise
taxation, rigid economizing, and financial support from Catholic
powers. Innocent aided the war against the Turks by subsidizing King
John III of Poland and the Holy Roman emperor Leopold I in a campaign
that led to the relief of Vienna (1683) from the Turkish siege.
In doctrinal matters, Innocent sympathized somewhat with the
Jansenists, followers of a nonorthodox ecclesiastical movement created
by Bishop Cornelius Jansen of Ypres, which opposed Louis's religious
policies. Although a friend of Miguel de Molinos, the Spanish mystic
and proponent of the doctrine of Christian perfection known as
Quietism, Innocent allowed Molinos to be arrested by the papal police
and tried for personal immorality and heresy. He was sentenced to life
imprisonment, and Innocent condemned his propositions in 1687.
Innocent is considered the outstanding pope of the 17th
century, largely because of his high moral character. In a time of
frequent papal corruption he was free from nepotism and his integrity
was unquestioned. He was beatified by Pope Pius XII on October 7, 1956.
|
1700 1721 Pope
Clement XI Giovanni Francesco
was sent to Rome in his 11th year to
prosecute studies at the Roman College. He made rapid progress; known
as an author at 18, translating from the
Greek into elegant Latin. He attracted the notice of the patroness of
Roman literati, Queen Christina of Sweden, who before he became of age
enrolled him in her exclusive Accademia. With equal ardour and success,
he applied himself to the profounder branches, theology and law, and
was created doctor of canon and civil law. So brilliant an intellect,
joined with stainless morals and piety, secured for him a rapid
advancement at the papal court. At the age of twenty-eight he was made
a prelate, and governed successively Rieti, Sabina, and Orvieto,
everywhere acceptable on account of his reputation for justice and
prudence. Recalled to Rome, he was appointed Vicar of St. Peter's, and
on the death of Cardinal Slusio succeeded to the important position of
Secretary of Papal Briefs, which he held for thirteen years, and for
which his command of classical latinity singularly fitted him. On 13
February, 1690, he was created cardinal-deacon and later
Cardinal-Priest of the Title of San Silvestro, and was ordained to the
priesthood.
Soon after his accession, the War of Spanish Succession broke out.
Despite initially holding an ambiguous neutrality, Clement was later
forced to name Charles, Archduke of Austria, as King of Spain, since
the imperial army had conquered much of northern Italy and was
threatening Rome itself (January 1709).
By the Treaty of Utrecht that concluded the War, the Papal States lost
their suzerainty over the Farnese Duchy of Parma and Piacenza in favour
of Austria, and lost Comacchio as well. It was a blow from which the
declining prestige of the Papal States would never recover.
In 1713 the bull Unigenitus was published. The bull greatly disturbed
the peace of the Gallican (French) church. It condemned 101
propositions from the works of Quesnel as heretical and as identical
with propositions already condemned in the writings of Jansen.
The resistance of many French ecclesiastics and the refusal of the
French parlements to register the bull led to controversies extending
through the greater part of the 18th century. Because the local
governments did not officially receive the bull, it was not,
technically, in force in those areas – an example of the interference
of states in religious affairs common before the 20th century.
Another important decision of Clement XI was in regard to the Chinese
Rites controversy: the Jesuit missionaries were forbidden to take part
in honors paid to Confucius or the ancestors of the Emperors of China,
which Clement XI identified as "idolatrous and barbaric", and to
accommodate Christian language to pagan ideas under plea of
conciliating the heathen.
Clement
XI died at Rome in 1721 and was buried in the pavement of St. Peter's
Basilica.
Personally, Clement was one of
the few popes to avoid nepotism. His nephew Annibale was elected
cardinal, but only through personal merit.
As a builder, Clement had a famous sundial added in the church of Santa
Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri and had an obelisk erected in the
Piazza del Pantheon and a river port built on the Tiber River.
He established a committee, overseen by his favorite artists, Carlo
Maratta and Carlo Fontana, to commission statuary of the apostles to
complete the decoration of San Giovanni in Laterano. He also founded a
painting and sculpting academy in the Campidoglio.
He also enriched the Vatican library with numerous Oriental codexes and
patronaged the first archaeological excavations in the Roman catacombs.
In his native Urbino he restored numerous edifices and founded a public
library.
(GIOVANNI FRANCESCO ALBANI).
Born at Urbino, 23 July, 1649; elected 23 November, 1700; died at Rome
19 March, 1721. The Albani were a noble Umbrian family. Under Urban
VIII the grandfather of the future pope had held for thirteen years the
honourable office of Senator of Rome. An uncle, Annibale Albani, was a
distinguished scholar and was Prefect of the Vatican Library. Giovanni
Francesco was sent to Rome in his eleventh year to prosecute his
studies at the Roman College. He made rapid progress and was known as
an author at the age of eighteen, translating from the Greek into
elegant Latin. He attracted the notice of the patroness of Roman
literati, Queen Christina of Sweden, who before he became of age
enrolled him in her exclusive Accademia. With equal ardour and success,
he applied himself to the profounder branches, theology and law, and
was created doctor of canon and civil law. So brilliant an intellect,
joined with stainless morals and piety, secured for him a rapid
advancement at the papal court. At the age of twenty-eight he was made
a prelate, and governed successively Rieti, Sabina, and Orvieto,
everywhere acceptable on account of his reputation for justice and
prudence. Recalled to Rome, he was appointed Vicar of St. Peter's, and
on the death of Cardinal Slusio succeeded to the important position of
Secretary of Papal Briefs, which he held for thirteen years, and for
which his command of classical latinity singularly fitted him. On 13
February, 1690, he was created cardinal-deacon and later
Cardinal-Priest of the Title of San Silvestro, and was ordained to the
priesthood.
The conclave of 1700 would have terminated speedily with the election
of Cardinal Mariscotti, had not the veto of France rendered the choice
of that able cardinal impossible. After deliberating for forty-six
days, the Sacred College united in selecting Cardinal Albani, whose
virtues and ability overbalanced the objection that he was only
fifty-one years old. Three days were spent in the effort to overcome
his reluctance to accept a dignity the heavy burden of which none knew
better than the experienced curialist (Galland in Hist. Jahrbuch, 1882,
III, 208 sqq.). The period was critical for Europe and the papacy.
During the conclave Charles II, the last of the Spanish Hapsburgs, had
died childless, leaving his vast dominions a prey to French and
Austrian ambition. His will, making Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis
XIV, sole heir to the Spanish Empire, was contested by the Emperor
Leopold, who claimed Spain for his second son Charles. The late king,
before making this will, had consulted Pope Innocent XII, and Cardinal
Albani had been one of the three cardinals to whom the pontiff had
entrusted the case and who advised him to pronounce secretly in its
favour. This was at the time unknown to the emperor, else Austria would
have vetoed the election of Albani. The latter was finally persuaded
that it was his duty to obey the call from Heaven; on 30 November he
was consecrated bishop, and on 8 December solemnly enthroned in the
Vatican. The enthusiasm with which his elevation was greeted throughout
the world is the best evidence of his worth. Even Protestants received
the intelligence with joy and the city of Nuremberg struck a medal in
his honour. The sincere Catholic reformers greeted his accession as the
death-knell of nepotism; for, though he had many relatives, it was
known that he had instigated and written the severe condemnation of
that abuse issued by his predecessor. As pontiff, he did not belie his
principles. He bestowed the offices of his court upon the most worthy
subjects and ordered his brother to keep at a distance and refrain from
adopting any new title or interfering in matters of state. In the
government of the States of the Church, Clement was a capable
administrator. He provided diligently for the needs of his subjects,
was extremely charitable to the poor, bettered the condition of the
prisons, and secured food for the populace in time of scarcity. He won
the good will of artists by prohibiting the exportation of ancient
masterpieces, and of scientists by commissioning Bianchini to lay down
on the pavement of Sta Maria degli Angioli the meridian of Rome, known
as the Clementina.
His capacity for work was prodigious. He slept but little and ate so
sparingly that a few pence per day sufficed for his table. Every day he
confessed and celebrated Mass. He entered minutely into the details of
every measure which came before him, and with his own hand prepared the
numerous allocutions, Briefs, and constitutions afterwards collected
and published. He also found time to preach his beautiful homilies and
was frequently to be seen in the confessional. Though his powerful
frame more than once sank under the weight of his labours and cares, he
continued to keep rigorously the fasts of the Church, and generally
allowed himself but the shortest possible respite from his labours.
In his efforts to establish peace among the powers of Europe and to
uphold the rights of the Church, he met with scant success; for the
eighteenth century was eminently the age of selfishness and infidelity.
One of his first public acts was to protest against the assumption
(1701) by the Elector of Brandenburg of the title of King of Prussia.
The pope's action, though often derided and misinterpreted, was natural
enough, not only because the bestowal of royal titles had always been
regarded as the privilege of the Holy See, but also because Prussia
belonged by ancient right to the ecclesiastico-military institute known
as the Teutonic Order. In the troubles excited by the rivalry of France
and the Empire for the Spanish succession, Pope Clement resolved to
maintain a neutral attitude; but this was found to be impossible. When,
therefore, the Bourbon was crowned in Madrid as Philip V, amid the
universal acclamations of the Spaniards, the pope acquiesced and
acknowledged the validity of his title. This embittered the morose
Emperor Leopold, and the relations between Austria and the Holy See
became so strained that the pope did not conceal his satisfaction when
the French and Bavarian troops began that march on Vienna which ended
so disastrously on the field of Blenheim. Marlborough's victory,
followed by Prince Eugene's successful campaign in Piedmont, placed
Italy at the mercy of the Austrians. Leopold died in 1705 and was
succeeded by his oldest son Joseph, a worthy precursor of Joseph II. A
contest immediately began on the question known as Jus primarum precum,
involving the right of the crown to appoint to vacant benefices. The
victorious Austrians, now masters of Northern Italy, invaded the Papal
States, took possession of Piacenza and Parma, annexed Comacchio and
besieged Ferrara. Clement at first offered a spirited resistance, but,
abandoned by all, could not hope for success, and when a strong
detachment of Protestant troops under the command of the Prince of
Hesse-Cassel reached Bologna, fearing a repetition of the fearful
scenes of 1527, he finally gave way (15 Jan., 1709), acknowledged the
Archduke Charles as King of Spain "without detriment to the rights of
another", and promised him the investiture of Naples. Though the
Bourbon monarchs had done nothing to aid the pope in his unequal
struggle, both Louis and Philip became very indignant and retaliated by
every means in their power (see LOUIS XIV). In the negotiations
preceding the Peace of Utrecht (1713) the rights of the pope were
studiously neglected; his nuncio was not accorded a hearing; his
dominions were parcelled out to suit the convenience of either party.
Sicily was given to Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, with whom from the
first days of his pontificate Clement was involved in quarrels on the
subjects of ecclesiastical immunities and appointments to vacant
benefices. The new king now undertook to revive the so-called Monarchia
Sicula, an ancient but much-disputed and abused privilege of pontifical
origin which practically excluded the pope from any authority over the
church in Sicily. When Clement answered with bann and interdict, all
the clergy, about 3000 in number, who remained loyal to the Holy See
were banished the island, and the pope was forced to give them food and
shelter. The interdict was not raised till 1718, when Spain regained
possession, but the old controversy was repeatedly resumed under the
Bourbons. Through the machinations of Cardinal Alberoni, Parma and
Piacenza were granted to a Spanish Infante without regard to the papal
overlordship. It was some consolation to the much-tried pope that
Augustus of Saxony, King of Poland, returned to the Church. Clement
laboured hard to restore harmony in Poland, but without success. The
Turks had taken advantage of the dissensions among the Christians to
invade Europe by land and sea. Clement proclaimed a jubilee, sent money
and ships to the assistance of the Venetians, and granted a tithe on
all benefices to the Emperor Charles VI. When Prince Eugene won the
great battle of Temesvár, which put an end to the Turkish
danger, no slight share of the credit was given by the Christian world
to the pope and the Holy Rosary. Clement sent the great commander a
blessed hat and sword. The fleet which Philip V of Spain had raised at
the instigation of the pope, and with subsidies levied on church
revenues, was diverted by Alberoni to the conquest of Sardinia; and
though Clement showed his indignation by demanding the dismissal of the
minister, and beginning a process against him, he had much to do to
convince the emperor that he was not privy to the treacherous
transaction. He gave a generous hospitality to the exiled son of James
II of England, James Edward Stuart, and helped him to obtain the hand
of Clementina, John Sobieski's accomplished granddaughter, mother of
Charles Edward.
Clement's pastoral vigilance was felt in every corner of the earth. He
organized the Church in the Philippine Islands and sent missionaries to
every distant spot. He erected Lisbon into a patriarchate, 7 December,
1716. He enriched the Vatican Library with the manuscript treasures
gathered at the expense of the pope by Joseph Simeon Assemani in his
researches throughout Egypt and Syria. In the unfortunate controversy
between the Dominican and the Jesuit missionaries in China concerning
the permissibility of certain rites and customs, Clement decided in
favour of the former. When the Jansenists provoked a new collision with
the Church under the leadership of Quesnel, Pope Clement issued his two
memorable Constitutions, "Vineam Domini", 16 July, 1705, and
"Unigenitus", 10 September, 1713 (see UNIGENITUS; VINEAM DOMINI;
JANSENISM). Clement XI made the feast of the Conception of the B.V.M. a
Holy Day of obligation, and canonized Pius V, Andrew of Avellino, Felix
of Cantalice, and Catherine of Bologna.
This great and saintly pontiff died appropriately on the feast of St.
Joseph, for whom he entertained a particular devotion, and in whose
honour he composed the special Office found in the Breviary. His
remains rest in St. Peter's. His official acts, letters, and Briefs,
also his homilies, were collected and published by his nephew, Cardinal
Annibale Albani (2 vols., Rome, 1722-24).
|
1730-1740
Pope Clement XII
(LORENZO CORSINI).
Born at Florence, 7 April, 1652; elected 12 July, 1730; died at Rome 6
February, 1740. The pontificate of the saintly Orsini pope, Benedict
XIII, from the standpoint of the spiritual interests of the Church, had
left nothing to be desired. He had, however, given over temporal
concerns into the hands of rapacious ministers; hence the finances of
the Holy See were in bad condition; there was an increasing deficit,
and the papal subjects were in a state of exasperation. It was no easy
task to select a man who possessed all the qualities demanded by the
emergency. After deliberating for four months, the Sacred College
united on Cardinal Corsini, the best possible choice, were it not for
his seventy-eight years and his failing eyesight.
A Corsini by the father's side and by the mother's a Strozzi, the best
blood of Florence coursed through his veins. Innumerable were the
members of his house who had risen to high positions in Church and
State, but its chief ornament was St. Andrew Corsini, the canonized
Bishop of Fiesole. Lorenzo made a brilliant course of studies, first in
the Roman College, then at the University of Pisa, where, after five
years, he received the degree of Doctor of Laws. Returning to Rome, he
applied himself to the practice of law under the able direction of his
uncle, Cardinal Neri Corsini, a ma of the highest culture. After the
death of his uncle and his father, in 1685, Lorenzo, now thirty-three
years old, resigned his right of primogeniture and entered the
ecclesiastical state. From Innocent XI he purchased, according to the
custom of the time, for 30,000 scudi (dollars) a position of prelatial
rank, and devoted his wealth and leisure to the enlargement of the
library bequeathed to him by his uncle. In 1691 he was made titular
Archbishop of Nicomedia and chosen nuncio to Vienna. He did not proceed
to the imperial court, because Leopold advanced the novel claim, which
Pope Alexander VIII refused to admit, of selecting a nuncio from a list
of three names to be furnished by the pope. In 1696 Corsini was
appointed to the arduous office of treasurer-general and governor of
Castle Sant' Angelo. His good fortune increased during the pontificate
of Clement XI, who employed his talents in affairs demanding tact and
prudence. On 17 May, 1706, he was created Cardinal-Deacon of the Title
of Santa Susanna, retaining the office of papal treasurer. He was
attached to several of the most important congregations and was made
protector of a score of religious institutions. He advanced still
further under Benedict XIII, who assigned him to the Congregation of
the Holy Office and made him prefect of the judicial tribunal known as
the Segnatura di Giustizia. He was successively Cardinal-Priest of S.
Pietro in Vincoli and Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati.
He had thus held with universal applause all the important offices of
the Roman Court, and it is not surprising that his elevation to the
papacy filled the Romans with joy. In token of gratitude to his
benefactor, Clement XI, and as a pledge that he would make that great
pontiff his model, he assumed the title of Clement XII. Unfortunately
he lacked the important qualities of youth and physical strength. The
infirmities of old age bore heavily upon him. In the second year of his
pontificate he became totally blind; in his later years he was
compelled to keep his bed, from which he gave audiences and transacted
affairs of state. Notwithstanding his physical decrepitude, he
displayed a wonderful activity. He demanded restitution of ill-gotten
goods from the ministers who had abused the confidence of his
predecessor. The chief culprit, Cardinal Coscia, was mulcted in a heavy
sum and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. Clement surrounded
himself with capable officials, and won the affection of his subjects
by lightening their burdens, encouraging manufacture and the arts, and
infusing a modern spirit into the laws relating to commerce. The public
lottery, which had been suppressed by the severe morality of Benedict
XIII, was revived by Clement, and poured into his treasury an annual
sum amounting to nearly a half million of scudi (dollars), enabling him
to undertake the extensive buildings which distinguish his reign. He
began the majestic façade of St. John Lateran and built in that
basilica the magnificent chapel of St. Andrew Corsini. He restored the
Arch of Constantine and built the governmental palace of the Consulta
on the Quirinal. He purchased from Cardinal Albani for 60,000 scudi the
fine collection of statues, inscriptions, etc. with which he adorned
the gallery of the Capitol. He paved the streets of Rome and the roads
leading from the city, and widened the Corso. He began the great
Fontana di Trevi, one of the noted ornaments of Rome.
In order to facilitate the reunion of the Greeks, Clement XII founded
at Ullano, in Calabria, the Corsini College for Greek students. With a
similar intent he called to Rome Greek-Melchite monks of Mt. Lebanon,
and assigned to them the ancient church of Santa Maria in Domnica. He
dispatched Joseph Simeon Assemani to the East for the twofold purpose
of continuing his search for manuscripts and presiding as legate over a
national council of Maronites. We make no attempt to enumerate all the
operations which this wonderful blind-stricken old man directed from
his bed of sickness. His name is associated in Rome with the foundation
and embellishment of institutions of all sorts. The people of Ancona
hold him in well-deserved veneration and have erected on the public
square a statue in his honour. He gave them a port which excited the
envy of Venice, and built a highway that gave them easy access to the
interior. He drained the marshes of the Chiana near Lake Trasimeno by
leading the waters through a ditch fourteen miles long into the Tiber.
He disavowed the arbitrary action of his legate, Cardinal Alberoni, in
seizing San Marino, and restored the independence of that miniature
republic. His activity in the spiritual concerns of the Church was
equally pronounced. His efforts were directed towards raising the
prevalent low tone of morality and securing discipline, especially in
the cloisters. He issued the first papal decree against the Freemasons
(1738). He fostered the new Congregation of the Passionists and gave to
his fellow-Tuscan, St. Paul of the Cross, the church and monastery of
Sts. John and Paul, with the beautiful garden overlooking the
Colosseum. He canonized Sts. Vincent de Paul, John Francis Regis,
Catherine Fieschi Adorni, Juliana Falconieri, and approved the cult of
St. Gertrude. He proceeded with vigour against the French Jansenists
and had the happiness to receive the submission of the Maurists to the
Constitution Unigenitus. Through the efforts of his missionaries in
Egypt 10,000 Copts, with their patriarch, returned to the unity of the
Church. Clement persuaded the Armenian patriarch to remove from the
diptychs the anathema against the Council of Chalcedon and St. Leo I.
In his dealings with the powers of Europe, he managed by a union of
firmness and moderation to preserve or restore harmony; but he was
unable to maintain the rights of the Holy See over the Duchies of Parma
and Piacenza. It was a consequence of his blindness that he should
surround himself with trusted relatives; but he advanced them only as
they proved their worth, and did little for his family except to
purchase and enlarge the palace built in Trastevere for the Riarii, and
now known as the Palazzo Corsini (purchased in 1884 by the Italian
Government, and now the seat of the Regia Accademia dei Lincei). In
1754, his nephew, Cardinal Neri Corsini, founded there the famous
Corsini Library, which in 1905 included about 70,000 books and
pamphlets, 2288 incunabula or works printed in the first fifty or sixty
years after the discovery of printing, 2511 manuscripts, and 600
autographs. Retaining his extraordinary faculties and his cheerful
resignation to the end, he died in the Quirinal in his eighty-eighth
year. His remains were transferred to his magnificent tomb in the
Lateran, 20 July, 1742.
|
1724-1739 Pope
Benedict XIII; In government of
his diocese, Cardinal Orsini unremitting
in labours and zeal; visited even the most remote hamlets and
was not less watchful over temporal than over spiritual things;
provided needs of the people, repaired churches held a
diocesan synod, the decrees of which he published; In 1680, when
Innocent XI transferred him to Cesena, he left to the people of Siponto
a memorial of his apostolic activity, his devotion to the poor and his
constant preaching brought about a thorough-going reformation among
both clergy and people. Seeing on his frequent journeys the condition
of the churches in even the poorest parishes, he neglected none and by
the promulgation of strict rules, he abolished all known abuses; This long delay weighed heavily on the soul
of Orsini, who
commenced a novena of prayers to his patron, St. Philip Neri, that the
election of a new pope might be no longer delayed. Before the novena
was finished he saw with terror that he himself would be chosen, and,
reluctant to accept a position which filled him with dread, he sought
by all means in his power to prevent his election. Against his oft
repeated protestations he was chosen 29 May, 1724, and even after the
final vote was taken he refused to yield, arguing that his age, his
physical weakness, his incapacity, and a resolution which he made never
to become pope, should exempt him from such a grave responsibility. He
yielded only when it was made clear to him that grave dangers were to
be feared if the conclave should be reopened. So with tears, and
obeying the command of the general of his order, he allowed himself to
be proclaimed pope; His first
concern as pope was to enforce rigidly ecclesiastical
discipline. He issued several decrees on ecclesiastical dress and was
unsparing in his efforts to abolish any semblance of luxury or worldly
pomp among the cardinals; Benedict's
theological writings were published in three volumes (Ravenna, 1728).
