Conception Abbey
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Tower Topics ~ Summer 2005 |
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From the monastery to the mountaintop - the Benedictine popes
Gregory I “the Great” (590-604) Only the second pope in Church history to be called “the Great,” Gregory I was also the first monk elected to the papacy. One of the papacy’s most influential writers, his Pastoral Care, which defined the Episcopal ministry as one of shepherding souls, became the textbook for Gregory vigorously promoted monasticism and the liturgy, especially liturgical music. His name was so identified with plainsong that it became known as Gregorian chant. Gregory the Great is one of the four Doctors of the Church from the Middle Ages. Sylvester II (999-1003) The first French pope, Sylvester was well educated in literature, music, mathematics, philosophy, logic and astronomy. He did an about-face upon election as pope. A strong supporter of the rights of the French bishops and equally strong critic of the papacy, he became a tenacious advocate of papal rights. However, he was a dedicated reformer who denounced simony (buying or selling of Church offices), nepotism and violations of clerical celibacy. He also insisted on free elections of abbots by monks. Gregory VII (1073-1085) One of the most influential popes of the Middle Ages, his papacy marks the urning point between the first Christian millennium and the second. He was an ardent reformer who concentrated on clerical reform. In an effort to free the papacy and the Church generally from temporal control, Gregory claimed temporal as well as power over the whole Christian world. He opposed simony, clerical marriage and lay investiture and insisted that metropolitan archbishops come to Rome to receive the pallium. Victor III (1086-1087) The abbot of Monte Cassino when elected (and until three days before his death), he took the name Victor as a gesture of reconciliation with the emperor Henry IV, whose Father Henry III had supported a candidate by that name. Partisan conflicts (including the presence of an antipope) made his pontificate very difficult. Paschal II (1099-1118) Under pressure from the emperor Henry V, he reversed many of the reforms initiated by Gregory VII, and the papacy suffered a decline in prestige. Gelasius II (1118-1119) An elderly man and historian, he was attacked and imprisoned immediately after election by the head of a patrician family that detested his predecessor. When the emperor left Rome, Gelasius returned but found it controlled by hostile forces, including an antipope. He fled to France and died in the monastery at Cluny. Celestine V (1294) A hermit who was elected at age 80, he proved to be an ineffective, easily manipulated pope. He resigned voluntarily after only six months but was prevented by his successor from returning to his retreat. He died two years later under virtual house arrest. Celestine was also the founder of the Celestine religious order. Clement VI (1342-1352) His papal bull Unigenitus (“Unbegotten”) defined the treasury of merits won by Christ and the saints that could be drawn upon by the faithful, which laid the groundwork for the doctrine of indulgences. Urban V (1362-1370) He retained his Benedictine habit and lifestyle while pope and continued his predecessor’s reforms. He founded universities and was a generous patron of the arts. In 1367, he returned the papacy to Rome, which he found in miserable condition. He dedicated himself to rebuilding and renovation, including the Lateran Church which had burned down in 1360. Pius VII (1800-1823) He entered into concordats with the Italian Republic and with France, and even crowned Napoleon Bonaparte. But when Pius later excommunicated all “robbers of Peter’s patrimony,” he was arrested by Napoleon’s forces, imprisoned near Genoa, and then taken to Fontainebleau. His captivity was severe, but his manner of bearing enhanced his personal prestige. He restored the Jesuit order in 1814. Gregory XVI (1831-1846) A Camaldolese monk, he wrote a defense of papal sovereignty and infallibility in 1799, and later served as prefect of the Propagation of the Faith. As pope he banned railways in his territories, calling them a dangerous modern invention, and with the help of Austria crushed an uprising in the Papal States. He centralized much Church activity in the Holy See, especially missionary work. Although he condemned freedom of conscience, freedom of the press, and separation of Church and state, he also denounced slavery and the slave trade, and encouraged a native hierarchy in mission lands.
(Information for this article was gathered from The Harper Collins Encyclopedia of Catholicism and The Lives of the Popes by Richard P. McBrien.) We welcome your comments: |
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In explaining his choice of name Pope Benedict XVI noted that the spread of monasticism in Europe was instrumental in the spread of Christianity, and that St. Benedict “is a basic point of reference for the unity of Europe.” The Pope’s words sparked my curiosity. While their impact on the Church is well known, I wondered what mark Benedictines have left on the papacy? Through some careful research (i.e. plagiarism), I found there were 24 Benedictine monks who have been called Papa. Below are a few of the more noteworthy.
medieval bishops. And what little is known about the life of St. Benedict of Nursia comes from Gregory’s Dialogues. Only a junior deacon when he was unanimously elected pope, Gregory begged the emperor to withhold his consent from the election. Engaged in intense pastoral work among the plague-stricken inhabitants of Rome, he accepted consecration as Bishop of Rome under protest. His early letters disclose unhappiness over being forced to leave behind his contemplative life for the papacy.