Pioneers of the Traditional Catholic Movement in the United States

Fr. Gommar DePauw, who founded the Catholic Traditionalist Movement in 1964 and brought the Traditional Latin Mass on radio and audiocassettes to millions of deprived traditional Catholics, who were falsely told that the Traditional Latin Mass had been abrogated
Fr. James Wathen, who pulled the theological rug out from under any authority that the Novus Ordo "authorities" pretended to have and demonstrated that the Novus Ordo documents themselves never officially imposed the invalid Novus Ordo service
Patrick Omlor, who in 1967 was the first to call the Novus Ordo service invalid, on the basis of Catholic Thomistic theology, in his devastating monograph Questioning the Validity of the New, All-English Canon
Walter Matt, who founded a periodical that published much information against the validity of the Novus Ordo and its ministers, a periodical that after his death has become a sycophantic mouthpiece for the Novus Ordo and its immoral leader, Benedict-Ratzinger

Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt (1606 - 1669)

Biography of Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt

Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt (1606 - 1669)

Rembrandt was born in Leiden and died in Amsterdam. He was the son of a miller and a baker's daughter, and was originally intended to become a scholar. He went to Latin School and then enrolled at the University of Leiden. After only a year he left to become apprenticed from 1622 to 1624 to a mediocre Leiden painter, Jacob van Swanenburgh. More important for his artistic development, however, was the short period of about six months that he spent training under Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam. In 1625 he began a working association with his friend Jan Lievens in Leiden, finally moving to Amsterdam in 1631/32. In the history of Dutch painting this date represents an important milestone, as Rembrandt was to become the incomparable representative of Amsterdam art. He soon established himself in Amsterdam, received many commissions and opened a large workshop. In 1634 he married Saskia, a lawyer's daughter, who brought a considerable dowry into the marriage.

In 1639 he bought a large house, never quite paid for, which he filled with works of art and curios. Soon his passion for collecting exceeded his finances. In 1642, the year he painted "The Night Watch" Saskia died, and from 1649 he lived with Hendrickje Stoffels whom he could not marry without losing Saskia's legacy to their son Titus. In 1656 he went bankrupt, and his house and all possessions were put up for compulsory auction. Rembrandt spent his final years in poverty and isolation in rooms on the outskirts of Amsterdam, his powers of creation undiminished.

Rembrandt was the most universal artist of his time and he influenced painting for half a century, irrespective of schools or regional style. From his many fields of activity his pupils developed their own specialties, ranging from trompe l'oeil painting to the very detailed Leiden style. Unlike most Dutch painters of the time, who worked in fairly narrow fields, Rembrandt depicted almost every type of subject.

Although Amsterdam's leading portraitist for a decade ("Jan Six", Amsterdam, Foundation Six), also doing group portraits (The Staalmeesters," he was a painter of numerous biblical scenes ("The Sacrifice of Isacc," St. Petersburgh, Hermitage), of the mythological works works ("Philemon and Baucis", Washington, National Gallery) and landscapes ("Landscape in Thunders Brunswik, Herzog-Utrich-Museum) as well at life. In his work, branches of painting often overlapped, as for example in the group portrait "The Night Watch," where he took liberties with a number of rules. Rembrandt's fame rests on his continual development of pictorial devices and unvarying excellence of execution (unlike the works of Rubens, man which were left in part to workshop routine), a well as on his brilliant handling of light and shade and his ability to suggest states of mind through facial expression.

Apart from his greatness as a painter he was a powerful draughtsman and etcher. About 300 of these Rembrandt etchings survive. In this field he extended the technique and artistic possibilities, for example introducing the chiaroscuro effect, raising it to an art for in its own right. Amongst his approximately 15 drawings, the landscape scenes are particularly captivating in their serenity and harmony. Rembrandt's The Hundred Guilder Print is one of his most valuable and sought after etchings.