(PIETRO FRANCESCO ORSINI)
Born 2 February, 1649; died 23 February, 1730. Being a son of
Ferdinando Orsini and Giovanna Frangipani of Tolpha, he belonged to the
archducal family of Orsini-Gravina. From early youth he exhibited a
decided liking for the Order of St. Dominic, and at the age of sixteen
during a visit to Venice he entered the Dominican novitiate against the
will of his parents, though he was the eldest son and heir to the title
and estates of his childless uncle the Duke of Bracciano. Their appeal
to Clement IX was fruitless; the pope not only approved the purpose of
the young novice, but even shortened his novitiate by half in order to
free him from the importunities of his relatives. As student and
novice, the young prince was a model of humility and zeal, and devoted
himself to the acquisition of ecclesiastical learning. At the age of
twenty-one he was promoted to a professorship. On 22 February, 1672, he
was elevated to the cardinalate by his relative Clement X. He protested
strenuously against the honour, but was compelled to accept it under
the vow of obedience by the General of the Dominicans, at the
insistence of the pope. As cardinal he adhered strictly to the
observance of the rule of his order, and never laid aside his habit. In
1675 having the choice between the Archbishopric of Salerno and that of
Manfredonia (Siponto) he chose the latter because it was a poor diocese
and required great exercise of pastoral zeal. His virtuous life not
only overcame the opposition made by his relatives when he became a
monk, but exercised such a salutary influence that in time his mother,
his sister, and two of his nieces embraced the religious life in the
Third Order of St. Dominic. During the conclave that followed the death
of Clement X (1676), he was one of the band of cardinals known as the
zelanti who had agreed that no considerations of worldly prudence would
influence them in the choice of a new pope. In the government of his
diocese, Cardinal Orsini was unremitting in his labours and zeal. He
visited even the most remote hamlets and was not less watchful over
temporal than over spiritual things. He provided for the needs of the
people, repaired churches and held a diocesan synod, the decrees of
which he published. In 1680, when Innocent XI transferred him to
Cesena, he left to the people of Siponto a memorial of his apostolic
activity, his devotion to the poor and his constant preaching brought
about a thorough-going reformation among both clergy and people. Seeing
on his frequent journeys the condition of the churches in even the
poorest parishes, he neglected none and by the promulgation of strict
rules, he abolished all known abuses.
In 1686, a serious illness, attributed by his physicians to the
climate, caused his transfer to Benevento, where he remained for
thirty-eight years or until he was elected pope. During this long
period he seldom left his diocese. Each year he made an episcopal
visitation to every parish. Whenever necessary, he built or renovated
churches. He built hospitals and strove incessantly for the alleviation
of the sufferings of the poor. Twice during his episcopate (5 June,
1688, and 14 March, 1702) Benevento was visited by earthquakes and on
these occasions his courage, his active charity in behalf of the
stricken inhabitants, and his energy in the reconstruction of the city,
won for him the title of the "Second Founder" of Benevento. He held two
provincial synods, the first in 1693 attended by eighteen bishops, the
second in 1698, with an attendance of twenty, the acts of which were
approved at Rome. The only reproach made against his administration is
that his simplicity and child-like confidence exposed him to the wiles
of some unscrupulous persons who abused his confidence.
Cardinal Orsini had already taken part in four conclaves, when Innocent
XIII died in March, 1724; and in all he had acted in the spirit of the
zelanti. The conclave at which he was himself chosen assembled on 20
March; two months afterwards (25 May) no choice had been made. This
long delay weighed heavily on the soul of Orsini, who commenced a
novena of prayers to his patron, St. Philip Neri, that the election of
a new pope might be no longer delayed. Before the novena was finished
he saw with terror that he himself would be chosen, and, reluctant to
accept a position which filled him with dread, he sought by all means
in his power to prevent his election. Against his oft repeated
protestations he was chosen 29 May, 1724, and even after the final vote
was taken he refused to yield, arguing that his age, his physical
weakness, his incapacity, and a resolution which he made never to
become pope, should exempt him from such a grave responsibility. He
yielded only when it was made clear to him that grave dangers were to
be feared if the conclave should be reopened. So with tears, and
obeying the command of the general of his order, he allowed himself to
be proclaimed pope. In honour of Benedict XI, a member of the Dominican
Order, he took the name of Benedict XIV, which he shortly changed to
Benedict XIII as Peter de Luna who had previously borne the name
(1394-1423) was a schismatic.
His first concern as pope was to enforce rigidly ecclesiastical
discipline. He issued several decrees on ecclesiastical dress and was
unsparing in his efforts to abolish any semblance of luxury or worldly
pomp among the cardinals. During the Jubilee of 1725, he discharged
personally the duties of Grand Penitentiary, and is said to have
seriously considered the revival of public penances for certain grave
offences. In order to encourage the foundation of diocesan seminaries,
he organized a special commission (Congregatio Seminariorum). At a
provincial Roman Lateran synod held in 1725, he required an unqualified
acceptance of the Bull Unigenitus and through his efforts Cardinal de
Noailles, Archbishop of Paris, was led to accept it in 1728. During his
pontificate Benedict retained the Archbishopric of Benevento which he
administered by a vicar-general and which he twice visited (1727,
1729).
In diplomatic matters and in his relations with foreign powers Benedict
did not exhibit the vigour and conservatism which marked his
administration in religious matters. His love of peace led him to
attempt a settlement of the dispute in regard to the ecclesiastical
privileges of the Kings of Naples (Monarchia Sicula) by a revocation of
the constitution of Clement XI (1715) and by granting to the King of
Naples (and Sicily) and his successors the right to appoint a spiritual
judge in ecclesiastical affairs, reserving, however, the most important
cases to the Holy See.
The quarrel with Victor Amadeus of Savoy was compounded by
giving to the king the right of patronage over the churches and
monasteries in his dominions, without, however, conceding any claim to
the incomes from vacant benefices. Towards John V, King of Portugal,
the pope exhibited extraordinary firmness in refusing a claim based on
the privileges held by other courts to propose candidates for the
cardinalate. This was in consequence of the protests made by the
cardinals against the election of Vincenzo Biechi, Nuncio to Lisbon. In
retaliation John recalled all Portuguese residents in Rome, forbade all
communication with the Roman Curia, and attempted to prevent the
sending of the customary alms from Portugal to Rome; he also interfered
with applications for dispensations from matrimonial impediments. At
many courts of Europe grave offense was taken by the extension (1728)
to the Universal Church of the Office of Gregory VII containing an
account of the excommunication and deposition of Henry IV, which to
Gallicans and Protestants seemed offensive.
Although full justice can scarcely be done to the virtuous life and the
fatherly zeal for the interests of religion of Benedict, his
pontificate lost much of its lustre because of his misplaced confidence
in Cardinal Nicolò Coscia, who had been his coadjutor at
Benevento. The pope was ignorant of the peculations and venality of his
favourite, whose greed did much to diminish the prestige of the Holy
See, and against whom a popular uprising took place on the pope's
death, resulting in ten years' imprisonment for this unworthy cardinal.
Benedict's theological writings were published in three volumes
(Ravenna, 1728).
|
1740-1758 Pope Benedict XIV Benedict XIV is best known to history as a
student and a scholar.
Though by no means a genius, his enormous application coupled with more
than ordinary cleverness of mind made him one of the most erudite men
of his time and gave him the distinction of being perhaps the greatest
scholar among the popes. His character was many-sided, and his range of
interests large. His devotion to science and the serious investigation
of historical problems did not interfere with his purely literary
studies. "I have been reproached", he once said, "because of my
familiarity with Tasso and Dante and Ariosto, but they are a necessity
to me in order to give energy to my thought and life to my style." This
devotion to the arts and sciences brought Lambertini throughout his
whole life into close and friendly contact with the most famous authors
and scholars of his time. Montfaucon, whom he knew in Rome, said of
him, "Young as he is, he has two souls: one for science, the other for
society." This last characterization did not interfere with his
restless activity in any of the many important positions which he was
called on to fill, nor did it diminish his marvellous capacity for the
most arduous work.
(PROSPERO LORENZO
LAMBERTINI.)
Son of Marcello Lambertini and Lucretia Bulgarini, b. at Bologna 31
March, 1675; d. 3 May, 1758. His early education was received from
tutors. At the age of thirteen he went to the Collegium Clementianum in
Rome where he studied rhetoric, philosophy, and theology. St. Thomas
Aquinas was his favourite author, but the bent of his own mind was
towards historical and legal studies in which latter he excelled, as
well in civil as in ecclesiastical law. In 1694, though only nineteen,
he received the degree of Doctor of Theology and Doctor Utriusque Juris
(canon and civil law). On the death of Innocent XII he was made
consistorial advocate by Clement XI, and shortly afterwards Consultor
of the Holy Office. In 1708 he was appointed Promotor of the Faith; in
1712 canon theologian at the Vatican and assessor of the Congregation
of Rites; in 1713 he was named domestic prelate; in 1718 secretary of
the Congregation of the Council; and in 1725 titular Bishop of
Theodosia. He was made Bishop of Ancona in 1727 and cardinal 30 April,
1728. He was transferred to the Archbishopric of Bologna in April,
1731, in succession to Lorenzo Corsini who had become pope as Clement
XII.
Benedict XIV is best known to history as a student and a scholar.
Though by no means a genius, his enormous application coupled with more
than ordinary cleverness of mind made him one of the most erudite men
of his time and gave him the distinction of being perhaps the greatest
scholar among the popes. His character was many-sided, and his range of
interests large. His devotion to science and the serious investigation
of historical problems did not interfere with his purely literary
studies. "I have been reproached", he once said, "because of my
familiarity with Tasso and Dante and Ariosto, but they are a necessity
to me in order to give energy to my thought and life to my style." This
devotion to the arts and sciences brought Lambertini throughout his
whole life into close and friendly contact with the most famous authors
and scholars of his time. Montfaucon, whom he knew in Rome, said of
him, "Young as he is, he has two souls: one for science, the other for
society." This last characterization did not interfere with his
restless activity in any of the many important positions which he was
called on to fill, nor did it diminish his marvellous capacity for the
most arduous work.
The zeal and energy which Lambertini carried to this office infused new
life into all his subjects. He himself explained his assiduity by
saying that he looked on the episcopate not as an honour, but as an
opportunity to do good. His administration was exemplary: he visited
all parts of his diocese, held synods, incited the people to piety by
word and example, and supervised the affairs of his diocese so
thoroughly that nothing needing change or correction escaped him. His
humility and vast learning were a source of inspiration and strength to
his clergy, and his broad firm grasp of public affairs and public
questions gave him a position of unique influence among rulers and
people. In his opinion the foundation of success in episcopal
administration was thorough harmony between bishop and clergy, and this
he succeeded in obtaining. Because of his wonderful gifts and his
extraordinary success as Bishop of Ancona, Pope Benedict XIII wished to
transfer him to some position of greater responsibility affording a
wider field for the display of his powers and activity, but he replied
in his usual jocose vein that no change of place could make him other
than he was, cheerful, joyous, and the friend of the pope. When he was
transferred to Bologna in 1731 his energies and activities seemed to
redouble. He became all things to all men and is said to have never
allowed anyone to leave his presence dissatisfied or in anger, and
without being strengthened and refreshed by his wisdom, advice, or
admonitions. His efforts were largely directed to the improvement of
clerical education in his diocese. He reformed the programme of studies
in his seminary and drew up a new curriculum in which special stress
was laid on the study of Sacred Scripture and patrology.
When Clement XII died (6 February, 1740) the fame of Lambertini was at
its highest. Through intrigues of various kinds the conclave which
commenced on 17 February lasted for six months. It was composed of
fifty-four cardinals of whom forty-six were Italians, three French,
four Spanish, and one German. These were split into several parties.
One was composed of those who had been appointed by Clement XI,
Innocent XIII, and Benedict XIII; another of those appointed by Clement
XII who were known as the new college. The long, tedious session and
the intense heat did not improve the temper of the cardinals; after six
months of fruitless effort and constant intrigue, the election seemed
no nearer than in the beginning. Various expedients were suggested,
such as the withdrawal of the names of the leading candidates and the
substitution of others, but without avail. After several plans had been
tried to end the deadlock, Lambertini, whose name had been proposed as
a compromise, addressed the conclave, saying: "If you wish to elect a
saint, choose Gotti; a statesman, Aldobrandini; an honest man, elect
me." These words spoken as much perhaps in jest as in earnest helped to
end the difficulty. Lambertini was chosen and took the name of Benedict
XIV in honour of his friend and patron Benedict XIII. As pope,
Lambertini was no less energetic, brave, and unassuming than before his
election. His great learning placed him in a position to deal
successfully with ecclesiastical situations that needed reformation,
and the broad Christian spirit which animated his dealings with foreign
powers removed the pressure and hostility of even Protestant courts and
rulers. He was undoubtedly liberal in his political dealings, though he
never lost sight of the essential interests of the Church and religion.
Public policy
To go to the extreme limit of concession and conciliation seems to have
been the principle that dominated all Benedict's actions in his
negotiations with governments and rulers, so much so, indeed, that he
has not escaped criticism even from those within the Church as being
too prone to settle difficulties by making concessions or compromises.
However his actions may be judged, whatever may be thought of his
motives, it cannot be denied that he aimed constantly at peace and that
few causes of friction remained after the close of his administration.
Moreover, in estimating the value and effect of his concessions, it is
seen that in nearly every case he strengthened the moral influence of
the papacy even though some rights of patronage or other material
interests were abandoned. Nor was his influence less potent among
Protestant than Catholic rulers; the universal esteem in which he was
held throughout the world meant much in an epoch, the close of which
was to witness the disruption of many time-honoured institutions,
social and political as well as religious. An enumeration of his
principal dealings with the heads of states will show that Benedict
wisely abandoned, in most cases, the shadow of temporal authority to
maintain the substance of spiritual supremacy.
The King of Portugal received the right of patronage over all the sees
and abbeys in his kingdom (1740) and was further favoured with the
title of Rex Fidelissimus (1748). In the matter of church revenues and
the allotment of ecclesiastical benefices Spain was also treated very
generously. In 1741 permission was granted to tax the income of the
clergy, and in 1753 the Government received the right of nomination to
nearly all the Spanish benefices; in 1754 an agreement was ratified by
which the revenues from all the benefices in Spain and in the American
colonies were paid into the government treasury to carry on the war
against the African pirates. The King of Sardinia received the title of
Vicar of the Holy See which carried with it the right of nomination to
all the ecclesiastical benefices in his dominions and the income of the
pontifical fiefs in lieu of which a yearly indemnity of one thousand
ducats was to be paid. Through the mediation of the pope a tribunal was
established in Naples consisting of an equal number of clerical and lay
members presided over by an ecclesiastic, which formed the final court
for the trial of ecclesiastical cases. As mediator between the Kinghts
of Malta and the King of Naples the pope brought a long standing
controversy to a happy termination. By the Encyclical "Ex omnibus
christiani orbis" (16 October, 1756), the bitter controversy regarding
the question of admitting to the sacraments persons who would not
accept the Bull "Unigenitus" was brought to a close. While insisting on
the authority of the "Unigenitus" and pointing out that it was the duty
of all the faithful to accept it with veneration, the pope decrees that
only those persons should be excluded from the sacraments whose
opposition to the pontifical constitution was public and notorious, and
who therefore should be regarded as public enemies. The title of King
of Prussia, taken in 1701 by the Elector of Brandenburg, was recognized
by Benedict against the vigorous opposition of many members of the
Curia. He was referred to as the sage par excellence by Maria Theresa,
and received many encomiums from the sultan to whom he playfully
referred in his writings as the "Good Turk". At the close of his
pontificate the only question of importance in the foreign relations of
the Holy See which had not been successfully settled was that
concerning the Patriarchate of Aquileia over which the Republic of
Venice and the emperor claimed control. Benedict decided that the
rights of the patriarchate should be divided between the Archbishopric
of Görz, in Austria, and that of Udine in the Venetian States.
This decision was regarded as unjust by Venice, which in retaliation
decreed that no Bull, Brief, or communication of the Holy See should be
promulgated within the jurisdiction of the Republic without the
supervision and approval of the Government.
Temporal and spiritual ruler
As temporal sovereign Benedict governed the States of the Church with
wisdom and moderation and introduced many reforms for the purpose of
diminishing abuses and promoting the happiness and prosperity of the
people. With a view to replenishing the treasury which had been
exhausted by the extravagance of some of his predecessors, especially
that of Benedict XIII under the influence of Cardinal Coscia, and
because of the enormous outlay for public buildings under Clement XII,
he made no promotions to the Sacred College for four years. Measures
were set on foot to reform the nobility, a new regional division of the
city was introduced for the purpose of greater administrative
efficiency, agriculture was fostered and encouraged by the introduction
of new and improved methods, commerce was promoted, and luxury
restrained, while the practice of usury, against which he published the
Encyclical Vix Pervenit (1745), was almost entirely suppressed.
Benedict abandoned none of the claims of his predecessors, but the
liberal use of his powers had no other aim than the promotion of the
arts of peace and industry. How serious the problem was is best seen
from his own words: "The pope orders, the cardinals do not obey, and
the people do as they please."
In purely spiritual and religious matters the influence of Benedict
left a lasting impress on the entire Church and its administration. His
Bulls and Encyclicals, which have played such an important part in
defining and clarifying obscure and difficult points of ecclesiastical
law, were learned treatises full of wisdom and scholarship. The vexed
question of mixed marriages, unions between Catholics and Protestants,
demanded settlement in consequence of the increasing frequency with
which they occurred. Much of the bitterness of the Reformation time had
passed away and Protestants sought to have their marriages with
Catholics solemnized with ceremonies equal to those when both parties
were Catholics. Though the doctrine prevailed in Rome that the
contracting parties were the real ministers of the Sacrament of
Matrimony, no general unanimity prevailed among theologians on this
point. Without derogating in the least from this theory, Benedict in
reply to the questions from bishops in many places, especially in
Holland and Poland, decreed by the Bull "Magnæ nobis
admirationis" (29 June, 1748) that mixed marriages were allowable only
under certain well-defined conditions, the principal of which was that
children born of those marriages should be brought up in the Catholic
Faith, but that such marriages while tolerated, should never be
performed with the ceremonies that imply formal ecclesiastical approval.
Relations with eastern Churches
Under the skilful hand of Benedict a formal union was consummated with
some of the Eastern Churches. The frequent attempts of the Greek
Melchite Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem to obtain
recognition from the Holy See did not for a long time result in any
definite union, because of dissatisfaction on the part of the popes
with the formulation of the Oriental creeds. In 1744, Benedict XIV sent
the pallium to Seraphin Tanas whom he acknowledged as Patriarch of the
Greek Melchites of Antioch. The conflicts in the Maronite Church, after
the deposition of Jacob II, which seriously threatened its unity were
settled in a national council (1736), the decrees of which were
approved by Benedict. On 18 March, 1751, he renewed the prohibitions of
Clement XII against the
Freemasons, and though very few governments
regarded the suppression of this society as demanding decisive action
on their part, laws were at once passed by Spain and Naples, and in
1757 by Milan. The controversy in regard to Chinese and Malabar
customs, or the system of accommodation to heathenism which some
missionaries had permitted their converts to practice, and by which it
was said that pagan ideas and pagan practices had been grafted on
Christianity, was terminated by Benedict
XIV who issued two Bulls on
the subject, and required the missionaries to take an oath that such
abuses would not be tolerated in the future. The Bull "Ex quo
singulari", in regard to the abuses in China, was published 11 July,
1742; that in regard to Malabar, "Omnium sollicitudinum", 12 September,
1744. (See CHINA, INDIA.) Because of the manner in which church
festivals had been multiplied, Benedict strove to diminish them. This
he did in Spain in 1742, in Sicily and Tuscany in 1748, and later in
Sardinia, Austria, and the Papal States. Such a move met with much
opposition from many cardinals. Benedict silenced their reproaches by
saying that fewer feasts observed in a more Christian manner would
contribute more to the glory of religion.
Liturgical reforms
In liturgical matters Benedict XIV was extremely conservative. He
viewed with grief the profound changes which had been introduced into
the Roman Calendar since the time of Pius V. The increase in the number
of Feasts of Saints and the multiplication of offices with the rank of
Duplex had superseded the old ferial and dominical offices, and
throughout his entire pontificate he set himself determinedly against
the introduction of any new offices in the Breviary, a policy which he
adhered to so strictly that the only change it underwent during his
administration was that Leo the Great received the title of Doctor. So
profoundly impressed was he with the necessity of a thorough revision
of the Breviary which would eliminate those portions with which the
critical sense of the eighteenth century found fault that he
commissioned the Jesuit, Fabio Danzetto, to prepare a report on the
subject. This report in four volumes of notes was of such a sweeping
character that it is said to have caused Benedict to desist from his
project. The plan of reforming the Roman Martyrology was, however,
carried to a successful issue, and a new edition was published by his
authority in Rome in 1748. The same is true of the "Cæremoniale
Episcoporum", which Benedict XIII undertook to reform and which
Benedict XIV published (1752) in the now usual form. The classical work
of Benedict on liturgical matters is his "De Servorum Dei
Beatificatione et de Beatorum Canonizatione" which still regulates the
process of beatification and canonization. Other important liturgical
writings of Benedict deal with the sacrifice of the Mass and the feasts
of Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, and some saints. Besides these he
published numerous works on the rites of the Greeks and Orientals;
Bulls and Briefs on the celebration of the octave of the Holy Apostles,
against the use of superstitious images, on the blessing of the
pallium, against profane music in churches, on the golden rose, etc.
In order that the clergy should not be deficient in ecclesiastical and
historical science, and that they might not lack opportunity to profit
by the intellectual progress of the period, he founded at Rome four
academies for the study of Roman antiquities, Christian antiquities,
the history of the Church and the councils, and the history of canon
law and liturgy. He also established a Christian museum, and
commissioned Joseph Assemani to prepare a catalogue of the manuscripts
in the Vatican Library, which he enriched by the purchase of the
Ottobonian Library containing 3,300 manuscripts of unique value and
importance. He founded chairs of chemistry and mathematics in the Roman
university known as the Sapienza, and many others for painting,
sculpture, etc., at other schools. Over all these foundations he
exercised the closest supervision; he also found time to carry out many
schemes for the building and adornment of churches in Rome. The fact
that Benedict never raised a Jesuit to the cardinalate is attributed to
his hostility to the Society; on the other hand, it must be noted that
it was to a Jesuit, Emmanuel Azevedo, that he committed the complete
edition of his works (1747-51). He had been long urged by his friends
Cardinals Passionei and Archinto to order a thorough reformation of
that body, but it was not until the last year of his life that any
decisive action was taken. On 1 April, 1758, he issued a Brief by which
Cardinal Saldanha was commissioned to inspect all the colleges and
houses of the Society in Portugal, and to undertake a reform of the
same, but this authority was withdrawn by his successor, Clement XIII.
Benedict XIV sought recreation in the society of learned men and
artists, among whom he shone as a wit and a scholar. Gay, lively, and
talkative, his conversation at times amazed, if it did not shock, the
staid sensibilities of some of the dignified courtiers who came in
contact with him. Mild and gracious in his demeanour to all who
approached him, the pope was at times lacking neither in energy nor
spirit. On one occasion a violent scene took place in which the pope
expressed in a most decided manner his disapproval of the tactics of
the French court. Choiseul, the French ambassador, called at the
Vatican to request that the appointment of Cardinal Archinto to succeed
Cardinal Valenti as Secretary of State be deferred until after some
matters in which the French king was interested were decided. Choiseul
himself gives an account of this scene (Letters, p. 169), without,
however, relating all the details. The conversation was more lively
than Choiseul reported, and from the "Mémoires" of the Baron de
Besonval (p. 106) we learn that when the pope had grown tired of the
importunities of Choiseul he seized him by the arm and pushing him into
his own seat said: "Be pope yourself" (Fa el Papa). Choiseul replied:
"No, Holy Father, let us each do his part. You continue to be pope and
I shall be ambassador." This brusqueness, however, was not usual with
Benedict. He could be gay as well as serious. The Abbate Galiani once
presented him with a collection of minerals saying: Dic ut lapides isti
panes fiant (Command that these stones be made bread), and the hint was
not lost. The miracle requested was performed and the abbé
received a pension.
To his subjects Benedict was an idol. If they complained at times that
he wrote too much and governed them too little, they all agreed that he
spoke well and wittily, and his jokes and bon mots were the delight of
Rome. Cares of state, after his elevation to the pontificate prevented
him from devoting himself as much as he would have wished to his
studies of former days; but he never lacked intellectual stimulus. He
surrounded himself with such men as Quirini, Garampi, Borgia, Muratori,
and carried on an active correspondence with scholars of many shades of
opinion. His intellectual pre-eminence was not only a source of pride
to Catholics, but formed a strong bond with many not of the Faith.
Voltaire dedicated to him his "Mahomet" with the words: "Au chef de la
véritable religion un écrit contre le fondateur d'une
religion fausse et barbare". On another occasion he composed for a
portrait of the pope the following distich:
Lambertinus hic est, Romæ decus, et pater orbis
Qui mundum scriptis docuit, virtutibus ornat.
(This is Lambertini, the pride of Rome, the father of the world,
who teaches that world by his writings and honours by his virtues.)
The distich caused discussion regarding the quantity of "hic", but the
pope defended the prosody of Voltaire who confirmed his opinion by a
quotation from Virgil which he said ought to be the epitaph of
Benedict.
Great as a man, a scholar, an administrator, and a priest, Benedict's
claim to immortality rests principally on his admirable ecclesiastical
writings. The most important of them, besides those already mentioned,
are: "Institutiones Ecclesiasticæ", written in Italian, but
translated into Latin by P. Ildephonsus a S. Carolo; it is a collection
of 107 documents, principally pastoral letters, letters to bishops and
others, independent treatises, instructions, etc., all of which are
really scientific dissertations on subjects connected with church law
or the care of souls; the classical work "De Synodo Dioecesanâ",
published after his elevation to the papacy, an adaptation to diocesan
administration of the general ecclesiastical law; this book is called
by Schulte, because of its influence, one of the most important, if not
the most important, modern work in canon law; "Casus Conscientiæ
de mandato Prosp. Lambertini Archiep. Bonon propositi et resoluti",
valuable for the lawyer as well as the confessor; "Bullarum Benedicti
XIV", which contains the legislation of his pontificate, many of its
documents being scientific treatises. He also compiled a "Thesaurus
Resolutionum Sacræ Congregationis Concilii", the first attempt at
a scientific presentation of the "Praxis" of the Roman Congregations. A
complete edition of his works appeared at Rome (1747-51) in twelve
folio volumes, by Emmanuel Azevedo, S.J., who also translated into
Latin the Italian documents. A better and more complete edition is that
of Venice, 1788. The latest and most serviceable (Prato, 1844) is in
seventeen volumes. Some letters of Benedict were published by Kraus:
"Briefe Benedicts XIV an den Canonicus Pier Francesco Peggi in Bologna
(1729-1758) nebst Benedicts Diarium des Conclaves von 1740" (2d ed.,
Freiburg, 1888). Cf. Batiffol, "Inventaire des lettres inédites
du Pape Bénoit XIV" (Paris, 1894); R. De Martinis, "Acta
Benedicti XIV"; (Naples, 1884, passim). In 1904 Heiner edited three
hitherto unpublished treatises of Benedict XIV on rites, the feasts of
the Apostles, and the Sacraments.
Sources
The best account of the writings of Benedict and the sources for his
life are contained in the above-mentioned work of KRAUS. See also
GUARNACCHI, Vitæ et res gestæ Romanor. Pontif. et Card. a
Clem. X usque ad Clem XI (Rome, 1857); NOVAES, Storia de' Sommi
Pontefici (Rome, 1822); RANKE, Die röm. Päpste in den letzten
vier Jahrh. (Leipzig, ed. 1900); Vie du Pape Bened. XIV (Paris, 1783);
GRÖNE, Papst-Geschichte (Ratisbon, 1875), II. For a long account
of the Curia and the character of the cardinals in the time of Benedict
XIV, see CHOISEUL, Lettres et Mémoires inédites,
publiées par Maurice Boutry (Paris, 1895). On Benedict as a
canonist see SCHULTE, Gesch. der Quellen und Litt. des can. Rechts
(Stuttgart, 1880), III, 503 sqq.
|
 1758-1769 Pope
Clement XIII; the Jansenist
Abbé Clément, a grudging witness, tells us that "he
was called the saint (by his people), and was an exemplary man who,
notwithstanding the immense revenues of his diocese and his private
estate, was always without money owing to the lavishness of his
alms-deeds, and would give away even his linen"
(CARLO DELLA TORRE REZZONICO).
Born at Venice, 7 March, 1693; died at Rome, 2 February, 1769. He was
educated by the Jesuits at Bologna, took his degrees in law at Padua,
and in 1716 was ppointed at Rome referendary of the two departments
known as the "Signatura Justitiæ" and the "Signatura
Gratiæ". He was made governor of Rieti in 1716, of Fano in 1721,
and Auditor of the Rota for Venice in 1725. In 1737 he was made
cardinal-deacon, and in 1743 Bishop of Padua, where he distinguished
himself by his zeal for the formation and sanctification of his clergy,
to promote which he held a synod in 1746, and published a very
remarkable pastoral on the priestly state. His personal life was in
keeping with his teaching, and the Jansenist Abbé
Clément, a grudging witness, tells us that "he was called the
saint (by his people), and was an exemplary man who, notwithstanding
the immense revenues of his diocese and his private estate, was always
without money owing to the lavishness of his alms-deeds, and would give
away even his linen". In 1747 he became cardinal-priest, and on 6 July,
1758, he was elected pope to succeed Benedict XIV. It was with tears
that he submitted to the will of the electors, for he gauged well the
force and direction of the storm which was gathering on the political
horizon.
Regalism and Jansenism were the traditional enemies of the Holy See in
its government of the Church, but a still more formidable foe was
rising into power and using the other two as its instruments. This was
the party of Voltaire and the Encyclopedists, the "Philosophers" as
they liked to call themselves. They were men of talent and highly
educated, and by means of these gifts had drawn over to themselves many
admirers and adherents from among the ruling classes, with the result
that by the time of Clement XIII, they had their representatives in
power in the Portugese and in all the five Bourbon Courts. Their enmity
was radically against the Christian religion itself, as putting a
restraint on their licence of thought and action. In their private
correspondence they called it the Infâme (the infamous one), and
looked forward to its speedy extinction through the success of their
policy; but they felt that in their relations with the public, and
especially with the sovereigns, it was necessary to feign some kind of
Catholic belief. In planning this war against the Church, they were
agreed that the first step must be the destruction of the Jesuits.
"When we have destroyed the Jesuits", wrote Voltaire to
Helvétius in 1761, "we shall have easy work with the
Infâme." And their method was to persuade the sovereigns that the
Jesuits were the chief obstacle to their Regalist pretensions, and
thereby a danger to the peace of their realms; and to support this view
by the diffusion of defamatory literature, likewise by inviting the
co-operation of those who, whilst blind to the character of their
ulterior ends, stood with them for doctrinal or other reasons in their
antipathy to the Society of Jesus. Such was the political situation
with which Clement XIII saw himself confronted when he began his
pontificate.
|
 1775 1799 Pope
Pius VI; Born at Cesena, 27
December, 1717; elected 15 February, 1775; died
at Valence, France, 29 Aug., 1799. He was of a noble but impoverished
family, and was educated at the Jesuit College of Cesena and studied
law at Ferrara. After a diplomatic mission to Naples, he was appointed
papal secretary and canon of St. Peter's in 1755. Clement XIII
appointed him treasurer of the Roman Church in 1766, and Clement XIV
made him a cardinal in 1775. He then retired to the Abbey of Subiaco,
of which he was commendatory abbot, until his election as Pius
VI. the French took Rome on 10 Feb., 1798, and proclaimed
the Roman Republic on 15 Feb. Because the pope refused to submit, he
was forcibly taken from Rome on the night of 20 Feb., and brought first
to Siena and then to Florence. At the end of March, 1799, though
seriously ill, he was hurried to Parma, Piacenza, Turin, then over the
Alps to Briançon and Grenoble, and finally to Valence, where he
succumbed to his sufferings before he could be brought further.
(GIOVANNI ANGELICO BRASCHI).
Spain, Portugal, and France had at first combined to prevent his
election, because he was believed to be a friend of the Jesuits; he was
well disposed towards the order, but he dared not revoke the Bull of
their suppression. Still he ordered the liberation of their general,
Ricci, a prisoner in the Castle of Sant’ Angelo in Rome, but the
general died before the decree of liberation arrived. Upon the request
of Frederick II of Prussia he permitted the Jesuits to retain their
schools in Prussia; while in Russia, he permitted an uninterrupted
continuation of the order. Soon after his accession he took steps to
root out the Gallican idea of papal supremacy which had been spread in
Germany by Hontheim (see FEBRONIANISM.
Joseph II forbade Austrian bishops to apply to Rome for faculties of
any kind, and suppressed innumerable monasteries. Pius VI resolved to
go to Vienna; he left Rome on 27 Feb., 1782, and arrived in Vienna on
22 March. The emperor received him respectfully, though the minister,
Kaunitz, neglected even the ordinary rules of etiquette. The pope
remained at Vienna until 22 April, 1782. All that he obtained from the
emperor was the promise that his ecclesiastical reforms would not
contain any violation of Catholic dogmas, or compromise the dignity of
the pope. The emperor accompanied the pope on his return as far as the
Monastery of Mariabrunn, and suppressed this monastery a few hours
after the pope had left it. Scarcely had the pope reached Rome when he
again saw himself compelled to protest against the emperor's
unjustifiable confiscation of ecclesiastical property. But when Joseph
II filled the vacant See of Milan of his own authority, Pius solemnly
protested, and it was probably at this occasion that he threatened the
emperor with excommunication. On 23 Dec., 1783, the emperor
unexpectedly came to Rome to return the papal visit. He was determined
to continue his ecclesiastical reforms, and made known to the Spanish
diplomat, Azara, his project of separating the German Church entirely
from Rome. The latter, however, dissuaded him from taking this fatal
step. To avoid worse things, the pope granted him the right of
nominating the bishops in the Duchies of Milan and Mantua, in a
concordat dated 20 Jan., 1784 (see Nussi, "Conventiones de rebus
ecclesiasticis et civilibus inter S. Sedem et civilem potestatem",
Mainz, 1870, 138-9).
Joseph's example was followed in Tuscany by his brother, the Grand Duke
Leopold II and Bishop Scipio Ricci of Pistoia. Here the antipapal
reforms culminated in the Synod of Pistoia in 1786, where the doctrines
of Jansenius and Quesnel were sanctioned, and the papal supremacy was
eliminated. In his Bull "Auctorem fidei"
of 28 Aug., 1794, the pope condemned the acts, and in particular
eighty-five propositions of this synod. In Germany the three
ecclesiastical Electors of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne, and the
Archbishop of Salzburg attempted to curtail papal authority by
convening a congress at Ems (q.v.).
With Portugal the papal relations became very friendly after the
accession of Maria I in 1777, and a satisfactory concordat was
concluded in 1778 (Nussi, loc. cit., 138-39).
In Spain, Sardinia, and Venice the Governments to a great
extent followed in the footsteps of Joseph II. But the most sweeping
anti-ecclesiastical reforms were carried out in the Two Sicilies.
Ferdinand IV refused the exequatur to all papal briefs that were
obtained without the royal permission, and claimed the right to
nominate all ecclesiastical beneficiaries. Pius VI refused to accept
the bishops that were nominated by the king and, as a result, there
were in 1784 thirty vacant sees in the Kingdom of Naples alone, which
number had increased to sixty in 1798. The king, moreover, refused to
acknowledge the papal suzerainty which had existed for eight hundred
years. The pope repeatedly made overtures, but the king persisted in
nominating to all the vacant sees. In April, 1791, when more than half
the sees in the Kingdom of Naples were vacant, a temporary compromise
was reached and in that year sixty-two vacant sees were filled
(Rinieri, loc. cit., infra).
In response to the
application of the clergy of the United States, the Bull of April,
1788, erected the See of Baltimore.
Pius VI put the papal finances on a firmer basis; drained
the marshy lands near Città della Pieve, Perugia, Spoleto, and
Trevi; deepened the harbours of Porto d'Anzio and Terracina; added a
new sacristy to the Basilica of St. Peter; completed the Musee
Pio-Clementino, and enriched it with many costly pieces of art;
restored the Via Appia; and drained the greater part of the Pontine
Marshes.
After the French Revolution, Pius rejected the "Constitution civile du
clergé" on 13 March, 1791, suspended the priests that accepted
it, provided as well as he could for the banished clergy and protested
against the execution of Louis XVI. France retaliated by annexing the
small papal territories of Avignon and Venaissin. The pope's
co-operation with the Allies against the French Republic, and the
murder of the French attaché, Basseville, at Rome, brought on by
his own fault, led to Napoleon's attack on the Papal States. At the
Truce of Bologna (25 June, 1796) Napoleon dictated the terms:
twenty-one million francs, the release of all political criminals, free
access of French ships into the papal harbours, the occupation of the
Romagna by French troops etc. At the Peace of Tolentino (19 Feb., 1797)
Pius VI was compelled to surrender Avignon, Venaissin, Ferrara,
Bologna, and the Romagna; and to pay fifteen million francs and give up
numerous costly works of art and manuscripts. In an attempt to
revolutionize Rome the French General Duphot was shot and killed,
whereupon the French took Rome on 10 Feb., 1798, and proclaimed the
Roman Republic on 15 Feb. Because the pope refused to submit, he was
forcibly taken from Rome on the night of 20 Feb., and brought first to
Siena and then to Florence. At the end of March, 1799, though seriously
ill, he was hurried to Parma, Piacenza, Turin, then over the Alps to
Briançon and Grenoble, and finally to Valence, where he
succumbed to his sufferings before he could be brought further. He was
first buried at Valence, but the remains were transferred to St.
Peter's in Rome on 17 Feb., 1802 (see NAPOLEON I). His statue in a
kneeling position by Canova was placed in the Basilica of St. Peter
before the crypt of the Prince of the Apostles.
|
 1963 to 1978 Pope Paul VI
Mantini. The head,
considered one
of the treasures of Saint Peter's, was given to Pope Pius II
by the
despot Thomas Palaeologus in 1461, but was returned to Constantinople
by Pope Paul VI.
Benedict XVI Pays Tribute to Paul VI Says He Was a Prudent
Helmsman
VATICAN CITY, MARCH 5, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI paid
tribute to
Pope Paul VI, saying he was a protagonist in a difficult historical
period. The Holy Father said this on Saturday, when receiving members
of the
Paul VI Institute, a Brescia, Italy-based organization which collects
documentation and promotes the thought of Giovanni Battista Montini,
who was Bishop of Rome from 1963 to 1978.
Benedict XVI mentioned some personal memories of this Pope,
who
appointed him archbishop of Munich in March 1977 and elevated him to
cardinal three months later.
"He was called by divine providence to pilot Peter's boat
during a
historical period characterized by many challenges and problems,"
Benedict XVI said.
 Paul VI was the
first modern Pope to journey to the Holy Land, on the
occasion of the historic meeting with Patriarch Athenagoras I in
Jerusalem in January 1964, nine centuries after the schism between the
Churches of the East and West.
That visit "had a clear symbolic meaning" and "indicated to the Church
that the path of its mission consists in reiterating the footsteps of
Christ," the German Pope said in his tribute.
He added: "The secret of the pastoral action carried out by Paul VI
with tireless dedication, adopting on occasions difficult and unpopular
decisions," lies in his love of Christ and his total dedication to
Jesus, as well as in "a missionary tension nourished by the sincere
desire for dialogue with humanity."
In the period after the Second Vatican Council, which Paul VI closed,
he "did not let himself be conditioned by misunderstandings and
criticisms, though at times he had to endure suffering and violent
attacks," Benedict XVI said, "but in all circumstances he was a firm
and prudent helmsman of Peter's boat."
The Paul VI Institute arose in 1979. In addition to archives, it has a
30,000-volume library, including 10,000 books from Paul VI's personal
library.
|
 1338 Nicholas Boccasino, the future Pope Benedict
XI Blessed James Benfatti a master in theology and a holy priest
OP B (AC)
(also known as James of Mantua) Born in Mantua, Italy; died
there;
cultus confirmed 1859 by Pope Pius IX.
James Benefatti, bishop of Mantua, was a famous man in his time; it is
unfortunate that he is so little known in ours.
James entered the Dominican convent in his home town about
1290. He was
both a master in theology and a holy priest. These qualities brought
him to the attention of his brother Dominican, Nicholas Boccasino, the
future Pope Benedict XI. As cardinal, Nicholas chose the young
Dominican from Mantua for his companion. He employed him in various
offices in Rome and recommended him to other high-ranking prelates.
Consequently, James found himself kept busy in diplomatic offices by
several popes--Benedict XI and John
XXII among them.
For 18 years after being
consecrated (1303) bishop of Mantua by  Pope
John XXII in 1320, James
occupied the see and accomplished great good among the
people, meriting
his title of "Father of the Poor." He rebuilt and refurnished the
cathedral and worked many miracles among his flock. At his death in
1338, many remarkable miracles occurred, and he was called "Blessed
James" by people who were grateful for his intercession. Nearly 150
years after his death, when repairs were being made in the church where
he was buried, an accident opened his tomb, and people were startled to
find that his body was completely incorrupt. Again in 1604, the same
phenomenon was noted (Attwater 2, Benedictines, Dorcy).
Nicholas Boccasini Born at Treviso, Italy, 1240; died at
Perugia, 7
July, 1304. He entered the Dominican Order at the age of fourteen.
After fourteen years of study, he became lector of theology, which
office he filled for several years. In 1296 he was elected Master
General of the Order. As at this time hostility to Boniface VIII was
becoming more pronounced, the new general issued an ordinance
forbidding his subjects to favour in any way the opponents of the
reigning pontiff; he also enjoined on them to defend in their sermons,
when opportune, the legitimacy of the election of Boniface. This
loyalty of Boccasini, which remained unshaken to the end, was
recognized by Boniface, who showed him many marks of favour and
confidence. Thus with the two cardinal-legates, the Dominican General
formed the important embassy, the purpose of which was the concluding
of an armistice between Edward I of England and Philip IV of France,
then at war with each other. In the year 1298 Boccasini was elevated to
the cardinalate; he was afterwards appointed Bishop of Ostia and Dean
of the Sacred College. As at that time Hungary was rent by civil war,
the cardinal-bishop was sent thither by the Holy See as legate a latere
to labour for the restoration of peace. At the time of the return of
the legate to Rome, the famous contest of Boniface VIII with Philip the
Fair had reached its height. When, in 1303, the enemies of the pope had
made themselves masters of the sacred palace, of all the cardinals and
prelates only the two Cardinal-Bishops of Ostia and Sabina remained at
the side of the venerable Pontiff to defend him from the violence of
William of Nogaret and Sciarra Colonna.
A month after this scene of violence, Boniface having died,
Boccasini
was unanimously elected Pope, 22 October, taking the name of Benedict
XI. The principal event of his pontificate was the restoration of peace
with the French court. Immediately after his election Philip sent three
ambassadors to the pope bearing the royal letter of congratulation. The
king, while professing his obedience and devotion, recommended to the
benevolence of the pope the Kingdom and Church of France. Benedict,
judging a policy of indulgence to be necessary for the restoration of
peace with the French court, absolved Philip and his subjects from the
censures they had incurred and restored the king and kingdom to the
rights and privileges of which they had been deprived by Boniface. The
Colonna cardinals were also absolved from their censures, but not
reinstated in their former dignities. This policy of leniency Benedict
carried out without compromising the dignity of the Holy See or the
memory of Boniface VIII. Nogaret and Sciarra Colonna and those
implicated in the outrage of Anagni were declared excommunicated and
summoned to appear before the pontifical tribunal. After a brief
pontificate of eight months, Benedict died suddenly at Perugia. It was
suspected, not altogether without reason, that his sudden death was
caused by poisoning through the agency of William of Nogaret. Benedict
XI was beatified in the year 1773. His feast is celebrated at Rome and
throughout the Dominican Order on the 7th of July. He is the author of
a volume of sermons and commentaries on a part of the Gospel of St.
Matthew, on the Psalms, the Book of Job, and the Apocalypse.
|
1572 to 1585 Pope Gregory XIII
(January 7, 1502 – April 10, 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni.
Early biography
Youth
He was born in Bologna,
where he studied law and graduated in 1530.
Afterwards, he taught jurisprudence for some years; his students
included notable figures such as Alexander Farnese, Reginald Pole and
Charles Borromeo.
Career before Papacy
At the age of thirty-six he was summoned to Rome by Pope
Paul III
(1534–1549), under whom he held successive appointments as first judge
of the capital, abbreviator, and vice-chancellor of the Campagna; by
Pope Paul IV (1555–1559) he was attached as datarius to the suite of
Cardinal Carafa; and by Pope Pius IV (1559–1565) he was created
cardinal priest and sent to the council of Trent.
He also served as a legate to Philip II of Spain
(1556–1598), being
sent by the Pope to investigate the Cardinal of Toledo. It was here
that he formed a lasting and close relationship with the Spanish King,
which was to become a very important during his foreign policy as Pope.