St. Giles, Abbot September 1

St. Giles, Abbot (Patron of Physically Disabled) Feast day - September 1

St. Giles is said to have been a seventh century Athenian of noble birth. His piety and learning made him so conspicuous and an object of such admiration in his own country that, dreading praise and longing for a hidden life, he left his home and sailed for France. At first he took up his abode in a wilderness near the mouth of the Rhone river, afterward near the river Gard, and, finally, in the diocese of Nimes. Legend also relates that whilst the King Wamba was out hunting in a forest he chased a hind who went into a thicket into which the king shot an arrow. Upon investigating the King found Giles wounded by the arrow whilst protecting the hind.

He spend many years in solitude conversing only with God. The fame of his miracles became so great that his reputation spread throughout France. He was highly esteemed by the French king, but he could not be prevailed upon to forsake his solitude. He admitted several disciples, however, to share it with him. Giles founded a monastery at a place near Arles, which was later named Saint-Gilles (Provence). Towards the end of his life Giles went to Rome and offered the monastery to the pope who gave Giles two doors of cypress wood which Giles threw into the sea but which were washed up on a beach near his monastery. St. Giles became a popular saint in Western Europe due partly to the Crusaders who passed through Saint Gilles (Provence) on their way to the Holy Land. As a result of his encounter with King Wamba and becoming wounded and a cripple, St. Giles became the patron saint of cripples, lepers and nursing mothers. In Great Britain alone over 150 churches and 25 hospitals are dedicated to his name. St. Giles Feast was celebrated by all English Benedictine Monasteries on September 1st . Churches dedicated to St. Giles are often found at road junctions enabling travellers to visit whilst their horses were being shod at the nearby smithies, St Giles being their patron also.

St Giles Fairs. There have been at least two famous fairs in England connected to St. Giles day: one was in Winchester and the other at Oxford, their original purpose being for buying and selling local produce. We do not know exactly when the Church at Farnborough was dedicated to St. Giles, but in 1292 Thom Earl of Lancaster of the family of Grandison, was granted by the King a licence to hold a market in Farnborough every week upon a Tuesday and a yearly fair on the Feast of St. Giles.



In succeeding ages it embraced the rule of St. Benedict. St. Giles died probably in the beginning of the eighth century, about the year 724.

St. Raymond Nonnatus, Confessor August 31

Saint Raymond Nonnatus Being Nourished by the Angels, by Eugenio Caxés

Saint Raymond Nonnatus (Catalan: Sant Ramon Nonat, Spanish: San Ramón Nonato, French: Saint Raymond Nonnat, Maltese: San Rajmondo Nonnato) (1204–1240) was a saint from Catalonia in Spain. His surname (Latin: Nonnatus, "not born") is derived from the fact that he was born by Caesarean section (his mother died during childbirth). He is the patron saint of childbirth, midwives, children, and pregnant women.

Life

Born at La Portella, in the Diocese of Urgell, he became a member of the Mercedarian Order, founded to ransom Christian captives of the Moors of North Africa, he was ordained priest in 1222 and later became master-general of the order. He traveled to North Africa and is said to have surrendered himself as a hostage when his money ran out.

He suffered in captivity. A legend states that the Moors bored a hole through his lips with a hot iron, and padlocked his mouth to prevent him from preaching. He was ransomed by his order and in 1239 returned to Spain. He died at Cardona, six miles from Barcelona, either on August 26 or on August 31, 1240. Many miracles were attributed to him before and after his death.

Veneration

His feast day is on August 31. Because of his limited importance worldwide, his liturgical celebration is no longer included among those to be necessarily commemorated wherever the Roman Rite is celebrated, but, since he is included in the Roman Martyrology for August 31, Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours may be recited in his honor on that day.

Places named in honor of St Raymond

Saint-Raymond, Quebec, in Canada, San Ramón de la Nueva Orán, in Argentina, and São Raimundo Nonato and the Roman Catholic Diocese of São Raimundo Nonato (Raymundianus), in Brazil, are named after him.

SAINT ROSE of LIMA August 30

St Rose of Lima, the first saint from the Americas

St.Rose of Lima, (April 20, 1586 – August 24, 1617), the first Catholic saint of the Americas, was born in Lima, Peru.St. Rose of Lima was born in the present-day city of Lima (Peru). She received the baptismal name Isabel Flores de Oliva. She was from a large family. Her father, Gaspar Flores, was a Spanish harquebusier, and her mother, Maria de Oliva, was born in Lima.
She was personally confirmed by the Archbishop of Lima, Turibius de Mongrovejo. Her nickname "Rosa" was a testament to her holy ties.