Election as Pope
Upon the death of Pope Pius V (1566–1572), the conclave
chose Cardinal
Boncompagni, who assumed the name of Gregory XIII, in homage to the
great reforming Pope, Gregory I (590–604), surnamed the Great. It was a
very brief conclave, lasting less than 24 hours, presumed by many
historians to have been due to the influence and backing of the Spanish
King. His character seemed to be perfect for the needs of the church at
the time. Unlike some of his predecessors, Gregory XIII was to lead a
faultless personal life, becoming a model for his simplicity of life.
Additionally, his legal brilliance and management abilities meant that
he was able to respond and deal with the major problems quickly and
decisively, although not always successfully.
Pontificate Reform
of the Church
Once in the chair of Saint Peter, Gregory XIII's rather worldly
concerns became secondary and he dedicated himself to reform of the
Catholic Church.
He committed himself to putting into practice the recommendations of
the Council of Trent.
He allowed no exceptions for cardinals to the rule that bishops must
take up residence in their sees, and designated a committee to update
the Index of Forbidden Books.
A new and greatly improved edition of the Corpus juris canonici was
also due to his concerned patronage.
In a time of considerable centralisation of power, Gregory XIII
abolished the Cardinals Consistories, replacing them with Colleges, and
appointing specific tasks for these colleges to work on.
He was renowned for having
a
fierce independence; with the few confidants noting there were
interventions that were not always welcomed nor advice sought for.
The power of the papacy
increased under him, whereas the influence and power of the Cardinals
substantially decreased.
Formation of clergy and
promotion of the arts and sciences
A central part of the strategy of Gregory XIII's reform was to apply
the recommendations of Trent.
He was a liberal patron of the recently formed Society of Jesus
throughout Europe, for which he founded many new colleges. The Roman
College, of the Jesuits, grew substantially under his patronage, and
became the most important centre of learning in Europe for a time, a
University of the Nations. It is now named the Pontifical Gregorian
University.
Pope Gregory XIII also
founded
numerous seminaries for training priests, beginning with the German
College at Rome, and put them in the charge of the Jesuits.
In 1575 he gave official
status to the Congregation
of the Oratory a community of priests without vows, dedicated to
prayer and preaching (founded by Saint Filippo Neri).
The Gregorian Calendar
Gregory XIII is best known for his reformation of the
calendar,
producing the Gregorian calendar with the aid of Jesuit
priest/astronomer Christopher Clavius. The reason for the reform is
that the average length of the year in the Julian Calendar was too
long, and the date of the actual Vernal Equinox had slowly slipped to
March 10, whereas the computus (calculation) of the Easter date of
Easter still followed the traditional date of March 21.
This was rectified by following the observations of Clavius and
Johannes Kepler, and the calendar was changed when Pope Gregory XIII
decreed that the day after October 4, 1582 would be October 15, 1582.
He issued the papal bull Inter gravissimas
to promulgate the new calendar on February 24, 1582.
On October 15, 1582, this
calendar replaced the Julian calendar,
in use since 45 BC, and has
become universally used today.
The switchover was
bitterly opposed by much of the populace, who feared
it was an attempt by landlords to cheat them out of a week and a half's
rent. However, the Catholic countries of Spain, Portugal, Poland, and
Italy complied. France, the Protestant Netherlands and various Catholic
states in Germany and Switzerland (both countries were religiously
split) followed suit within a year or two, and Hungary followed in 1587.
Because of the Pope's decree, the reform of the Julian calendar came to
be known as the Gregorian calendar. However, the rest of Europe did not
follow suit for more than a century. The Protestant German countries
adopted the Gregorian reform in 1700. By this time, the calendar
trailed the seasons by 11 days. Great Britain (and its American
colonies) finally followed suit in 1752, and Wednesday, September 2,
1752 was immediately followed by Thursday, September 14, 1752. This
traumatic change resulted in widespread riots with the populace
demanding that the eleven days be given back.
The Gregorian Calendar was
not
accepted in eastern christiandom for several hundred years, and then
only as the civil calendar. The Gregorian Calendar was instituted in
Russia by the communists in
1917,
and the last Eastern Orthodox country to accept the calendar
was
Greece in 1923.
While some Eastern
Orthodox national churches have accepted the
Gregorian Calendar dates for "fixed" feasts (feasts that occur on the
same date every year), the dates of all movable feasts (such as Easter)
are still calculated in the Eastern Orthodox Churches by reference to
the Julian Calendar.
Foreign policy
Though he expressed the conventional fears of the danger
from the
Turks, Gregory XIII's attentions were more consistently directed to the
dangers from the Protestants. He encouraged the plans of Phillip
II to dethrone Elizabeth I of England (1558–1603) thus succeeded in
developing an atmosphere of subversion and imminent danger among
English Protestants, who looked on any Roman Catholic as a potential
traitor.
In 1578, to further the plans of exiled English and Irish
catholics
such as Nicholas Sanders William Cardinal Allen and James Fitzmaurice
Fitzgerald, Gregory outfitted adventurer Thomas Stukeley with a ship
and an army of 800 men to land in Ireland to aid the Desmond Rebellions
of Fitzmaurice. To his dismay Stukeley joined his forces with those of
King Sebastian of Portugal against Emperor Abdul Malik of Morocco
instead.
Another papal expedition sailed to Ireland in 1579 under the
command of
Fitzmaurice, accompanied by Sanders as papal legate. The resulting
Second Desmond Rebellion was equally unsuccessful.
Gregory XIII had no connection with the plot of Henry, Duke
of Guise,
and his brother, Charles, Duke of Mayenne, to assassinate Elizabeth I
in 1582, and most probably knew nothing about it beforehand.
A shameful moment for the
Papacy was the Massacre of Hugeonots in
France, although it is commonly held that the Pope was ignorant of this
at the time. He celebrated the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacres in 1572
with a Te Deum and a commemorative medal, with his portrait and on the
obverse a chastising angel, sword in hand and the legend UGONOTTORUM
STRAGES ("Huguenots slaughtered") Note 53.
Cultural patronage
In Rome Gregory XIII built the magnificent Gregorian chapel
in the
Basilica of St. Peter, and extended the Quirinal Palace in 1580. He
also turned the Baths of Diocletian into a granary in 1575.
He appointed his illegitimate son Giacomo[1], born to his
mistress at
Bologna before his papacy, castellan of St. Angelo and gonfalonier of
the Church; Venice, anxious to please, enrolled him among its nobles.
Philip II of Spain appointed him general in his army.
Gregory also helped his son to become a powerful feudatary
through the
acquisition of the Duchy of Sora, on the border between the Papal
States and te Kingdom of Naples.
In order to raise funds for these and similar objects, he
confiscated a
large proportion of the houses and properties throughout the states of
the Church – a measure which enriched his treasury, indeed, for a time,
but by alienating the great body of the nobility and gentry, revived
old factions, created new ones, and ultimately plunged his temporal
dominions into a state bordering upon anarchy.
Such was the position of matters
at the time of Gregory XIII's death, which took place on April 10, 1585.
Gregory XIII was succeeded
by Pope Sixtus V (1585–1590).
The oldest Papal tiara still in existence dates from the
reign of
Gregory XIII.
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1305-1314, Pope
Clement V
approved an Office of the Holy Name for the
Franciscans.
Pope Clement V (BERTRAND
DE GOT.)
Born at Villandraut in Gascony, France, 1264; died at
Roquemaure, 20 April, 1314. He was elected, 5 June, 1305, at Perugia as
successor to Benedict XI, after a conclave of eleven months, the great
length of which was owing to the French and Italian factions among the
cardinals. Ten of the fifteen (mostly Italian) cardinals voting elected
him.
Giovanni Villani's story (Hist. Florent., VIII, 80, in
Muratori, SS. RR. Ital., XIII, 417; cf. Raynald, Ann. Eccl., 1305, 2-4)
of a decisive influence of Philip the Fair, and the new pope's secret
conference with and abject concessions to that king in the forest of
Saint-Jean-d'Angély, is quite unhistorical; on the other hand,
the cardinals were willing to please the powerful French king whom the
late Benedict XI had been obliged to placate by notable concessions,
and it is not improbable that some kind of a mutual understanding was
reached by the king and the future pope.
As Archbishop of Bordeaux, Bertrand de Got was actually a subject of
the King of England, but from early youth he had been a personal friend
of Philip the Fair. Nevertheless, he had remained faithful to Boniface
VIII.
The new pope came from a distinguished family. An elder
brother had been Archbishop of Lyons, and died (1297) as
Cardinal-Bishop of Albano and papal legate in France. Bertrand studied
the arts at Toulouse and canon and civil law at Orléans and
Bologna. He had been successively canon at Bordeaux, vicar-general of
the Archbishop of Lyons (his aforesaid brother), papal chaplain, Bishop
of Comminges under Boniface VIII, and eventually Archbishop of
Bordeaux, then a difficult office because of the persistent conflict
between England and France for the possession of Normandy.
The cardinals besought him to come to Perugia and go
thence to Rome for his coronation, but he ordered them to repair to
Lyons, where he was crowned (14 November, 1305) in presence of Philip
the Fair and with great pomp. During the usual public procession the
pope was thrown from his horse by a falling wall; one of his brothers
was killed on that occasion, also the aged Cardinal Matteo Orsini who
had taken part in twelve conclaves and seen thirteen popes. The most
precious jewel in the papal tiara (a carbuncle) was lost that day, an
incident prophetically interpreted by German and Italian historians,
and the next day another brother was slain in a quarrel between
servants of the new pope and retainers of the cardinals.
For some time (1305-1309), Pope Clement resided at different places in
France (Bordeaux, Poitiers, Toulouse), but finally took up his
residence at Avignon, then a fief of Naples, though within the County
of Venaissin that since 1228 acknowledged the pope as overlord (in 1348
Clement VI purchased Avignon for 80,000 gold gulden from Joanna of
Naples).
Strong affection for his native France and an equally
influential fear of the quasi-anarchical conditions of Italy, and in
particular of the States of the Church and the city of Rome, led him to
this fateful decision, whereby he exposed himself to the domination of
a civil ruler (Philip the Fair), whose immediate aims were a universal
French monarchy and a solemn humiliation of Pope Boniface VIII in
return for the latter's courageous resistance to Philip's cunning,
violence, and usurpations (Hergenröther).
|
 1623 to 1644 Pope Urban VIII (April
1568 – July
29, 1644), born Maffeo Barberini, was Pope from 1623 to 1644.
He was born in 1568 to an important Florentine family.
Through the
influence of an uncle, who had become apostolic protonotary, he, while
still a young man, received various promotions from Sixtus V and
Gregory XIV. By Clement VIII he was himself made protonotary and nuncio
to the French court; Paul V also employed him in a similar capacity,
afterwards raising him to the cardinalate and making him the papal
legate to Bologna. On 6 August 1623, he was chosen successor to Gregory
XV.
His pontificate, covering
as it did twenty-one years of the Thirty
Years' War, was an eventful one, and the ultimate result of that great
struggle was largely determined by Urban's policy, which was aimed less
at the restoration of Catholicism in Europe than at such an adjustment
of the balance of parties as might best favour his own independence and
strength as a temporal power in Italy. In 1626 the duchy of Urbino was
incorporated into the papal dominions, and in 1627 when the direct male
line of the Gonzagas in Mantua became extinct, he favoured the
succession of the Duke of Nevers against the claims of the Habsburgs,
whose preponderance he dreaded.
He was the last Pope to extend the papal territory, and
fortified
Castelfranco Emilia on the Mantuan frontier. In Rome he greatly
strengthened the castle of Sant'Angelo. For the purpose of making
cannon and Vatican decoration, massive tubular girders of bronze were
pillaged from the portico of that rare intact surviving temple from
Roman empire, the Pantheon, leading to a famous quote quod non fecerunt
barbari, fecerunt Barberini, "what the barbarians did not do, the
Barberini did." He also established an arsenal in the Vatican, as well
as an arms factory at Tivoli, and fortifying the harbour of
Civitavecchia. It was during his pontificate that Galileo was summoned
to Rome in 1633 to recant his beliefs. On the other hand, he expended
vast papal funds to bring polymaths like Athanasius Kircher to Rome,
and patronized art on a grand scale, including painters Nicolas Poussin
and Claude Lorrain, architects Bernini and Borromini who helped build
the Palazzo Barberini, the college of the Propaganda, the Fontana del
Tritone in Piazza Barberini, the Vatican cathedra and other prominent
structures in the city. Pietro da Cortona embellished the gran salon of
his family palace with an apotheotic allegory of the triumph of the
Barberini.
Coat of Arms of Pope Urban VIII
Styles of Pope Urban VII Reference style His
Holiness Spoken style Your Holiness Religious style Holy Father
Posthumous style none
He was the last to practice nepotism on a grand scale:
various members
of his family were enormously enriched by him, so that it seemed to
contemporaries as if he were establishing a Barberini dynasty. He
canonized Elizabeth of Portugal and Andrew Corsini and issued the Papal
bull of canonization for Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier, who had
been canonized by his predecessor, Gregory XV. Urban VIII was a clever
writer of Latin verse, and a collection of Scriptural paraphrases as
well as original hymns of his composition has been frequently
reprinted. His death (July 29, 1644) is said to have been hastened by
chagrin at the result of the First War of Castro, a war he had
undertaken against Odoardo Farnese, the Duke of Parma. Because of the
costs incurred by the city of Rome to finance this war, Urban VIII
became immensely unpopular. On his death, the bust of Urban that lay
beside the Conservator’s Palace on the Capitoline Hill was rapidly
destroyed by an enraged crowd, and only a quick-thinking priest saved
the sculpture of Urban belonging to the Jesuits from a similar fate.[1]
He was succeeded by Innocent X.
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1644-1655 Pope
Innocent X
(Giambattista Pamfili)
Born at Rome, 6 May, 1574; died there, 7 January, 1655. His parents
were Camillo Pamfili and Flaminia de Bubalis. The Pamfili resided
originally at Gubbio, in Umbria, but came to Rome during the
pontificate of Innocent VIII. The young man studied jurisprudence at
the Collegio Romano and graduated as bachelor of laws at the age of
twenty. Soon afterwards Clement VIII appointed him consistorial
advocate and auditor of the Rota. Gregory XV made him nuncio at Naples.
Urban VIII sent him as datary with the cardinal legate, Francesco
Barberini, to France and Spain, then appointed him titular Latin
Patriarch of Antioch, and nuncio at Madrid. He was created
Cardinal-Priest of Sant' Eusebio on 30 August, 1626, though he did not
assume the purple until 19 November, 1629. He was a member of the
congregations of the Council of Trent, the Inquisition, and
Jurisdiction and Immunity. On 9 August, 1644, a conclave was held at
Rome for the election of a successor to Urban VIII. The conclave was a
stormy one. The French faction had agreed to give their vote to no
candidate who was friendly towards Spain. Cardinal Firenzola, the
Spanish candidate was, therefore, rejected, being a known enemy of
Cardinal Mazarin, prime minister of France. Fearing the election of an
avowed enemy of France, the French party finally agreed with the
Spanish party upon Pamfili, although his sympathy for Spain was well
known. On 15 September he was elected, and ascended the papal throne as
Innocent X.
Soon after his accession, Innocent found it necessary to take legal
action against the Barberini for misappropriation of public moneys. To
escape punishment Antonio and Francesco Barberini fled to Paris, where
they found a powerful protector in Mazarin. Innocent confiscated their
property, and on 19 February, 1646, issued a Bull ordaining that all
cardinals who had left or should leave the Ecclesiastical States
without papal permission and should not return within six months,
should be deprived of their ecclesiastical benefices and eventually of
the cardinalate itself. The French Parliament declared the papal
ordinances null and void, but the pope did not yield until Mazarin
prepared to send troops to Italy to invade the Ecclesiastical States.
Henceforth the papal policy towards France became more friendly, and
somewhat later the Barberini were rehabilitated. But when in 1652
Cardinal Retz was arrested by Mazarin, Innocent solemnly protested
against this act of violence committed against a cardinal, and
protected Retz after his escape in 1654. In Italy Innocent had occasion
to assert his authority as suzerain over Duke Ranuccio II of Parma who
refused to redeem the bonds (monti) of the Farnesi from the Roman
creditors, as had been stipulated in the Treaty of Venice on 31 March,
1644. The duke, moreover, refused to recognize Cristoforo Guarda, whom
the pope had appointed Bishop of Castro. When, therefore, the new
bishop was murdered while on his way to take possession of his see,
Innocent held Ranuccio responsible for the crime. The pope took
possession of Castro, razed it to the ground and transferred the
episcopal see to Acquapendente. The duke was forced to resign the
administration of his district to the pope, who undertook to satisfy
the creditors. The papal relations with Venice, which had been highly
strained during the pontificate of Urban VIII, became very friendly
during Innocent's reign. Innocent aided the Venetians financially
against the Turks in the struggle for Candia, while the Venetians on
their part allowed Innocent free scope in filling the vacant episcopal
sees in their territory, a right which they had previously claimed for
themselves. In Portugal the popular insurrection of 1640 had led to the
secession of that country from Spain, and to the election of Juan IV of
Braganza as King of Portugal. Both Urban VIII and Innocent X, in
deference to Spain, refused to acknowledge the new king and withheld
their approbation from the bishops nominated by him. Thus it happened
that towards the end of Innocent's pontificate there was only one
bishop in the whole of Portugal. On 26 November, 1648, Innocent issued
the famous Bull "Zelo domus Dei", in which he declares as null and void
those articles of the Peace of Westphalia which were detrimental to the
Catholic religion. In his Bull "Cum occasione", issued on 31 May, 1653.
he condemned five propositions taken from the "Augustinus" of
Jansenius, thus giving the impulse to the great Jansenist controversy
in France.
Innocent X was a lover of justice and his life was blameless; he was,
however, often irresolute and suspicious. The great blemish in his
pontificate was his dependence on Donna Olimpia Maidalchini, the wife
of his deceased brother. For a short time her influence had to yield to
that of the youthful Camillo Astalli, a distant relative of the pope,
whom Innocent raised to the cardinalate. But the pope seemed to be
unable to get along without her, and at her instance Astalli was
deprived of the purple and removed from the Vatican. The accusation,
made by Gualdus (Leti) in his "Vita di Donna Olimpia Maidalchini"
(1666), that Innocent's relation to her was immoral, has been rejected
as slanderous by all reputable historians.
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Pope Innocent
XIII
1655 1724 Most Holy Name of Jesus, extended this feast to the
entire Church In 1721,
Born at Rome, 13 May, 1655; died at the same place, 7 March, 1724
In a world of fiercely guarded
corporate names and logos, it should be
easy to understand this feast. The letters IHS are an abbreviation of
Jesous, the Greek name for Jesus.
Although St. Paul might claim credit for promoting devotion
to the Holy
Name because Paul wrote in Philippians that God the Father gave Christ
Jesus “that name that is above every name” (see 2:9), this devotion
became popular because of 12th-century Cistercian monks and nuns but
especially through the preaching of St. Bernardine of Siena, a
15th-century Franciscan.
Bernardine used devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus as a way of
overcoming bitter and often bloody class struggles and family rivalries
or vendettas in Italian city-states. The devotion grew, partly because
of Franciscan and Dominican preachers. It spread even more widely after
the Jesuits began promoting it in the 16th century.
Isidore of Seville B, Doctor (RM) Born at Cartagena, Spain, c. 560;
died in Seville, Spain, in April 4, 636; canonized by Pope Clement VIII
in 1598; and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Innocent XIII in
1722.
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1730-1740
Pope Clement XII (LORENZO CORSINI).
Born at Florence, 7 April, 1652; elected 12 July, 1730; died at Rome 6
February, 1740. The pontificate of the saintly Orsini pope, Benedict
XIII, from the standpoint of the spiritual interests of the Church, had
left nothing to be desired. He had, however, given over temporal
concerns into the hands of rapacious ministers; hence the finances of
the Holy See were in bad condition; there was an increasing deficit,
and the papal subjects were in a state of exasperation. It was no easy
task to select a man who possessed all the qualities demanded by the
emergency. After deliberating for four months, the Sacred College
united on Cardinal Corsini, the best possible choice, were it not for
his seventy-eight years and his failing eyesight.
A Corsini by the father's side and by the mother's a Strozzi, the best
blood of Florence coursed through his veins. Innumerable were the
members of his house who had risen to high positions in Church and
State, but its chief ornament was St. Andrew Corsini, the canonized
Bishop of Fiesole. Lorenzo made a brilliant course of studies, first in
the Roman College, then at the University of Pisa, where, after five
years, he received the degree of Doctor of Laws. Returning to Rome, he
applied himself to the practice of law under the able direction of his
uncle, Cardinal Neri Corsini, a ma of the highest culture. After the
death of his uncle and his father, in 1685, Lorenzo, now thirty-three
years old, resigned his right of primogeniture and entered the
ecclesiastical state. From Innocent XI he purchased, according to the
custom of the time, for 30,000 scudi (dollars) a position of prelatial
rank, and devoted his wealth and leisure to the enlargement of the
library bequeathed to him by his uncle. In 1691 he was made titular
Archbishop of Nicomedia and chosen nuncio to Vienna. He did not proceed
to the imperial court, because Leopold advanced the novel claim, which
Pope Alexander VIII refused to admit, of selecting a nuncio from a list
of three names to be furnished by the pope. In 1696 Corsini was
appointed to the arduous office of treasurer-general and governor of
Castle Sant' Angelo. His good fortune increased during the pontificate
of Clement XI, who employed his talents in affairs demanding tact and
prudence. On 17 May, 1706, he was created Cardinal-Deacon of the Title
of Santa Susanna, retaining the office of papal treasurer. He was
attached to several of the most important congregations and was made
protector of a score of religious institutions. He advanced still
further under Benedict XIII, who assigned him to the Congregation of
the Holy Office and made him prefect of the judicial tribunal known as
the Segnatura di Giustizia. He was successively Cardinal-Priest of S.
Pietro in Vincoli and Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati.