In emulation of Saint Catherine of Siena, she fasted three times a week with secret severe penances. When she was admired, Rose cut off her hair against the objections of her friends and her family. Upon the censure of her parents, Rose disfigured her face with pepper and lye. She was very upset that she was so beautiful, and hurt herself to help others.

She spent many hours contemplating the Blessed Sacrament, which she received daily. She determined to take a vow of virginity in opposition to her parents, who wished her to marry.

Daily fasting turned to perpetual abstinence from meat. Her days were filled with acts of charity and industry. Rose helped the sick and hungry around her community. She would bring them to her home and take care of them. Rose sold her fine needlework, grew beautiful flowers, and would take them to market to help her family. Her exquisite lace and embroidery helped to support her home, while her nights were devoted to prayer and penance in a little grotto which she had built. She became a recluse leaving the grotto only for her visits to the Blessed Sacrament.

She took the name of Rose at her confirmation in 1597. She had so attracted the attention of the Dominican Order that she was permitted to enter a Dominican convent in 1602 without payment of the usual dowry. In her twentieth year she donned the habit and took a vow of perpetual virginity.

For eleven years this self-martyrdom continued without relaxation, with intervals of ecstasy, until she died on August 24, 1617, at the age of 31, having prophesied the date of her death exactly. Her funeral was attended by all the public authorities of Lima, and the archbishop pronounced her eulogy in the cathedral.

Veneration

Convent of Santa Rosa in the 17th century, LimaRose was beatified by Pope Clement IX on April 15, 1667, and canonized on April 12, 1671 by Pope Clement X, the first Catholic in the Americas to be declared a saint. Her shrine, alongside those of her friends, St. Martin de Porres and Saint John Macías, is located inside the convent of St. Dominic in Lima. The Roman Catholic Church mentions the many miracles that followed her death. Stories have been heard that she has cured a leper. Many places are named Santa Rosa in the New World and pay homage to this saint. Pope Benedict XVI is especially devoted to her.

Her liturgical feast was inserted into the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints in 1727 for celebration initially on August 30, because August 24, the anniversary day of her death, is the feast of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle and August 30 was the closest date not already occupied by a well-known saint. Pope Paul VI's 1969 reform of the Roman Catholic calendar of saints, made August 23 available, the day on which her feast day is now celebrated throughout the world, including Spain, but excluding Peru and some other Latin American countries, where August 30 is a public holiday in her honor.

She is the patroness of native Indian people of the Americas and their beneficence, of gardeners, of florists, of Lima, of Peru, of the New World, of the Philippines, of Santa Rosa, California, and of Sittard, the Netherlands, of India, of people misunderstood for their piety and of the resolution of family quarrels.

Early Lives of Santa Rosa were written by the Dominican Father Hansen, "Vita Sanctae Rosae" (2 vols., Rome, 1664–1668), and Vicente Orsini, afterward. Pope Benedict XIII wrote "Concentus Dominicano, Bononiensis ecclesia, in album Sanctorum Ludovici Bertrandi et Rosae de Sancta Maria, ordinero praedicatorum" (Venice, 1674).

There is a park named for her in downtown Sacramento, California. A plot of land at 7th and K streets was given to the Roman Catholic Church by Peter Burnett, first governor of the state of California. Father Peter Anderson built one of the first of two churches in the diocese to be consecrated in honor of St Rose.

The public may see the cranium of Santa Rosa, in the Basilica in Lima, Peru. It was customary to keep the torso in the Basilica and pass the cranium around the country, inviting all to venerate and gaze. She has a crown of roses on her cranium. She is also displayed with San Martin de Porres, who also has the cranium separate from the torso.

Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist August 29

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, 1608. Oil on canvas, 361 x 520 cm. Oratory of the St. Johns Co-Cathedral Valletta,Malta.