He had thus held with universal applause all the important offices of
the Roman Court, and it is not surprising that his elevation to the
papacy filled the Romans with joy. In token of gratitude to his
benefactor, Clement XI, and as a pledge that he would make that great
pontiff his model, he assumed the title of Clement XII. Unfortunately
he lacked the important qualities of youth and physical strength. The
infirmities of old age bore heavily upon him. In the second year of his
pontificate he became totally blind; in his later years he was
compelled to keep his bed, from which he gave audiences and transacted
affairs of state. Notwithstanding his physical decrepitude, he
displayed a wonderful activity. He demanded restitution of ill-gotten
goods from the ministers who had abused the confidence of his
predecessor. The chief culprit, Cardinal Coscia, was mulcted in a heavy
sum and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. Clement surrounded
himself with capable officials, and won the affection of his subjects
by lightening their burdens, encouraging manufacture and the arts, and
infusing a modern spirit into the laws relating to commerce. The public
lottery, which had been suppressed by the severe morality of Benedict
XIII, was revived by Clement, and poured into his treasury an annual
sum amounting to nearly a half million of scudi (dollars), enabling him
to undertake the extensive buildings which distinguish his reign. He
began the majestic façade of St. John Lateran and built in that
basilica the magnificent chapel of St. Andrew Corsini. He restored the
Arch of Constantine and built the governmental palace of the Consulta
on the Quirinal. He purchased from Cardinal Albani for 60,000 scudi the
fine collection of statues, inscriptions, etc. with which he adorned
the gallery of the Capitol. He paved the streets of Rome and the roads
leading from the city, and widened the Corso. He began the great
Fontana di Trevi, one of the noted ornaments of Rome.
In order to facilitate the reunion of the Greeks, Clement XII founded
at Ullano, in Calabria, the Corsini College for Greek students. With a
similar intent he called to Rome Greek-Melchite monks of Mt. Lebanon,
and assigned to them the ancient church of Santa Maria in Domnica. He
dispatched Joseph Simeon Assemani to the East for the twofold purpose
of continuing his search for manuscripts and presiding as legate over a
national council of Maronites. We make no attempt to enumerate all the
operations which this wonderful blind-stricken old man directed from
his bed of sickness. His name is associated in Rome with the foundation
and embellishment of institutions of all sorts. The people of Ancona
hold him in well-deserved veneration and have erected on the public
square a statue in his honour. He gave them a port which excited the
envy of Venice, and built a highway that gave them easy access to the
interior. He drained the marshes of the Chiana near Lake Trasimeno by
leading the waters through a ditch fourteen miles long into the Tiber.
He disavowed the arbitrary action of his legate, Cardinal Alberoni, in
seizing San Marino, and restored the independence of that miniature
republic. His activity in the spiritual concerns of the Church was
equally pronounced. His efforts were directed towards raising the
prevalent low tone of morality and securing discipline, especially in
the cloisters. He issued the first papal decree against the Freemasons
(1738). He fostered the new Congregation of the Passionists and gave to
his fellow-Tuscan, St. Paul of the Cross, the church and monastery of
Sts. John and Paul, with the beautiful garden overlooking the
Colosseum. He canonized Sts. Vincent de Paul, John Francis Regis,
Catherine Fieschi Adorni, Juliana Falconieri, and approved the cult of
St. Gertrude. He proceeded with vigour against the French Jansenists
and had the happiness to receive the submission of the Maurists to the
Constitution Unigenitus. Through the efforts of his missionaries in
Egypt 10,000 Copts, with their patriarch, returned to the unity of the
Church. Clement persuaded the Armenian patriarch to remove from the
diptychs the anathema against the Council of Chalcedon and St. Leo I.
In his dealings with the powers of Europe, he managed by a union of
firmness and moderation to preserve or restore harmony; but he was
unable to maintain the rights of the Holy See over the Duchies of Parma
and Piacenza. It was a consequence of his blindness that he should
surround himself with trusted relatives; but he advanced them only as
they proved their worth, and did little for his family except to
purchase and enlarge the palace built in Trastevere for the Riarii, and
now known as the Palazzo Corsini (purchased in 1884 by the Italian
Government, and now the seat of the Regia Accademia dei Lincei). In
1754, his nephew, Cardinal Neri Corsini, founded there the famous
Corsini Library, which in 1905 included about 70,000 books and
pamphlets, 2288 incunabula or works printed in the first fifty or sixty
years after the discovery of printing, 2511 manuscripts, and 600
autographs. Retaining his extraordinary faculties and his cheerful
resignation to the end, he died in the Quirinal in his eighty-eighth
year. His remains were transferred to his magnificent tomb in the
Lateran, 20 July, 1742.
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1823-1829
Pope Leo XII
(ANNIBALE FRANCESCO CLEMENTE MELCHIORE GIROLAMO NICOLA DELLA GENGA)
Born at the Castello della Genga in the territory of Spoleto, 22
August, 1760; died in Rome, 10 February, 1829. His father's family had
been ennobled by Leo XI in 1605; his mother was Maria Luisa Periberti
of Fabriano. They had a large family, seven sons and three daughters,
of which Annibale was the fifth son and sixth child. At the age of
thirteen he was placed in the Collegio Campana of Osimo, whence he was
transferred, in 1778, to the Collegio Piceno in Rome and shortly
afterwards to the Accademia dei Nobili Ecclesiastici. He was ordained
subdeacon four years later, and deacon in 1783. Two months later he was
ordained priest, dispensation being obtained for the defect of age, as
he was only twenty-three. He was of handsome person and engaging
manners and, soon after his ordination, attracted the notice of Pius
VII, who was visiting the Accademia, and by him was raised to the
prelature as cameriere segreto. In 1790 he was chosen to deliver in the
Sixtine Chapel the oration on the death of the Emperor Joseph II and
accomplished his difficult task to the admiration of all hearers,
without offending the susceptibilities of Austria or compromising the
authority of the Holy See. In 1792 he became a canon of the Vatican
church, and the following year was consecrated titular Archbishop of
Tyre and sent as nuncio to Lucerne. Thence he was transferred to the
nunciature at Cologne in 1794, a post which he occupied with great
success for eleven years. In 1895 he was accredited as nuncio
extraordinary to the Diet of Ratisbon by Pius VII in order that he
might deal with the difficulties between the German Church and its
Prussian rulers. Returning to Rome to confer with Consalvi on these
matters, he learnt that Napoleon desired the substitution of another
nuncio more devoted to his interest., in the person of Bernier, Bishop
of Orléans. Pius VII, however, was firm and Della Genga returned
to Munich. In 1798 he went with Cardinal Caprara to Paris with the
object of arranging some agreement between the Holy See and Napoleon I.
He was received, however, but coldly, and the negotiations soon came to
nothing. Della Genga returned to Rome where he witnessed the
indignities offered to Pius VII by the French. He returned in dismay to
the Abbey of Monticelli, which had been granted to him in commendam for
life by Pope Pius VI. Here he spent his time teaching his choir of
peasants to play the organ and to sing plain-chant.
Expecting to end his days there, he built in the abbey church the tombs
of his mother and himself. But in 1814, with the fall of Napoleon, Pius
VII returned to Rome and Mgr Della Genga was sent to Paris as envoy
extraordinary to convey the pope's congratulations to King Louis XVIII.
Consalvi, however, who was accredited to all the sovereigns then at
Paris, strongly resented this mission, which he held to be a slight to
himself. Louis XVIII endeavoured to smooth over matters, but the
powerful Secretary of State had his way, and Della Genga returned to
Rome, whence he again retired to Monticelli. Here he remained for two
years, when Pius VII created him cardinal of Santa Maria in Trastevere
and appointed him Bishop of Sinigaglia. But his ill-health necessitated
residence in the healthy air of Spoleto and he never entered his
diocese, which he resigned two years later. In 1820, his health being
improved, he was made Vicar of Rome, arch-priest of the Liberian
Basilica and prefect of several congregations. Three years later, on 20
August, Pius VII died; and on 2 September the conclave opened at the
Quirinal. It lasted for twenty-six days. At first the most prominent
candidates were Cardinal Severoli, the representative of the Zelanti,
and Cardinal Castiglioni (afterwards Pius VIII), the representative of
the moderate party. Castiglioni was the candidate most desired by the
great Catholic powers, but, in spite of their wishes Severoli's
influence grew daily and by the morning of 21 September, he had
received as many as twenty-six votes. As this meant that he would
probably be elected at the next scrutiny, Cardinal Albani, who
represented Austria at the conclave, informed his colleagues that the
election of Cardinal Severoli would not be acceptable to the emperor
and pronounced a formal veto. The Zelanti were furious, but, at
Severoli's suggestion, transferred their support to Della Genga, and
before the powers realized what was happening, triumphantly elected him
by thirty-four votes on the morning of 28 September. At first, however,
the pope-elect was unwilling to accept the office. With tears he
reminded the cardinals of his ill-health. "You are electing a dead
man", he said, but, when they insisted that it was his duty to accept,
he gave way and gracefully assuring Cardinal Castiglioni that he some
day was to be Pius VIII, announced his own intention of taking the
style of Leo XII.
Immediately after his election he appointed Della Somaglia, an
octogenarian, Secretary of State, an act significant of the policy of
the new reign. Leo was crowned on 5 October. His first measures were
some not very successful attempts to repress the brigandage and license
then prevalent in Maritima and the Campagna, and the publication of an
ordinance that confined again to their Ghettoes the Jews, who had moved
into the city during the period of the Revolution. These measures are
typical of the temper and policy of Leo XII. There is something
pathetic in the contrast between the intelligence and masterly energy
displayed by him as ruler of the Church and the inefficiency of his
policy as ruler of the Papal States. In face of the new social and
political order, he undertook the defence of ancient custom and
accepted institutions; he had little insight into the hopes and visions
of those who were then pioneers of the greater liberty that had become
inevitable. Stern attempts were made to purify the Curia and to control
the crowd of inefficient and venal officials that composed its staff.
Indifferentism and the Protestant proselytism of the period were
combated; the devotion of the Catholic world was estimated by the
jubilee of 1825, in spite of the opposition of timid and reactionary
prelates or sovereigns; the persecution of the Catholics in the
Netherlands was met and overcome, and the movement for the emancipation
of the Catholics in the British Isles was managed and encouraged till
success was assured. Popular discontent with the government of the
Papal States was met by the severities of Cardinal Rivarola.
The legitimist cause in France and in Spain, though marked in both
countries by the misuse of religion as an instrument of political
reaction, was supported, even when (as in the suppression of the Jesuit
schools in France, and the vacancy of Mexican sees owing to the claims
of Spain over her former colonies) the representatives of that cause
showed themselves indifferent or opposed to the interests of the Faith.
Consalvi was consulted and admired by the pope, who, both in this case
and that of the treasurer Cristaldi, showed himself too magnanimous to
allow personal grievances to weigh against the appreciation of merit,
but the cardinal's death in 1824 prevented the contribution of his
wisdom to the councils of the Holy See. The Collegio Romano was
restored to the efficient hands of the Jesuits in 1824; the Free-masons
and other secret societies were condemned in 1825; the Vatican printing
press was restored and the Vatican Library enriched; scholars like
Zurla, Martucci, and Champollion were encouraged; much was done towards
the rebuilding of St. Paul's and the restoration of the seemliness of
worship. But Leo's health was too frail to support his unremitting
devotion to the affairs of the Church. Even in December, 1823, he had
nearly died, and recovered only as by a miracle, through the prayers of
the venerable Bishop of Marittima, Vincenzo Strambi, whose life was
offered to God and accepted in the stead of the pope's. On 5 February,
1829, after a private audience with Cardinal Bernetti, who had replaced
Somaglia as Secretary of State in 1828, he was suddenly taken ill and
seemed himself to know that his end was near. On the eighth he asked
for and received the Viaticum and was anointed. On the evening of the
ninth he lapsed into unconsciousness and on the morning of the tenth he
died. He had a noble character, a passion for order and efficiency, but
he lacked insight into, and sympathy with, the temporal developments of
his period. His rule was unpopular in Rome and in the Papal States, and
by various measures of his reign he diminished greatly for his
successors their chances of solving the new problems that confronted
them.
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 1846 1878 Pius IX
(Giovanni
Maria Mastai-Ferretti, 1792-1878) devotion to Mary led him to
favor the proclamation of the immaculate conception (December 8, 1854)
Pius IX (Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, 1792-1878) The
longest-reigning pope, who played an important part in 19th century
Italian and European developments, shaping the character of the
Catholic church and the papacy prior to Vatican II, was born into a
family of the lower nobility in Senigallia. His studies at the College
of Volterre in Tuscany were interrupted by an attack of epilepsy, and
were later resumed at the Roman College. He was ordained in 1819. His
first assignment as a priest was at the Roman orphanage of Tata
Giovanni, where he remained until 1823. From 1823 to 1825 he took part
in a papal mission to Chile and Peru, and upon his return to Rome
served as the director of the hospice of San Michele. Archbishop of
Spoleto from 1827 to 1832, he became bishop of Imola in 1832, and was
made a cardinal by Gregory XVI in 1840. During the conclave of 1846 he
was elected to succeed Gregory, assuming the name Pius in honor of Pius
VII, who also had been bishop of Imola.
1456 Blessed Gabriel
Ferretti the scion of the counts Ferretti OFM (AC)
Pope
Pius IX (Mastai-Ferretti) belonged to another branch of Bd Gabriel's
family.
BD GABRIEL OF ANCONA
ST JAMES DELLA Marca, whose feast is kept on the 28th of this month,
was instructed by Pope Callistus III to draw up an account of the life
of this holy Franciscan. Unfortunately the document could not be found
when his cultus came up for confirmation in 1753, and particulars of
his career are few. He belonged to the Ferretti of Ancona and
became a
friar minor of the Observance when he was eighteen. He was a
missioner
for fifteen years in the March of Ancona, where he was conspicuous by
his holiness and miracles, and was then appointed guardian of the
Observants in his native town, It is said that he greatly
encouraged
among his young friars the use of the devotion called the Franciscan or
Seraphic Crown, a rosary in honour of the joys of our Lady, and that
her approval of this was marvelously demonstrated.
On one occasion Bd Gabriel was reported to St James
for some small
dereliction of duty. St James, looking rather to the
quality of the
doer than the smallness of the fault, ordered him to accuse and
discipline himself before his community. This Gabriel did
cheerfully,
and sent a sugar-loaf and a carpet for his church to St James as a
token of goodwill. He died at Ancona on November 12,
1456. Pope Pius
IX (Mastai-Ferretti) belonged to another branch of Bd Gabriel's family.
Most of the older collections of Franciscan lives provide some
account of Bd Gabriel for example, we find a tolerably full notice in
Mazzara, Leggendarlo Francescano (i68o), vol. ii, pt 2, pp.
425-427.
In particular a certain authority attaches to the information furnished
by Wadding, Annales Ordinis Minoruin, vol. xii, nn.
206-214. Short
sketches were published separately by V. M. Ferretti in ~ and by S.
Melchiori in 1846. See also Leon, Aurdole Seraphique
(Eng. trans.),
vol. iv, pp. 61-66.
Born in Ancona, Italy, 1385; cultus confirmed in 1753. Gabriel was the
scion of the counts Ferretti. He became a Friar Minor at Ancona, and
eventually provincial of Piceno in the Marches (Benedictines). Blessed
Gabriel is represented as a Franciscan with a book on the ground before
him, and a pool containing ducks. The Virgin and Child in glory appear
in the heavens. Venerated at Ancona and the Marches (Roeder).
Pius IX, who appreciated the need for reform, was
immediately perceived
as the patriotic pope prophesied by Gioberti in his Primato morale e
civile deoli Italiani (1843). He confirmed this opinion by appointing
Cardinal Gizzi, considered a leading liberal, as his secretary of
state, and his July 16 amnesty of political prisoners, which won the
heart of most Italians. A new press law in 1846 permitted the
publication of liberal and national sentiments, and in 1847 Pius
announced the formation of a consultative chamber or consulta to advise
him on administrative and political matters. In June 1847 he instituted
a council of ministers that was permitted to discuss the most important
questions of state. Although Pius hesitated granting a civic guard,
which would place arms in the hands of the people, he relented at the
end of 1847, leading Cardinal Gizzi to resign.
In January 1848, when Rome received word that Ferdinand II
of Naples,
in response to a revolutionary outburst, had granted his people a
constitution, Pius was petitioned to do the same. On March 10, the
pope, hoping to prevent a similar upheaval in the Papal States,
announced the formation of a liberal ministry presided over by Cardinal
Antonelli. Four days later the Roman constitution was published,
creating two deliberate councils for the formation of law. To safeguard
the position of the church, the councils were prohibited from
discussing the diplomatic-religious relations of the Holy See or
limiting its rights.
Shortly after the
constitution of the Papal States was made public, Rom
e received word of the revolution in Vienna, the flight of Metternich,
the revolution against the Habsburg control in Milan and Venice and the
opening of a war of national liberation, spearheaded by Charles Albert
of Piedmont-Sardinia. Pius was called upon to join the crusade against
Austria, but hesitated, fearing a German schism. In his allocution of
April 29, 1848, he announced that as common father of all Catholics, he
could not prevent his subjects from entering the conflict as
volunteers. The reaction to the Pope's pacific policy, which was
contrary to that of his constitutional ministry, provoked unrest, and
in mid-November 1848 a revolution in Rome. The imposition of a radical,
anti-Austrian ministry led Pius to flee his capital for the Kingdom of
the Two Sicilies, the evening of November 24 and subsequently call for
the intervention of the Catholic powers to crush the Roman Republic
formed early in 1849.
Although Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli orchestrated the Pope's
successful
flight from Rome and the diplomacy that led to the Papal restoration,
he executed but did not initiate the anti-national, illiberal police
pursued by Rome after 1849. This policy was inspired by Pius. The
events of 1848 turned the pope against the constitutionalism and led
him to question his earlier reformism. Subconsciously he deemed his
pre-revolutionary flirtation with liberalism partly responsible for the
revolutionary outbreak of 1848 in Italy, and warned of the grave
consequences risked by ecclesiastics who sought the approval of the
masses. The pontiff admitted that initially he was deceived by the
agitation that called for reform and legitimate change. But having
provided all the concessions he should have granted, he found himself
confronted with demonstrations and demands for more. The cycle came to
an end, Pius explained, when the revolutionaries wanted him to play the
part of an aggressor; he refused, and was forced to flee from his
state. During his exile, after long prayer he had come to see the basic
incompatibility between constitutionalism and the governance of the
church. The reformist pope of 1846-1848 turned into the conservative of
the second restoration.
Following his return to Rome in 1850, Pius IX, who had
abandoned
liberalism and resisted secularization, refused to negotiate on the
issue of the temporal power, which he deemed essential for the
preservation of the church. Offended by what he perceived as an
anticlerical campaign on the part of the Turin government, he refused
to negotiate with the Piedmontese, and after 1861, would not recognize
the Kingdom of Italy. A priest first and a prince second, Pius left
diplomatic and political affairs following the restoration in the hands
of his secretary of state, Antonelli, as he focussed on ecclesiastical
matters. Pius reestablished the hierarchy in England in 1850 and that
in the Netherlands in 1853, while his devotion to Mary led him to favor
the proclamation of the immaculate conception (December 8, 1854). In
April 1855 Pius Antonelli and more than 100 seminarians escaped injury
when the floor in the Convent of Sant' Agnese collapsed. Pius was
convinced that this miraculous event was due to the intervention of the
holy mother. To show his gratitude, in 1857 the pope visited her shrine
at Loreto.
Determined to safeguard the church against the war he
believed was
being waged against religion, Pius favored neoscholasticism and
centralization. In 1864 he issued the encyclical Quanta cura to which
was appended the "syllabus of errors" which denounced the notion that
the temporal power should be abolished, while condemning liberalism,
nationalism and the separation of church and state. The pope's
counteroffensive was continued by the calling of the Vatican Council,
which culminated in the declaration of papal infallibility, July 18,
1870.
Frank J. Coppa Bibliography
Coppa, Frank J. "Pessimism and Traditionalism in the Personality and
Policies of Pio Nono," Journal of Italian History, II (Autumn, 1979),
209-217.
Coppa, Frank J. Pope Pius IX: Crusader in a Secular Age. Boston: Twayne
Publishers, 1979.
Demarco, Domenico. Pio IX e la rivoluzione romana del 1848. Modena:
Societa Tipografica Modenese, 1947.
Hales, E.E.Y. Pio Nono: A Study in European Politics and Religion in
the Nineteenth Century. Garden City: Doubleday and Co., 1954.
Martina, Giacomo. Pio IX (1846-1850) and Pio IX (1851-1866). Rome:
Università Gregoriana Editrice, 1974, 1986.
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 Pope Leo
XIII Gioacchino Vincenzo
Raffaele Luigi Pecci 20 February, 1878; 20 July, 1903; doctorate
of theology; Civilization
owes much to Leo for his stand on the social question. Civilization
owes much to Leo for his stand on the social question. The
ecclesiastical sciences found a generous patron in Pope Leo. Even among
the Copts his efforts at reunion made headway. Under Leo the Catholic
Faith made great progress; With regard to the Kingdom of Italy, Leo
XIII maintained Pius IX's attitude of protest; In Portugal the
Government ceased to support the Goan schism, and in 1886 a concordat
was drawn up. The United States at all times attracted the
attention and admiration of Pope Leo. Throughout his entire
pontificate he was able to keep on good terms with France; 1872
also he introduced the government standards for studies of the
secondary schools and colleges. Bishop of Perugia; 1843,
appointed nuncio to Brussels.
Born 2 March, 1810, at
Carpineto; elected pope 20 February, 1878; died 20 July, 1903, at Rome.
Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi was the sixth of the seven sons of
Count Lodovico Pecci and his wife Anna Prosperi-Buzi. There was some
doubt as to the nobility of the Pecci family, and when the young
Gioacchino sought admission to the Accademia dei Nobili in Rome he met
with a certain opposition, whereupon he wrote the history of his
family, showing that the Pecci of Carpineto were a branch of the Pecci
of Siena, obliged to emigrate to the Papal States in the first half of
the sixteenth century, under Clement
VII, because they had sided with the Medici.
At the age of
eight, together with his brother Giuseppe, aged ten, he was sent to
study at the new Jesuit school in Viterbo, the present seminary. He
remained there six years (1818-24), and gained that classical facility
in the use of Latin and Italian afterwards justly admired in his
official writings and his poems. Much credit for this is due to his
teacher, Padre Leonardo Garibaldi. When, in 1824, the Collegio Romano
was given back to the Jesuits, Gioacchino and his brother Giuseppe
entered as students of humanities and rhetoric. At the end of his
rhetoric course Gioacchino was chosen to deliver the address in Latin,
and selected as his subject, "The Contrast between Pagan and Christian
Rome". Not less successful was his three years' course of philosophy
and natural sciences.
He remained
yet uncertain as to his calling, though it had been the wish of his
mother that he should embrace the ecclesiastical state. Like many other
young Romans of the period who aimed at a public career, he took up
meanwhile the study of theology as well as canon and civil law. Among
his professors were the famous theologian Perrone and the scripturist
Patrizi. In 1832 he obtained the doctorate of theology, whereupon,
after the difficulties referred to above, he asked and obtained
admission to the Academy of Noble Ecclesiastics, and entered upon the
study of canon and civil law at the Sapienza University. Thanks to his
talents, and to the protection of Cardinals Sala and Pacca, he was
appointed domestic prelate by Gregory
XVI in January, 1837, while still in minor orders, and in March
of that year was made "referendario della Segnatura", which office he
soon exchanged for one in the Congregazione del Buon Governo, or
Ministry of the Interior for the Pontifical States, of which his
protector Cardinal Sala was at that time prefect.
During the cholera epidemic in Rome he ably assisted
Cardinal Sala in his duties as overseer of all the city hospitals. His
zeal and ability convinced Cardinal Sala that Pecci was fitted for larger
responsibilities, and he again urged him to enter the priesthood,
hinting in addition that before long he might be promoted to a post
where the priesthood would be necessary. Yielding to these
solicitations, he was ordained priest 31 Dec., 1837, by Cardinal
Odeschalchi, Vicar of Rome, in the chapel of St. Stanislaus on the
Quirinal.
The post hinted at by Cardinal Sala was that of Delegate or civil
Governor of Benevento, a city subject to the Holy See but situated in
the heart of the Kingdom of Naples. Its condition was very
unsatisfactory; the brigands of the Neapolitan territory infested the
country in great numbers, survivals of the Napoleonic Wars and the
guerrilla of the Sanfedisti.
Gregory XVI thought a
young and energetic delegate necessary. Cardinal Lambruschini,
secretary of state, and Cardinal Sala suggested the name of Mgr. Pecci,
who set out for Benevento 2 February, 1838. On his recovery from an
attack of typhoid fever, he set to work to stamp out brigandage, and
soon his vigilance, indomitable purpose, and fearless treatment of the
nobles who protected the brigands and smugglers, pacified the whole
province. Aided by the nuncio at Naples, Mgr. di Pietro, the youthful
delegate drew up an agreement with the Naples police for united action
against brigands. He also turned his attention to the roads and
highways, and arranged for a more just distribution of taxes and
duties, until then the same as those imposed by the invading French,
and, though exorbitant, exacted with the greatest rigour. Meanwhile the
Holy See and Naples were discussing the exchange of Benevento for a
stretch of Neapolitan territory bordering on the Papal States. When
Mgr. Pecci heard of this he memorialized the Holy See so strongly
against it that the negotiations were broken off.
The results
obtained in three years by the delegate at Benevento led Gregory XVI to
entrust another delegation to him where a strong personality was
required, though for very different reasons. He was first destined for
Spoleto, but on 17 July, 1841, he was sent to Perugia, a hotbed of the
anti-papal revolutionary party. For three years he improved the
material conditions of his territory and introduced a more expeditious
and economical administration of justice. He also began a savings bank
to assist small tradesmen and farmers with loans at a low rate of
interest, reformed educational methods, and was otherwise active for
the common welfare.
In January,
1843, he was appointed nuncio to Brussels, as successor of Mgr.
Fornari, appointed nuncio at Paris. On 19 Feb., he was consecrated
titular Archbishop of Damiata by Cardinal Lambruschini, and set out for
his post. On his arrival he found rather critical conditions. The
school question was warmly debated between the Catholic majority and
the Liberal minority. He encouraged the bishops and the laity in their
struggle for Catholic schools, yet he was able to win the good will of
the Court, not only of the pious Queen Louise, but also of King Leopold
I, strongly Liberal in his views.
The new nuncio succeeded in uniting the Catholics, and to him is owing
the idea of a Belgian college in Rome (1844). He made a journey (1845)
through Rhenish Prussia (Cologne, Mainz, Trier), and owing to his
vigilance the schismatic agitation of the priest Ronge, on the occasion
of the exposition of the Holy Coat of Trier in 1844, did not affect
Belgium. Meanwhile the See of Perugia became vacant, and Gregory XVI,
moved by the wishes of the Perugians and the needs of that city and
district, appointed Mgr. Pecci Bishop of Perugia, retaining however the
title of archbishop.
With a very
flattering autograph letter from King Leopold, Mgr. Pecci left Brussels
to spend a month in London and another in Paris. This brought him in
touch with both courts, and afforded him opportunities for meeting many
eminent men, among others Wiseman, afterwards cardinal.
Rich in experience and in new ideas, and with greatly broadened views,
he returned to Rome on 26 May, 1846, where he found the pope on his
deathbed, so that he was unable to report to him. He made his solemn
entry into Perugia 27 July, 1846, where he remained for thirty-two years. Gregory XVI had
intended to make him a cardinal, but his death and the events that
troubled the opening years of the pontificate of Pius IX postponed this honour until
19 December, 1853.
Pius IX desired to have him near his person, and repeatedly offered him
a suburbicarian see, but Mgr. Pecci preferred Perugia, and perhaps was
not in accord with Cardinal Antonelli. It is certainly untrue that Pius
IX designedly left him in Perugia, much more untrue that he did so
because Pecci's views were liberalistic and conciliatory.
As Bishop of Perugia he sought chiefly to inculcate piety
and knowledge of the truths of Faith. He insisted that his priests
should preach, and should catechise not only the young but the grown
up; and for this purpose he wished one hour in the afternoon set apart
on Sundays and feast days, thus forestalling one of the regulations
laid down by Pius X in 1905 for the whole Church.
He brought out a new edition of the diocesan catechism
(1856), and for his clergy he wrote a practical guide for the exercise
of the ministry (1857). He provided frequently for retreats and
missions. After the Piedmontese occupation and the suppression of the
religious orders the number of priests was greatly diminished; to
remedy this lack of ecclesiastical ministers,
he established an association of diocesan missionaries ready to go
wherever sent (1875).
He sought to create a learned and virtuous clergy, and for this purpose
spent much care on the material, moral, and scientific equipment of his
seminary, which he called the apple of his eye. Between 1846 and 1850
he enlarged its buildings at considerable personal sacrifice, secured
excellent professors, presided at examinations, and himself gave
occasional instruction.
He introduced the study of the philosophy and theology of St. Thomas,
and in 1872 established an "Accademia di S. Tommaso", which he had
planned as far back as 1858.
In 1872 also
he introduced the government standards for studies of the secondary
schools and colleges. When the funds of the seminary were converted
into state bonds, its revenues were seriously affected, and this
entailed new sacrifices on the bishop. With the exception of a few
troublesome priests who relied on the protection of the new government,
the discipline of the clergy was excellent.
For the assistance of many priests impoverished by the confiscation of
church funds, he instituted in 1873 the Society of S. Gioacchino, and
for charitable works generally, conferences of St. Vincent de Paul.
He remodelled many educational institutions for the young and began
others, for the care of which he invited from Belgium nuns of the
Sacred Heart and Brothers of Mercy.
During his episcopate thirty-six new churches were built in the
diocese.
His charity and foresight worked marvels during the famine of 1854,
consequent on the earthquake which had laid waste a large part of
Umbria. Throughout the political troubles of the period, he was a
strong supporter of the temporal power of the Holy See, but he was
careful to avoid anything that might give the new government pretext
for further annoyances.
Shortly after
his arrival in Perugia there occurred a popular commotion which his
personal intervention succceeded in appeasing. In 1849, when bands of
Garibaldians expelled from Rome were infesting the Umbrian hills, the
Austrians under Prince Liechtenstein hastened to occupy Perugia, but
Mgr. Pecci, realizing that this foreign occupation would only increase
the irritation of the inhabitants, set out for the Austrian camp and
succeeded in saving the town from occupation. In 1859 a few outlaws set
up in Perugia a provisional government; when the cardinal heard that,
few as they were, they were preparing to resist the pontifical troops
advancing under Colonel Schmidt he wrote a generous letter to try and
dissuade them from their mad purpose and to avoid a useless shedding of
blood. Unfortunately they spurned his advice, and the result was the
so-called "Massacre of Perugia" (20 June).
In February, 1860, he wrote a pastoral letter on the
necessity of the temporal power of the Holy See; but on 14 September of
that year Perugia and Umbria were annexed to Piedmont. In vain he
besought General Fanti not to bombard the town; and during the first
years that followed the annexation he wrote, either in his own name or
in the name of the bishops of Umbria, eighteen protests against the
various laws and regulations of the new Government on ecclesiastical
matters: against civil marriage, the suppression of the religious
orders and the inhuman cruelty of their oppressors, the "Placet" and
"Exequatur" in ecclesiastical nominations, military service for
ecclesiastics, and the confiscation of church property. But withal he
was so cautious and prudent, in spite of his outspokenness, that he was
never in serious difficulties with the civil power.
Only once was he brought
before the courts, and then he was acquitted.
In August,
1877, on the death of Cardinal de Angelis, Pius IX appointed him camerlengo, so
that he was obliged to reside in Rome. Pope Pius died 7 February, 1878,
and during his closing years the Liberal press had often insinuated
that the Italian Government should take a hand in the conclave and
occupy the Vatican. However the Russo-Turkish War and the sudden death
of Victor Emmanuel II (9 January, 1878) distracted the attention of the
Government, the conclave proceeded as usual, and after the three
scrutinies Cardinal Pecci was elected by forty-four votes out of
sixty-one
Shortly before this he had written an inspiring
pastoral to his flock on the Church and civilization. Ecclesiastical
affairs were in a difficult and tangled state. Pius IX, it is true, had
won for the papacy the love and veneration of Christendom, and even the
admiration of its adversaries. But, though inwardly strengthened, its
relations with the civil powers had either ceased or were far from
cordial. But the fine diplomatic tact of Leo succeeded in staving off
ruptures, in smoothing over difficulties, and in establishing good
relations with almost all the powers.
Throughout his entire pontificate he was able to keep on good terms
with France, and he pledged himself to its Government that he would
call on all Catholics to accept the Republic. But in spite of his
efforts very few monarchists listened to him, and towards the end of
his life he beheld the coming failure of his French policy, though he
was spared the pain of witnessing the final catastrophe which not even
he could have averted.
It was to Leo that France owed her alliance with Russia; in this way he
offset the Triple Alliance, hoped to ward off impending conflicts, and
expected friendly assistance for the solution of the Roman question.
With Germany he was more fortunate. On the very day of his
election, when notifying the emperor of the event, he expressed the
hope of seeing relations with the German Government re-established,
and, though the emperor's reply was coldly civil, the ice was broken.
Soon Bismarck, unable to govern with the Liberals, to win whose favour
he had started the Kulturkampf, found he needed the Centre Party, or
Catholics, and was willing to come to terms. As early as 1878
negotiations began at Kissingen between Bismarck and Aloisi-Masella,
the nuncio to Munich; they were carried a step farther at Venice
between the nuncio Jacobini and Prince von Reuss; soon after this some
of the Prussian laws against the Church were relaxed. From about 1883
bishops began to be appointed to various sees, and some of the exiled
bishops were allowed to return. By 1884 diplomatic relations were
renewed, and in 1887 a modus vivendi between Church and State was
brought about.
Bismarck proposed that Pope Leo should arbitrate between
Germany and Spain. The good feeling with Germany found expression in
the three visits paid Leo by William II (1888, 1893, and 1903), whose
father also, when crown prince (1883) had visited the Vatican. As a
sort of quid pro quo Bismarck thought the pope ought to use his
authority to prevent the Catholics from opposing some of his political
schemes. Only once did Leo interfere in a parliamentary question, and
then his advice was followed.
In 1880 relations with the Belgian Government were
again broken off à propos of the school question, on the pretext
that the pope was lending himself to duplicity, encouraging the bishops
to resist, and pretending to the Government that he was urging
moderation. As a matter of fact, the suppression of the Belgian embassy
to the Vatican had been settled on before the school question arose. In
1883 the new Catholic Government restored it.
During Pope Leo's pontificate the condition of the
Church in Switzerland improved somewhat, especially in the Ficino, in
Aargau, and in Basle.
In Russia Soloviev's attempt on Alexander II (14 April,
1879) and the silver jubilee of that czar's reign (1888) gave the pope
an opportunity to attempt a rapprochement. But it was not until after
Alexander III came to the throne (1883) that an agreement was reached,
by which a few episcopal sees were tolerated and some of the more
stringent laws against the Catholic clergy slightly relaxed. But when
in 1884, Leo consented to present to the czar a petition from the
Ruthenian Catholics against the oppression they had to suffer, the
persecution only increased in bitterness.
In the last year of Alexander III (May, 1894) diplomatic relations were
re-established. On the day of his election, Leo had expressed to this
emperor the wish to see diplomatic relations restored; Alexander, like
William, though more warmly, answered in a non-committal manner. In the
meantime Leo was careful to exhort the Poles under Russian domination
to be loyal subjects.
Among acts of
Leo XIII that affected the English-speaking world may be mentioned: for
England, the elevation of John Henry Newman to the cardinalate (1879),
the "Romanos Pontifices" of 1881 concerning the relations of the
hierarchy and the regular clergy, the beatification (1886) of fifty
English martyrs, the celebration of the thirteenth centenary of St.
Gregory the Great, Apostle of England (1891), the Encyclicals "Ad
Anglos" of 1895, on the return to Catholic unity, and the
"Apostolicæ Curæ" of 1896, on the non-validity of the
Anglican orders.
He restored the Scotch hierarchy in 1878, and in 1898
addressed to the Scotch a very touching letter. In English India Pope
Leo established the hierarchy in 1886, and regulated there
long-standing conflicts with the Portugese authorities. In 1903 King
Edward VII paid him a visit at the Vatican. The Irish Church
experienced his pastoral solicitude on many occasions. His letter to
Archbishop McCabe of Dublin (1881), the elevation of the same prelate
to the cardinalate in 1882, the calling of the Irish bishops to Rome in
1885, the decree of the Holy Office (13 April, 1888) on the plan of
campaign and boycotting, and the subsequent Encyclical of 24 June,
1888, to the Irish hierarchy represent in part his fatherly concern for
the Irish people, however diverse the feelings they aroused at the
height of the land agitation.
The United
States at all times attracted the attention and admiration of Pope Leo.
He confimed the decrees of the Third Plenary Council of
Baltimore (1884), and raised to the cardinalate Archbishop Gibbons of
that city (1886). His favourable action (1888), at the instance of
Cardinal Gibbons, towards the Knights of Labour won him general
approval. In 1889 he sent a papal delegate, Monsignor Satolli, to
represent him at Washington on the occasion of the foundation of the
Catholic University of America. The Apostolic Delegation at Washington
was founded in 1892; in the same year appeared his Encyclical on
Christopher Columbus. In 1893 he participated in the Chicago Exposition
held to commemorate the fourth centenary of the discovery of America;
this he did by the loan of valuable relics, and by sending Monsignor
Satolli to represent him. In 1895 he addressed to the hierarchy of the
United States his memorable Encyclical "Longinqua Oceani Spatia"; in
1898 appeared his letter "Testem Benevolentiæ" to Cardinal
Gibbons on "Americanism"; and in 1902 his admirable letter to the
American hierarchy in response to their congratulations on his
pontifical jubilee.
In Canada he confirmed the agreement made with the
Province of Quebec (1889) for the settlement of the Jesuit Estates
question, and in 1897 sent Monsignor Merry del Val to treat in his name
with the Government concerning the obnoxious Manitoba School Law. His
name will also long be held in benediction in South America for the
First Plenary Council of Latin America held at Rome (1899), and for his
noble Encyclical to the bishops of Brazil on the abolition of slavery
(1888).
In Portugal
the Government ceased to support the Goan schism, and in 1886 a
concordat was drawn up. Concordats with Montenegro (1886) and Colombia
(1887) followed. The Sultan of Turkey, the Shah of Persia, the Emperors
of Japan and of China (1885), and the Negus of Abyssinia, Menelik, sent
him royal gifts and received gifts from him in return. His charitable
intervention with the negus in favour of the Italians taken prisoners
at the unlucky battle of Adna (1898) failed owing to the attitude taken
by those who ought to have been most grateful. He was not successful in
establishing direct diplomatic relations with the Sublime Porte and
with China, owing to the jealousy of France and her fear of losing the
protectorate over Christians.
During the negotiations concerning church property
in the Philippines, Mr. Taft, later President of the United States, had
an opportunity of admiring the pope's great qualities, as he himself
declared on a memorable occasion.
With regard
to the Kingdom of Italy, Leo XIII maintained Pius IX's attitude of
protest, thus confirming the ideas he had expressed in his pastoral of
1860. He desired complete independence for the Holy See, and
consequently its restoration as a real sovereignty. Repeatedly, when
distressing incidents took place in Rome, he sent notes to the various
governments pointing out the intolerable position in which the Holy See
was placed through its subjection to a hostile power. For the same
reason he upheld the "Non expedit", or prohibition against Italian
Catholics taking part in political elections. His idea was that once
the Catholics abstained from voting, the subversive elements in the
country would get the upper hand and the Italian Government be obliged
to come to terms with the Holy See. Events proved he was mistaken, and
the idea was abandoned by Pius X. At one time, however, "officious"
negotiations were kept up between the Holy See and the Italian
Government through the agency of Monsignor Carini, Prefect of the
Vatican Library and a great friend of Crispi. But it is not known on
what lines they were conducted. On Crispi's part there could have been
no question of ceding any territory to the Holy See. France, moreover,
then irritated against Italy because of the Triple Alliance, and
fearing that any rapprochement between the Vatican and the Quirinal
would serve to increase her rival's prestige, interfered and forced Leo
to break off the aforesaid negotiations by threatening to renew
hostilities against the Church in France. The death of Monsignor Carini
shortly after this (25 June, 1895) gave rise to the senseless rumour
that he had been poisoned.
Pope Leo was no less active concerning the interior life
of the Church. To increase the piety of the faithful, he recommended in
1882 the Third Order of St. Francis, whose rules in 1883 he wisely
modified; he instituted the feast of the Holy Family, and desired
societies in its honour to be founded everywhere (1892); many of his
encyclicals preach the benefits of the Rosary; and he favoured greatly
devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Under Leo the
Catholic Faith made great progress; during his pontificate two hundred
and forty-eight episcopal or archiepiscopal sees were created, and
forty-eight vicariates or prefectures Apostolic.
Catholics of Oriental rites were objects of special
attention; he had the good fortune to see the end of the schism which
arose in 1870 between the Uniat Armenians and ended in 1879 by the
conversion of Mgr. Kupelian and other schismatical bishops. He founded
a college at Rome for Armenian ecclesiastical students (1884), and by
dividing the college of S. Atanasio he was able to give the Ruthenians
a college of their own; already in 1882 he had reformed the Ruthenian
Order of St. Basil; for the Chaldeans he founded at Mossul a seminary
of which the Dominicans have charge.
In a memorable encyclical of 1897 he appealed to all the
schismatics of the East, inviting them to return to the Universal
Church, and laying down rules for governing the relations between the
various rites in countries of mixed rites.
Even among the Copts his
efforts at reunion made headway.
The ecclesiastical sciences
found a generous patron in Pope Leo.
His Encyclical "Æterni Patris" (1880)
recommended the study of Scholastic philosophy, especially that of St.
Thomas Aquinas, but he did not advise a servile study. In Rome he
established the Apollinare College, a higher institute for the Latin,
Greek, and Italian classics. At his suggestion a Bohemian college was
founded at Rome. At Anagni he founded and entrusted to the Jesuits a
college for all the dioceses of the Roman Campagna, on which are
modelled the provincial or "regional" seminaries desired by Pius X.
Historical scholars are indebted to him for the opening of
the Vatican Archives (1883), on which occasion he published a splendid
encyclical on the importance of historical studies, in which he
declares that the Church has nothing to fear from historical truth. For
the administration of the Vatican Archives and Library he called on
eminent scholars (Hergenröther, Denifle, Ehrle; repeatedly he
tried to obtain Janssen, but the latter declined, as he was eager to
finish his "History of the German People"). For the convenience of
students of the archives and the library he established a consulting
library.
The Vatican Observatory is also one of the glories of Pope
Leo XIII. To excite Catholic students to rival non-Catholics in the
study of the Scriptures, and at the same time to guide their studies,
he published the "Providentissimus Deus" (1893), which won the
admiration even of Protestants, and in 1902 he appointed a Biblical
Commission.
Also, to guard against the dangers of the new style of
apologetics founded on Kantism and now known as Modernism, he warned in
1899 the French clergy (Encycl. "Au Milieu"), and before that, in a
Brief addressed to Cardinal Gibbons, he pointed out the dangers of
certain doctrines to which had been given the name of "Americanism" (22
Jan., 1899).
In the Brief "Apostolicæ Curæ"(1896) he
definitively decided against the validity of Anglican Orders.
In several other memorable encyclicals he treated of the
most serious questions affecting modern society. They are models of
classical style, clearness of statement, and convincing logic. The most
important are: "Arcanum divinæ sapientiæ" (1880) on
Christian marriage; "Diuturnum illlud" (1881), and "Immortale Dei"
(1885) on Christianity as the foundation of political life;
"Sapientiæ christianæ" (1890) on the duties of a Christian
citizen; "Libertas" (1888) on the real meaning of liberty; "Humanum
genus" (1884) against Freemasonry (he also issued other documents
bearing on this subject).
Civilization owes much to
Leo for his stand on the social question.
As early as 1878, in his encyclical on
the equality of all men, he attacked the fundamental error of
Socialism. The Encyclical "Rerum novarum" (18 May, 1891) set forth with
profound erudition the Christian principles bearing on the relations
between capital and labour, and it gave a vigorous impulse to the
social movement along Christian lines. In Italy, especially, an
intense, well-organized movement began; but gradually dissensions broke
out, some leaning too much towards Socialism and giving to the words
"Christian Democracy" a political meaning, while others erred by going
to the opposite extreme. In 1901 appeared the Encyclical "Graves de
Communi", destined to settle the controverted points. The "Catholic
Action" movement in Italy was recognized, and to the "Opera dei
Congressi" was added a second group that took for its watchword
economic-social action. Unfortunately this latter did not last long,
and Pius X had to create a new party which has not yet overcome its
internal difficulties.
Under Leo the religious
orders developed wonderfully.
New orders were founded, older ones increased, and in
a short time made up for the losses occasioned by the unjust spoliation
they had been subjected to. Along every line of religious and
educational activity they have proved no small factor in the awakening
and strengthening of the Christian life of the whole country. For their
better guidance wise constitutions were issued; reforms were made;
orders such as the Franciscans and Cistercians, which in times past had
divided off into sections, were once more united; and the Benedictines
were given an abbot-primate, who resides at St. Anselm's College,
founded in Rome under the auspices of Pope Leo (1883). Rules were laid
down concerning members of religious orders who became secularized.
In canon law
Pope Leo made no radical change, yet no part of it escaped his
vigilance, and opportune modifications were made as the needs of the
times required. On the whole his pontificate of twenty-five years was
certainly, in external success, one of the most brilliant. It is true
the general peace between nations favoured it. The people were tired of
that anticlericalism which had led governments to forget their real
purpose, i.e. the well-being of the governed; and, on the other hand,
prudent statesmen feared excessive catering to the elements subversive
of society. Leo himself used every endeavour to avoid friction. His
three jubilees (the golden jubilees of his priesthood and of his
episcopate, and the silver jubilee of his pontificate) showed how wide
was the popular sympathy for him. Moreover, his appearance either at
Vatican receptions or in St. Peter's was always a signal for outbursts
of enthusiasm. Leo was far from robust in health, but the methodical
regularity of his life stood him in good stead. He was a tireless
worker, and always exacted more than ordinary effort from those who
worked with him. The conditions of the Holy See did not permit him to
do much for art, but he renewed the apse of the Lateran Basilica,
rebuilt its presbytery, and in the Vatican caused a few halls to be
painted.
|
 1914
St. Pius
X "I was born poor, I have lived in poverty, and I wish to die poor"
On June 2, 1835,
Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto saw the light of
earth at
Riesi, Province of Treviso, in Venice; on August 20, 1914, he saw the
light of heaven; and on May 29, 1954,
he who had become the two hundred fifty-ninth pope was canonized St. Pius X. (Italian
"Pope of the Blessed Sacrament," reigned 1903-1914)Two of
the most
outstanding accomplishments of this saintly Pope
were
the inauguration of the liturgical
renewal and the restoration of
frequent communion from childhood. He also waged an
unwavering war against the heresy and evils of Modernism, gave great
impetus to biblical studies, and brought about the codification of
Canon Law. His overriding concern was to renew all things in Christ.
Above all, his
holiness
shown forth conspicuously. From St.
Pius X we
learn again that "the folly of the Cross", simplicity of life, and
humility of heart are still the highest wisdom and the indispensable
conditions of a perfect Christian life, for they are the very source of
all apostolic fruitfulness.
His last will and testament bears the striking sentence: "I
was born poor, I have lived
in poverty, and I wish to die poor." Europe was plunged into World War
I. Pius had foreseen it, but it killed him. “This is the last
affliction the Lord will visit on me. I would gladly give my life to
save my poor children from this ghastly scourge.” He died a few weeks
after the WWI began.
Pope Pius X is
perhaps
best remembered for his encouragement
of the
frequent reception of Holy Communion, especially by children. The
second of 10 children in a poor Italian family, Joseph Sarto became
Pius X at 68, one of the twentieth century’s greatest popes. Ever
mindful of his humble origin, he stated, “I was born poor, I lived
poor, I will die poor.” He was embarrassed by some of the pomp of the
papal court. “Look how they have dressed me up,” he
said in tears
to an old
friend. To another, “It is a penance to be
forced to accept all these practices.
They lead
me around surrounded by soldiers like Jesus when he was seized in
Gethsemani.”
<>
Interested in
politics,
he encouraged Italian Catholics to
become more
politically involved. One of his first papal acts was to end the
supposed right of governments to interfere by veto in papal elections—a
practice that reduced the freedom of the conclave which elected him.
In 1905, when
France
renounced its agreement
with the
Holy See and
threatened confiscation of Church property if governmental control of
Church affairs were not granted, Pius X courageously rejected the
demand.
While he did not author a famous social encyclical as
his
predecessor
had done, he denounced the ill treatment of the Indians on the
plantations of Peru, sent a relief commission to Messina after an
earthquake and sheltered refugees at his own expense.
On the eleventh
anniversary of his election as pope, Europe
was plunged
into World War I. Pius had foreseen it, but it killed him. “This is the
last affliction the Lord will visit on me. I would gladly give my life
to save my poor children from this ghastly scourge.” He died a few
weeks after the WWI began.
Comment: His humble background was no
obstacle in
relating to a personal God and to people whom he loved genuinely. He
gained his strength, his gentleness and warmth for people from the
source of all gifts, the Spirit of Jesus. In contrast, we often feel
embarrassed by our backgrounds. Shame makes us prefer to remain aloof
from people whom we perceive as superior. If we are in a superior
position, on the other hand, we often ignore simpler people. Yet we,
too, have to help “restore all things in Christ,” especially the
wounded people of God.
Quote: Describing Pius X,
a historian wrote that he
was “a man of God who knew the unhappiness of the world and the
hardships of life, and in the greatness of his heart wanted to comfort
everyone.”
|
1914 - 1922
Benedict XV Benedict was first a
pope struggling for peace.
Benedict XV's reign was an overture to the reigns of Pius XI and
Pius XII. Much that they achieved was initiated by him. But it was a
muted overture. The first four years and two months of his reign were
the years of the First World War. After the armistice Benedict reigned
for three years and two months, a period which was one of exhaustion
and then slow recovery from the carnage which had wasted so much of
Europe..
James della Chiesa born 1854
Pope Benedict XV (Latin: Benedictus PP. XV), (Italian:
Benedetto XV), (November 21, 1854 – January 22, 1922), born Giacomo
Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from September 3,
1914 to January 22, 1922; he succeeded Pope Pius X (1903–14).
Early life
The last of the "noble papal family" popes, Giacomo della Chiesa was
born at Pegli, a suburb of Genoa, Italy, the son of marchese Giuseppe
della Chiesa and his wife marchesa Giovanna Migliorati. He acquired
a doctorate of law in 1875, after which he studied for the priesthood.
He was ordained priest on December 21, 1878. Shortly after ordination,
he began studies at the training school for the Vatican diplomatic
service, in which he would spend most of his career. Once he had
entered the diplomatic service, Mariano Cardinal Rampolla was a friend
and patron, employing him as a secretary on being posted to Madrid and
subsequently on being appointed Cardinal Secretary of State. During
these years Della Chiesa helped negotiate the resolution of a dispute
between Germany and Spain over the Caroline Islands as well as
organising relief during a cholera epidemic. When Rampolla left his
post with the election of Pope Pius X, and was succeeded by Rafael
Cardinal Merry del Val, Della Chiesa was retained in his post.
But Della Chiesa's association with Rampolla, the architect of Pope Leo
XIII's (1878–1903) foreign policy, made his position in the Secretariat
of State under the new pontificate (with its more strongly
uncompromising foreign policy) somewhat uncomfortable. He was soon
moved out of the diplomatic service, on 18 December 1907 becoming
Archbishop of Bologna.
On 25 May 1914 Della Chiesa was created a cardinal, becoming Cardinal
Priest of the titulus Ss. Quattuor Coronatorum. In this capacity, on
the outbreak of World War I (1914–18) – with the papacy vacant upon
Pius X's death on 20 August 1914 – he made a speech on the Church's
position and duties, emphasising the need for neutrality and promoting
peace and the easing of suffering. The conclave opened at the end of
August 1914. The war would clearly be the dominant issue of the new
pontificate, so the cardinals' priority was to choose a man with great
diplomatic experience. Thus on 3 September 1914 Della Chiesa, despite
having been a Cardinal only three months, was elected Pope, taking the
name of Benedict XV.
Pontificate
Benedict XV's pontificate was dominated by World War I, which he termed
"the suicide of Europe", and its turbulent aftermath. Benedict's first
encyclical extended a heartfelt plea for an end to hostilities. His
early call for a Christmas truce in 1914 was ignored. The Pope
organized significant humanitarian efforts (establishing a Vatican
bureau, for instance, to help prisoners of war from all nations contact
their families) and made many unsuccessful attempts to negotiate peace,
but these pleas for a negotiated peace made him unpopular, even in
Catholic countries like Italy, among many supporters of the war who
were determined to accept nothing less than total victory. His best
known intervention was the seven-point Papal Peace proposal of August
1917, demanding a cessation of hostilities, a reduction of armaments,
guaranteed freedom of the seas, and international arbitration. Only
Woodrow Wilson responded directly, declaring that a declaration of
peace was premature; in Europe each side saw him as biased in favour of
the other and were unwilling to accept the terms he proposed. This
resentment contributed to the exclusion of the Vatican from the Paris
Peace conference of 1919 (although it was also part of a historical
pattern of political and diplomatic marginalization of the papacy after
the loss of the papal states); despite this, he wrote an encyclical
pleading for international reconciliation, Pacem, Dei Munus
Pulcherrimum. There is a statue in Saint Peter's Basilica of the
Pontiff absorbed in prayer, kneeling on a tomb which commemorates a
fallen soldier of the war, which he described as a "useless massacre".
Benedict was first a pope
struggling for peace. He was elected, 3 September, 1914, by a
consistory which included cardinals who were citizens of the contending
powers, because he favored neither side. A native of Genoa, an
aristocrat, with a lawyer's training, he had had curial and diplomatic
experience, being secretary at one time to Cardinal Rampolla. Unusually
small of stature, myopic and ailing in appearance, with distinguished
manners but matter-of-fact and precise, without much geniality or
charm, this pope never attained to the same degree of popularity among
the faithful as did his predecessor and his three successors. He was,
however, the soul of generosity and was loved for his kindness by his
entourage and all who knew him well. As Archbishop of Bologna, soon
after war broke out, he said: "I should regret if any of my clergy
should take sides in this conflict. It is desirable that we pray for
the cessation of the war without dictating to Almighty God in what way
it should end". So the cardinals picked on one who would stand apart.
But he did not simply stand apart; he worked for peace, a true
precursor of Pius XI and particularly Pius XII.
Five days after his election he spoke of his determination
to do what he could to bring peace, and his first encyclical on 1
November, 1914 was concerned with this subject. Before Christmas he
tried to persuade the belligerents to revive the Truce of God for the
feast day. In 1915 he made another appeal. He expounded the principles
which govern moral decisions about war. In August 1917 he circulated
definite peace proposals to all the belligerents. There were rejected,
both sides being now determined on an "absolute victory".
Relations between the Italian government and the Vatican
improved during the war, an assurance being given that diplomatic
representatives to the Vatican of powers with whom Italy was at war
might remain there. But the pope preferred them to reside in
Switzerland. Benedict's foundation of a bureau for the exchange of
wounded prisoners and the discovery of the missing was widely
appreciated, and led to an increase in the number of states with
representatives at the Vatican – Italy's absence from them was one
factor leading to the wish of the Italian government to solve the Roman
Question in the following reign.
When circulating his peace proposals in 1917, the pope had
referred to King Victor Emmanuel III and this was the first formal
recognition of the monarchy given by the Vatican. Pius X had partially
relaxed the prohibition against Catholics taking part in elections in
Italy either as voters or as candidates. Benedict went much further and
encouraged the Sicilian priest Don Luigi Sturzo to form his Partito
Popolare. It was not intended simply as a Catholic party–but it was
organized by Catholics with a social conscience, and many joined it
simply because they were themselves pious Catholics. The Church had yet
to learn the full modern practice of a strict separation of the
Church's moral and ecclesiastical authority from the public aspect of
the political, economic and cultural activities of individual
Catholics, except where these are grossly scandalous or sinful. For the
moment it was at least a step forward that the whole political sphere
in Italy was no longer taboo.
Benedict was in the line
of social awareness stretching from Leo XIII to Pius XI and Pius XII.
In March 1920 he wrote to the Bishop of Bergamo: "Let no member of the
clergy suppose that activity of this kind is something foreign to his
priestly ministry because the field in which it is exercised is
economic. It is precisely in this field that the eternal salvation of
souls is imperiled".
Benedict was inclined to be friendly toward the Orthodox
Churches and had a special concern for the Eastern Catholic rites,
which was taken up by his successors, so that a visitor to Rome in the
last two decades would often find the liturgy of one of the Eastern
rites being celebrated, with special reverence, in one of the Roman
churches, sometimes one of the basilicas. He founded the Oriental
Institute and the new curial congregation, the Congregation for Eastern
Rites. This was part of Benedict's general concern for missions
everywhere. The world was on the verge of that material unification, in
respect of communication, which we take for granted today. Benedict
recognized the implications and wrote his mission encyclical Maximum
Illud, from which both Pius XI and Pius XII quoted in their own mission
encyclicals.
Benedict promulgated the new code of canon law largely
prepared during the reign of Pius X. He canonized Joan of Arc, which
was an occasion for re-establishing friendly relations with France. The
bitter problems of action francaise he left to his successor. The war
years and their aftermath were no time for promulgating the findings of
Pius X which he himself had withheld. Benedict maintained, in
principle, his predecessor's attitude to Modernism, but greatly
softened its application. He himself was at one time suspected of
heresy by the anti-Modernist extremists and he now discouraged the
intransigence of the attitude known as "integralism".
Possibly Benedict's most important act was to remove Msgr.
Achilles Ratti from the position of prefect of the Vatican Library in
1918, and sent him as his personal representative to Poland. Without
this, Msgr. Ratti would probably not have been elected pope four years
later. Msgr. Ratti, aged sixty-one and a historian of repute, had spent
all his professional life in libraries, being prefect of the Ambrosian
Library at Milan before going to the Vatican. He had cultivated in his
spare time a number of pastoral works, but he was first a scholar of a
practical kind and a librarian with an international reputation. With
exceptional insight Benedict, who met him often in his position at the
Vatican Library, divined his remarkable gifts. There followed for Msgr.
Ratti three grueling years in Poland, independent for the first time
for over a century; here Msgr. Ratti was on several occasions in
imminent physical danger. In 1921 he was promoted to be Archbishop of
Milan where he was at Benedict's death on 22 January, 1922. A similar
example of Benedict's perception is his selecting Eugenio Pacelli to
organize the prisoner-of-war work at the Vatican, and subsequently
sending him as nuncio to Munich. Two future popes owed their vital
experiences in Poland and in Germany to Benedict's eye for talent.
|
1922-1939 Pope Pius XI
(1857 - 1939) Italian scholar & pope
- "It violates right order whenever
capital so employees the working or wage-earning classes as to divert
business and economic activity entirely to its own arbitrary will and
advantage without, the social character of economic life, social
justice, and the common good."
- "Justice requires that to lawfully
constituted Authority there be given that respect and obedience which
is its due; that the laws which are made shall be in wise conformity
with the common good; and that, as a matter of conscience all men shall
render obedience to these laws."
- Ad
Salutem Humani (April 20, 1930)[Italian]
- Ecclesiam
Dei (November 12, 1923)[Italian]
- Lux
Veritatis (December 25, 1931)[Italian]
- Quinquagesimo
Ante Anno (December 23, 1929)[Italian]
- Rerum
Orientalium (September 8, 1928)[Italian]
- Studiorum Ducem (June 29, 1923)[Italian]
|
1939-1958
Pope Pius XII; 260th Pius XII wrote, "I have seen the 'miracle
of the sun,' this is the pure truth." four
times; "4 p.m. on Oct. 30, 1950",
again on "the 31st of October and Nov. 1, the day of
the definition of the dogma of the Assumption, and then again Nov. 8,
then after that, no more. Occurred
during his, "habitual walk in the Vatican Gardens, reading and
studying," having arrived to the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, "toward
the top of the hill […] I was awestruck by a phenomenon that before now
I had never seen. The sun, which was still quite high, looked
like a
pale, opaque sphere, entirely surrounded by a luminous circle," he
recounted. And one could look at the sun, "without the slightest
bother. There was a very light little cloud in front of it." The
Holy Father's note goes on to describe "the opaque sphere" that
"moved outward slightly, either spinning, or moving from left to right
and vice versa. But within the sphere, you could see marked movements
with total clarity and without interruption."
Pius XII is one of only two
popes (along with Pope Pius IX) to
have invoked ex cathedra papal infallibility by defining the dogma of
the Assumption of Mary, as proclaimed in the Apostolic constitution
Munificentissimus Deus. The magisterium includes almost 1,000 addresses
and radio broadcasts. His forty-one encyclicals, include Mystici
Corporis, the Church as the Body of Christ; Mediator Dei on liturgy
reform; Humani Generis on the Church's position on theology and
evolution. He eliminated the Italian majority in the College of
Cardinals with the Grand Consistory in 1946. His canonisation process
is in progress.
(Latin: Pius PP. XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe
Giovanni Pacelli (March 2, 1876 – October 9, 1958), reigned as the
260th pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican
City, from March 2, 1939 until his death in 1958.
Before election to the papacy, Pacelli served as secretary of the
Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, papal nuncio and
Cardinal Secretary of State, in which he worked to conclude treaties
with European and Latin-American nations, most notably the
Reichskonkordat with Germany. His leadership of the Catholic Church
during World War II remains the subject of continued historical
controversy.
After the war, Pius XII contributed to the rebuilding of Europe, and
advocated peace and reconciliation, including lenient policies toward
vanquished nations and the unification of Europe. The Church,
flourishing in the West, experienced severe persecution and mass
deportations of Catholic clergy in the East. In light of his protests,
and his involvement in the Italian elections of 1948, he became known
as a staunch but pragmatic opponent of Communism. He signed thirty
concordats and diplomatic treaties.
Pius XII is one of only two popes (along with Pope Pius IX) to have
invoked ex cathedra papal infallibility by defining the dogma of the
Assumption of Mary, as proclaimed in the Apostolic constitution
Munificentissimus Deus. The magisterium includes almost 1,000 addresses
and radio broadcasts. His forty-one encyclicals, include Mystici
Corporis, the Church as the Body of Christ; Mediator Dei on liturgy
reform; Humani Generis on the Church's position on theology and
evolution. He eliminated the Italian majority in the College of
Cardinals with the Grand Consistory in 1946. His canonisation process
is in progress.
Pius XII Saw "Miracle of the Sun"
Handwritten Note Reveals Pope's Experience
By Antonio Gaspari ROME, NOV. 4, 2008 (Zenit.org)
According to his own testimony, the Pope who declared the dogma of the
Assumption saw the "miracle of the sun" four times.
This information is confirmed by a handwritten, unpublished note from
Pope Pius XII, which is part of the "Pius XII: The Man and the
Pontificate" display. The display opened in the Vatican to the public
today and will run through Jan. 6.
A commissioner of the display and a Vatican reporter for the Italian
daily Il Giornale, Andrea Tornielli, explained to ZENIT that the note
was found in the Pacelli family archives. It describes the "miracle of
the sun," an episode that until today had only been affirmed by the
indirect testimony of Cardinal Federico Tedeschini (1873-1959), who
recounted in a homily that the Holy Father had seen the miracle.
Pius XII wrote, "I have seen the 'miracle of the sun,' this is the pure
truth."
The miracle of the sun is most known as the episode that occurred in
Fatima, Portugal, on Oct. 13, 1917. According to the Fatima
visionaries, Mary had said there would be a miracle that day so that
people would come to believe. Thousands had gathered at the site of the
visions, and the sun "danced," reportedly drying instantaneously the
rain-soaked land and spectators.
Confirming the dogma
Pius XII's note says that he saw the miracle in the year he was to
proclaim the dogma of the Assumption, 1950, while he walked in the
Vatican Gardens. He saw the phenomenon various times, considering
it a confirmation of his plan to declare the dogma. The papal
note says that at 4 p.m. on Oct. 30, 1950, during his "habitual walk in
the Vatican Gardens, reading and studying," having arrived to the
statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, "toward the top of the hill […] I was
awestruck by a phenomenon that before now I had never seen. The
sun, which was still quite high, looked like a pale, opaque sphere,
entirely surrounded by a luminous circle," he recounted. And one could
look at the sun, "without the slightest bother. There was a very light
little cloud in front of it."
The Holy Father's note goes on to describe "the opaque sphere" that
"moved outward slightly, either spinning, or moving from left to right
and vice versa. But within the sphere, you could see marked movements
with total clarity and without interruption."
Pius XII said he saw the same phenomenon "the 31st of October and Nov.
1, the day of the definition of the dogma of the Assumption, and then
again Nov. 8, and after that, no more."
The Pope acknowled ged that on other days at about the same hour, he
tried to see if the phenomenon would be repeated, "but in vain -- I
couldn't fix my gaze [on the sun] for even an instant; my eyes would be
dazzled."
Pius XII spoke about the incident with a few cardinals and close
collaborators, such that Sister Pascalina Lehnert, the nun in charge of
the papal apartments, declared that "Pius XII was very convinced of the
reality of the extraordinary phenomenon, which he had seen on four
occasions."
Son of Our Lady
Tornielli told ZENIT that there was always a close link between the
life of Eugenio Pacelli and the mystery of the Virgin Mary.
"Since childhood," he said, "Eugenio Pacelli was devoted [to Our Lady]
and was registered in the Congregation of the Assumption, which had a
chapel close to the Church of Jesus. A devotion that seemed prophetic,
since he would be precisely the one to declare the dogma of the Assumpt
ion in 1950."
The future Pope celebrated his first Mass on April 3, 1899, at the
altar of the icon of Mary "Salus Populi Romani" in the Basilica of St.
Mary Major. "And then," Tornielli continued, "Eugenio Pacelli received
episcopal ordination from Pope Benedict XV in the Sistine Chapel on May
13, 1917, the day of the first apparition of the Virgin of Fatima."
As Pope, in 1940, he approved the Fatima apparitions, and in 1942,
consecrated the entire world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
As well, Pius XII often spoke with Sister Lucia, the visionary of
Fatima, and he asked her to transcribe the messages she received from
the Virgin. He thus became the first Pope to know the "third secret of
Fatima," which Pope John Paul II would later make public.
|
105-116 Pope St. Alexander
I
Roman by birth ruled the Church in reign of Trajan (98-117). attributes
to him, but scarcely with accuracy, insertion in the canon of the Qui
Pridie, or words commemorative of the institution of the Eucharist,
such being certainly primitive and original in the Mass. He is also
said to have introduced the use of blessing water mixed with salt for
the purification of Christian homes from evil influences (constituit
aquam sparsionis cum sale benedici in habitaculis hominum). Duchesne
(Lib. Pont., I, 127) calls attention to the persistence of this early
Roman custom by way of a blessing in the Gelasian Sacramentary that
recalls very forcibly the actual Asperges prayer at the beginning of
Mass. 
127
Sixtus
I 115-125 , Pope
survived as pope for about 10 years before being killed by the Roman
authorities M (RM)
125-136 pope St.
Telesphorus
189 -199
Victor
I, Pope
African by birth, Victor succeeded Saint Eleutherius as pope c. 189 the
first to use Latin in the celebration of the liturgy Until
Victor's time, Rome celebrated the Mass in Greek. Pope Victor changed
the language to Latin, which was used in his native North Africa.
According to Jerome, he was the first Christian author to write about
theology in Latin. Latin masses, however, did not become universal
until the latter half of the fourth century.[(RM)
230
Pope Saint
Pontian or Pontianus, was pope from July 21, to September 28, 235
236, Pope Saint
Fabian succeeded Saint Antheros governed as bishop of Rome 14
peaceful years;
Died
250. On January 10, his martyrdom under Decius. He was a layman, who,
according to Eusebius, was chosen because a dove flew in through a
window during the election and settled on his head. 
314 Pope
St. Miltiades { also written Melchiades), a native of
Africa} 310 or 311 
335
St. Sylvester
Pope (25 yrs) council of Arles and Nice 
366-384 Pope
Saint Damasus I 384 Pope
Saint
Damasus I Dec 11 commissioned Saint Jerome translate Scriptures in
Latin. At Rome, St.
Damasus, pope and confessor, condemned the
heresiarch Apollinaris, and restored to his See Peter, bishop of
Alexandria, who had been driven from it. He also discovered the
bodies
of many holy martyrs and composed verses in their honour.
401-417 St. Innocent
I
401-417
418-422 St. Boniface I Boniface
ardently supported St. Augustine in combating Pelagianism. Having
received two Pelagian letters calumniating Augustine, he sent them to
him. In recognition of this solicitude Augustine dedicated to Boniface
his rejoinder contained in "Contra duas Epistolas Pelagianoruin Libri
quatuor". 
483 - 492 492 ST. FELIX
III Pope helped to get the
Church in Africa on its feet
492 496 Pope
St. Gelasius I feast Nov 21
conspicuous for his spirit of prayer, penance, and study. He took
great delight in the company of monks, and was a true father to the poor
536
Pope Agapitus
I archdeacon opposed Monophysites Pope (RM)
590-604 Pope St.
Gregory I ("the Great") 
St. Boniface
IV 608-615 25
May converted Pantheon
into a Christian Church, the temple by Agrippa to Jupiter the Avenger,
to Venus, and
to Mars consecrated by the pope to the Virgin Mary and all the
Martyrs. (Hence the title S. Maria Rotunda.) the first instance
at Rome of a pagan temple into a place of
Christian worship. 
615 618 Pope St. Deusdedit (Adeodatus I). 
625-638
Pope Honorius
655 Pope
St.
Martin I of noble birth,
great student, commanding intelligence, profound learning, great
charity to the poor Saint Martin
the Confessor, Pope of Rome native of the Tuscany
convened Lateran Council at Rome condemn Monothelite heresy
last martyred Pope.
684 Pope St.
Benedict II distinguished knowledge of the Scriptures and by his
singing, and as a priest was remarkable for his humility, love of the
poor, and generosity; 
715 731 Gregory
II, Perhaps the greatest of the great popes who occupied the chair
of Peter during the eighth century; 89th
Pope educated at the Lateran restore clerical discipline, fought
heresies helped restore and rebuild churches (including Saint
Paul-Outside-the-Walls), hospitals, and monasteries, including Monte
Cassino under Petrona outstanding concern of pontificate -difficulties
with Emperor Leo III the Isaurian 
731-741 Pope
St. Gregory III; Nov 28:
held two synods in Rome (731) in which the image-breaking heresy
was condemned. By way of a practical protest against the emperor's
action he made it a point of paying special honour to images and
relics, giving particular attention to the subject of St. Peter's; Gregory III extended to St. Boniface the
same support and
encouragement which had been afforded him by Gregory II. "Strengthened
exceedingly by the help of the affection of the Apostolic See", the
saint joyfully continued his glorious work for the conversion of
Germany. About 737 Boniface came to Rome for the third time to give an
account of his stewardship, and to enjoy the pope's "life-giving
conversation", At Gregory's order the monk and great traveller, St.
Willibald, went to assist his cousin St. Boniface in his labours; got
help from Charles Martel against the Lombards.
1048 1054 Leo
IX "the
pilgrim
pope" reformer deacon a stern bishop holy man & army
officer attempted stopping the schism (RM) During 20 years as prelate of Toul, known
as stern bishop,
disciplined lax priests brought order into the monasteries of
his diocese. He took his spiritual
advisor, Hildebrand (later Pope Saint Gregory VII), with him to Rome. What
he had done formerly on a small scale he attempted to
apply to the
whole Church. First began earnest reform of curia. Leo combatted
simony, enforced celibacy among clergy,
encouraged
development of chant and liturgy, condemned Berengarius, strove to
prevent schism between Eastern and Western churches
engineered by Emperor Michael Coerularius. Tirelessly travelled
throughout western Europe to enforce reforms, became known as the
pilgrim pope. Wherever he
went he
called together bishops and clergy in councils, inspiring them follow
his lead.
1058 1061 Pope
Nicholas II The
papal electoral decree was issued in Pope Nicholas II’s bull,
In nominee Domini on April 13, 1059, and was renewed in 1061.
Simony,
the purchase or sale of sacred or spiritual things, was halted, and the
entire voting process was revised so that only cardinal-bishops (not
simply cardinals) would have the right to vote with further affirmation
of the Roman clergy and laity. 
1061-1073 Alexander
II Anselm of Lucca, leader of the reform party
1073-1085
Pope St. Gregory VII; One of the greatest of the Roman pontiffs
and one of the most remarkable men of all times (HILDEBRAND);
1086-1087
Pope Blessed Victor III;
enter the monastery of S. Sophia at Benevento where he received the
name of Desiderius; the greatest
of all the abbots of Monte Cassino with the exception
of the founder, and as such won for himself "imperishable fame"
(Gregorovius); Peter the Deacon
gives (op. cit., III, 63) a list of some seventy
books which Desiderius caused to be copied at Monte Cassino; they
include works of Sts. Augustine, Ambrose, Bede, Basil, Jerome, Gregory
of Nazianzus, and Cassian, the registers of Popes Feliz and Leo, the
histories of Josephus, Paul Warnfrid, Jordanus, and Gregory of Tours,
the "Institutes" and "Novels" of Justinian, the works of Terence,
Virgil, and Seneca, Cicero's "De natura deorum", and Ovid's "Fasti"; Undoubtedly the chief importance of
Desiderius in papal history
lies in his influence with the Normans, an influence which he was able
repeatedly to exert in favour of the Holy See; refused the Papacy
several times due to his ill health.
1088-1099
Pope Bl.
Urban II Under St. Bruno
(afterwards founder of the
Carthusians) Otho
studied at Reims, where he later became canon and archdeacon. About
1070 he retired to Cluny and was professed there under the great abbot
St. Hugh. After holding the office of prior he was sent by St. Hugh to
Rome as one of the monks asked for by Gregory VII, and he was of great
assistance to Gregory in the difficult task of reforming the Church. In
1078 he became Cardinal Bishop of Ostia and Gregory's chief adviser and
helper. During the years 1082 to 1085 he was legate in France and
Germany. While returning to Rome in 1083 he was made prisoner by the
Emperor Henry IV, but was soon liberated. Whilst in Saxony (1084-5) he
filled many of the vacant sees with men faithful to Gregory and deposed
those whom the pope had condemned. He held a great synod at Quedlinburg
in Saxony in which the antipope Guibert of Ravenna and his adherents
were anathematized by name. Victor III had already been elected when
Otho returned to Rome in 1085. Otho appears to have opposed Victor at
first, not through any animosity or want of good will, but because he
judged it better, at so critical a time, that Victor should resign the
honour he was unwilling to retain. After Victor's death a summons was
sent to as many bishops of the Gregorian party as possible to attend a
meeting at Terracina. It was made known at this meeting that Otho had
been suggested by Gregory and Victor as their successor. Accordingly,
on 12 March, 1088, he was unanimously elected, taking the title of
Urban II. 
1109
Clement XI canonized and included among the Doctors
of the Church {1109} Anselm of
Canterbury 
1145-1153 Bd
Eugenius III, Pope Cistercian monk at Clairvaux; he took in
religion the name of Bernard, his great namesake being his superior at
Clairvaux 
1159-81 Pope
Alexander III; In the estimation of Rome, Italy, and Christendom,
Alexander III's epitaph expresses the truth, when it calls him "the
Light of the Clergy, the Ornament of the Church, the Father of his City
and of the World."
1198 - 1216 Pope Innocent
III; One of the greatest
popes of the Middle Ages; a
learned theologian; one of the greatest jurists of his time; held various ecclesiastical offices during
short reigns of Lucius III, Urban III, Gregory VIII, and Clement III; re-established papal authority in Rome; scarcely a country in Europe over which
Innocent III did not in
some way or other assert supremacy he claimed for the papacy; During his reign two great founders of the
mendicant orders,
St. Dominic and St. Francis, laid before him their scheme of reforming
the world. Innocent was not blind to the vices of luxury and indolence
which had infected many of the clergy and part of the laity. In Dominic
and Francis he recognized two mighty adversaries of these vices and he
sanctioned their projects with words of encouragement. He wrote "De quadripartita specie
nuptiarum" (P. L., CCXVII,
923-968), an exposition of the fourfold marriage bond, namely, between
man and wife, between Christ and the Church, between God and the just
soul, between the Word and human nature - - entirely based on passages
from Holy Scripture. 
1216-1227 Honorius
III he set his mind on the achievement of two great things, the
recovery of the Holy Land in the Fifth Crusade and a spiritual reform
of the entire Church; but quite in contrast with Innocent III he sought
these achievements by kindness and indulgence rather than by force and
severity.
1276
Teobaldo
Visconti Pope
St. Gregory X 1210-1276; 1283 BD JOHN
OF VERCELLI Immediately on his election to the
see of Rome, Bd Gregory X
imposed on John of Vercelli and his friars the task of again pacifying
the quarrelling states of Italy, and three years later he was ordered
to draw up a schema for the second ecumenical Council of Lyons. At the
council he met Jerome of Ascoli (afterwards Pope Nicholas IV), who had
succeeded St Bonaventure as minister general of the Franciscans, and
the two addressed a joint letter to the whole body of friars. Later on
they were sent together by the Holy See to mediate between Philip III
of France and Alfonso X of Castile, continuing the work of peace-maker,
in which John excelled.
1288-92
Jerome Masci of Ascoli Pope
Nicholas IV second ecumenical Council
of Lyons; 1st Fransciscan Pope; In 1291 John of Monte Corvino
(1247-1328) left Tabriz as a legate of Pope Nicholas IV to the
court of Kublai Khan. An Italian merchant, a Dominican friar and John
traveled to western India where the Dominican died. When John and the
Italian merchant arrived in China in 1294, Kublai Khan had recently
died.
1294
Pope St. Celestine V The
birthday of St. Peter of Moroni who, while
leading the life of an anchoret, was created Sovereign Pontiff and
called Celestine V. He later abdicated the pontificate, and led a
religious life in solitude, where, renowned for virtues and miracles,
he went to the Lord. 
1389-1404
Pope Boniface IX; He lacked good theological training and skill in
the conduct of curial business, but was by nature tactful and prudent.
His firm charater and mild manner did much to restore respect for the
papacy in the countries of his own obedience (Germany, England,
Hungary, Poland, and the greater part of Italy); In the course of
his reign Boniface extinguished the municipal independence of Rome and
established the supremacy of the pope. He secured the final adhesion of
the Romans (1398) by fortifying anew the Castle of Sant' Angelo, the
bridges, and other points of vantage. He also took over the port of
Ostia from its cardinal-bishop. In the Papal States Boniface gradually
regained control of the chief strongholds and cities, and is the true
founder of these States as they appear in the fifteenth century. Owing
to the faithlessness and violence of the Romans he resided frequently
at Perugia, Assisi, and elsewhere. Clement VII, the Avignon pope, died
16 September, 1394. Boniface had excommunicated him shortly after his
own election, and in turn had been excommunicated by Clement. In 1392
Boniface attempted, but in vain, to enter into closer relations with
Clement for the re-establishment of ecclesiastical unity, whereupon
Boniface reasserted with vigour his own legitimacy. Clement was
succeeded at Avignon, 28 September, 1394, by Cardinal Pedro de Luna, as
Benedict XIII. Suffice it to say here that Boniface always claimed to
be the true pope, and at all times rejected the proposal to abdicate
even when it was supported by the principal members of his own
obedience, e.g. Richard II of England (1396), the Diet of Frankfort
(1397), and King Wenceslaus of Germany (Reims, 1398); Contemporary and
later chroniclers praise the political virtues of Boniface, also the
purity of his life, and the grandeur of his spirit.
1417 - 1431 Pope
Martin V; Nov 28 his journey
to Rome, where he arrived on 28 September, 1420. He at
once set to work, establishing order and restoring the dilapidated
churches, palaces, bridges, and other public structures. For this
reconstruction he engaged some famous masters of the Tuscan school, and
thus laid the foundation for the Roman Renaissance. When practically a
new Rome had risen from the ruins of the old, the pope turned his
attention to the rest of the Papal States, which during the schism had
become an incoherent mass of independent cities and provinces. After
the death of Braccio di Montone in June 1424, Perugia, Assisi, Todi and
Jesi freely submitted to the papal territory. Bologna again revolted in
1428, but returned to the papal allegiance in the following year. In
these activities, Martin V was greatly assisted by his kindred, the
Colonna family, whom he overwhelmed with important civil and
ecclesiastical offices. In his case, however, the charge of nepotism
loses some of its odiousness, for, when, he came to Rome, he was a
landless ruler and could look for support to no one except his
relatives. 
remarkable for his
mortified life, his
firmness of purpose, and prudence in face of serious difficulties; proclaimed
innocence of the Maid of Orléans; chiefly concerned with
the
organization of Christian Europe against the invasion of the
Turks.
Callistus III must ever be regarded as a man of lofty ideals, of
boundless courage, energy, and perseverance. He realized the dangers
which then confronted Europe, and made every effort to unite its
Christian princes for the defence of their own countries; if he failed,
the blame must fall not on the pope, but on those who refused to
hearken to his counsels.
1523-1534 Clement VII (GIULIO DE’ MEDICI) 
1566-1572 St
Pius V
1572-1585
Pope
Gregory XIII (January 7, 1502 – April 10, 1585), born Ugo
Boncompagni; No other act
of Gregory has gained for him a more lasting
fame than reform of the Julian calendar completed introduced 1578.
Closely connected with
the reform of the calendar is the emendation of the Roman martyrology
ordered by Gregory 1580. In a brief, dated 14 January, 1584,
Gregory XIII ordered
that the new martyrology should supersede all others. Another great
literary achievement of Gregory XIII is an official Roman edition of
the Corpus juris canonici. Shortly after the conclusion of the Council
of Trent, Pius IV appointed a committee to bring out a
critical edition of the Decree of Gratian; increased
to 35 (correctores Romani) by Pius V 1566. Gregory
XIII a member from the beginning; finally
completed in 1582. In the Briefs "Cum pro munere", dated 1 July, 1580,
and "Emendationem", dated 2 June, 1582, Gregory ordered that
henceforth only the emended official text was to be used and that in
the future no other text should be printed. 
1592-1605 Pope
Clement VIII St. Philip
Neri, for thirty years was his confessor; To him we owe the institution of the Forty
Hours' Devotion. He
founded at Rome the Collegio Clementino for the education of the sons
of the richer classes, and augmented the number of national colleges in
Rome by opening the Collegio Scozzese for the training of missionaries
to Scotland. The "Bullarium Romanum" contains many important
constitutions of Clement, notably one denouncing duelling and one
providing for the inviolability of the States of the Church.
1605-1621 Pope
Paul V; a canonist of
marked ability; watched
vigilantly over the interests of
the Church in every nation. Paul
V was no more free from nepotism than the other pontiffs of
that century. But if he seemed to show too many favours to his
relatives, it must be said that they were capable men of blameless
lives, and devoted their large revenues to the embellishment of Rome.
Paul had the honour of putting the finishing touches to St. Peter's,
which had been building for a century. He enriched the Vatican Library,
was fond of art, and encouraged Guido Reni. He canonized St. Charles
Borromeo and St. Frances of Rome. He beatified Sts. Ignatius Loyola,
Francis Xavier, Philip Neri, Theresa the Carmelite, Louis Bertrand,
Thomas of Villanova, and Isidore of Madrid. During his pontificate a
large number of new institutes for education and charity added new
lustre to religion. His remains were placed in the magnificent Borghese
chapel in St. Mary Major's, where his monument is universally admired. 
1655-1667 Alexander
VII; Fabio Chigi,
At
Münster Barbarigo became acquainted with the apostolic nuncio, Fabio Chigi, who was so favourably
impressed with him that, after he had been raised to the papal throne
as Alexander VII, he showed
the young Venetian many tokens of his esteem and became his strong
Supporter. In 1657 he nominated him to the bishopric of Bergamo, in
1660 he created him a cardinal, and in 1664 he transferred him to the
bishopric of Padua.
1667-1669 Pope
Clement IX; elected
to the papacy by the unanimous Sacred
College vote; idol of the Romans erudition application
to business, his extreme charity, and his affability towards
great and small; 2 days/week
occupied confessional in St. Peter's
church heard any one who wished to confess; frequently
visited hospitals, lavish in alms to the poor; he did little or nothing
to advance or enrich his
family; aversion to notoriety, refused to permit his name to
be placed on the buildings erected during his reign; declared blessed,
Rose of Lima, first American saint, solemnly canonized S. Maria
Maddalena dei Pazzi and St.
Peter of Alcantara; death of
the beloved pontiff was long lamented by Romans, who
considered him, if not the greatest, at least the most amiable of the
popes. 
1689 Bl. Innocent
XI Benedetto
Odescalchi
1700 1721 Pope
Clement XI Giovanni
Francesco was sent to Rome in his 11th year to
prosecute studies at the Roman College. He made rapid progress; known
as an author at 18, translating from the
Greek into elegant Latin. He attracted the notice of the patroness of
Roman literati, Queen Christina of Sweden, who before he became of age
enrolled him in her exclusive Accademia. With equal ardour and success,
he applied himself to the profounder branches, theology and law, and
was created doctor of canon and civil law. So brilliant an intellect,
joined with stainless morals and piety, secured for him a rapid
advancement at the papal court. At the age of twenty-eight he was made
a prelate, and governed successively Rieti, Sabina, and Orvieto,
everywhere acceptable on account of his reputation for justice and
prudence. Recalled to Rome, he was appointed Vicar of St. Peter's, and
on the death of Cardinal Slusio succeeded to the important position of
Secretary of Papal Briefs, which he held for thirteen years, and for
which his command of classical latinity singularly fitted him. On 13
February, 1690, he was created cardinal-deacon and later
Cardinal-Priest of the Title of San Silvestro, and was ordained to the
priesthood. 
1724 Pope
Innocent XIII 1655 1724 Most Holy Name of Jesus
extended this feast to the
entire Church In 1721, Declared Isidore of Spain Doctor
in 1711
1724-1730 Pope
Benedict XIII placed St John of the
Crux on the list of the saints; In
government of his diocese, Cardinal Orsini unremitting
in labours and zeal; visited even the most remote hamlets and
was not less watchful over temporal than over spiritual things;
provided needs of the people, repaired churches held a
diocesan synod, the decrees of which he published; In 1680, when
Innocent XI transferred him to Cesena, he left to the people of Siponto
a memorial of his apostolic activity, his devotion to the poor and his
constant preaching brought about a thorough-going reformation among
both clergy and people. Seeing on his frequent journeys the condition
of the churches in even the poorest parishes, he neglected none and by
the promulgation of strict rules, he abolished all known abuses; This long delay weighed heavily on the soul
of Orsini, who
commenced a novena of prayers to his patron, St. Philip Neri, that the
election of a new pope might be no longer delayed. Before the novena
was finished he saw with terror that he himself would be chosen, and,
reluctant to accept a position which filled him with dread, he sought
by all means in his power to prevent his election. Against his oft
repeated protestations he was chosen 29 May, 1724, and even after the
final vote was taken he refused to yield, arguing that his age, his
physical weakness, his incapacity, and a resolution which he made never
to become pope, should exempt him from such a grave responsibility. He
yielded only when it was made clear to him that grave dangers were to
be feared if the conclave should be reopened. So with tears, and
obeying the command of the general of his order, he allowed himself to
be proclaimed pope; His first
concern as pope was to enforce rigidly ecclesiastical
discipline. He issued several decrees on ecclesiastical dress and was
unsparing in his efforts to abolish any semblance of luxury or worldly
pomp among the cardinals; Benedict's
theological writings were published in three volumes (Ravenna,
1728). 
1730-1740 Pope Clement
XII (LORENZO CORSINI).
1740-1758 Pope
Benedict XIV is best known
to history as a student and a scholar.
Though by no means a genius, his enormous application coupled with more
than ordinary cleverness of mind made him one of the most erudite men
of his time and gave him the distinction of being perhaps the greatest
scholar among the popes. His character was many-sided, and his range of
interests large. His devotion to science and the serious investigation
of historical problems did not interfere with his purely literary
studies. "I have been reproached", he once said, "because of my
familiarity with Tasso and Dante and Ariosto, but they are a necessity
to me in order to give energy to my thought and life to my style." This
devotion to the arts and sciences brought Lambertini throughout his
whole life into close and friendly contact with the most famous authors
and scholars of his time. Montfaucon, whom he knew in Rome, said of
him, "Young as he is, he has two souls: one for science, the other for
society." This last characterization did not interfere with his
restless activity in any of the many important positions which he was
called on to fill, nor did it diminish his marvellous capacity for the
most arduous work. 
Pius_X_1903_14.jpg
Benedetto XV), (21
November 1854 – 22
January 1922), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa,
reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922; he succeeded
Pope Pius X (1903–14).
1922-1939 Pope
Pius XI Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti declared
St John of the Crux a doctor of the universal Church (1857 - 1939) Italian scholar & pope.
He issued the encyclical Quas Primas establishing the feast of Christ
the King, and took as his papal motto "Christ's peace in Christ's
kingdom". Pius XI fought the 2 ascendant ideologies of communism and
fascism. Onetime librarian/ mountain climber; reorganized archives.
Nevertheless, Pius XI was hardly a withdrawn and bookish figure. A man
of stature, he possessed an iron will and did not hesitate to assert
his position.
1939-1958 Pope Pius XII; 260th Pius XII wrote, "I have seen the 'miracle
of the sun,'
this is the pure
truth." four times; "4 p.m. on Oct. 30, 1950", again on "the
31st of October and Nov. 1, the day of the definition of the dogma of
the Assumption, and then again Nov. 8, then after that, no more.
Occurred during his, "habitual
walk in the Vatican Gardens, reading and
studying," having arrived to the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, "toward
the top of the hill […] I was awestruck by a phenomenon that before now
I had never seen. The sun, which was still quite high, looked
like a
pale, opaque sphere, entirely surrounded by a luminous circle," he
recounted. And one could look at the sun, "without the slightest
bother. There was a very light little cloud in front of it." The
Holy
Father's note goes on to describe "the opaque sphere" that
"moved outward slightly, either spinning, or moving from left to right
and vice versa. But within the sphere, you could see marked movements
with total clarity and without interruption."
1963 Pope_John_XXIII