Saint John the Baptist was called by God to be the precursor of His divine Son. In order to preserve his innocence spotless, and to improve upon the extraordinary graces which he had received in his earliest infancy, he was directed by the Holy Spirit to lead an austere and contemplative life in the wilderness. There he devoted himself to the continuous exercise of devout prayer and penance.Apart from our Devine Lord and our Lady , he is the only saint whose birth and death are both celebratedin this way. He was put to death at about the time of the Pasch, a year before Christ's Passion, but the feast is kept today ,the anniversary of the finding of his head at Emessa in Syria in 452.

When Saint John was thirty years old, the faithful minister of the Lord began to discharge his mission. Clothed with the garments of penance, he announced to all men the obligation weighing upon them of washing away their iniquities with the tears of sincere compunction. He proclaimed the Messiah, who was of his own age but whom he had never seen, when one day Jesus came to be baptized by him in the Jordan. Saint John was received by the poor folk as the true herald of the Most High God, and his voice was, as it were, a trumpet sounding from heaven to summon all men to avert the divine judgments. Souls were exhorted by him to prepare themselves to reap the benefit of the mercy offered them.

When the tetrarch Herod Antipas, in defiance of all laws divine and human, married Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip who was still living, Saint John the Baptist boldly reprimanded the tetrarch and his accomplice for so scandalous an adultery. Herod, motivated by his lust and his anger, cast the Saint into prison. About a year after Saint John had been made a prisoner, Herod gave a splendid entertainment to the official world of Galilee. Salome, a daughter of Herodias by her lawful husband, pleased Herod by her dancing, to the point that he made her the foolish promise of granting whatever she might ask. Salome consulted with her mother as to what to ask, and that immoral woman instructed her daughter to demand the death of John the Baptist, and that the head of the prisoner should be immediately brought to her on a platter. This barbaric request startled the tyrant himself; but governed by human respect he assented and sent a soldier of his guard to behead the Saint in prison. Thus died the great forerunner of our blessed Saviour, some two years after his entrance upon his public ministry, and a year before the death of the One he announced.

In Matthew 14:1-12 we read about the cruel death of John the Baptist. John had publicly reprimanded Herod for taking his brother's wife as his own, so Herod had him imprisoned. Although Herod really wanted John dead, he feared the many people who believed John to be a prophet. He is consider to be the last of the Old Testament prophets. During his riotous birthday party, Herod was so pleased with the dancing of his wife's daughter Salome that he promised her anything she wanted. Her mother prompted her to say, "the head of John the Baptist on a platter."

Saint Jerome says Herodias kept the head for a long time after, occassionally stabbing the tongue with his dagger because of what John had said in life.

The Orthodox Church and some Roman Churches keeps this day as a strict fast day (i.e. no meat, fish, dairy, wine or olive oil) as a reminder that we are to live a different style of life that Herod. In memory of this event, some Christians keep the custom of not using dishes on this day, since John's head was served on a dish/platter. Instead, only bowls are used. Also, the food that is served on this day should not require the use of a knife, since a sharp instrument was used to behead him.

Thus, we are given three ways to remember St. John's beheading: a strict fast, using bowls, eating food that is not cut. This year, incorporate at least one, if not all, of these customs to help your children learn the meaning of this feast day.

St.Augustine of Hippo,Bishop,Confessor,Doctor of the Church or Doctor GratiaeAugust 28

Portrait by Philippe de Champaigne, 17th century.



Augustine of Hippo (/ɒˈɡʌstɨn/; Latin: Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis;) (November 13, 354 – August 28, 430), also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, or St. Austin was Bishop of Hippo Regius. He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province. His writings were very influential in the development of Western Christianity.

St.Augustine, a Latin church father, is one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity. He "established anew the ancient faith" (conditor antiquae rursum fidei), according to his contemporary, Jerome. In his early years he was heavily influenced by Manichaeism and afterward by the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus. After his conversion to Christianity and baptism (387), Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, accommodating a variety of methods and different perspectives. He believed that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, and he framed the concepts of original sin and just war.

When the Roman Empire in the West was starting to disintegrate, Augustine developed the concept of the Church as a spiritual City of God (in a book of the same name), distinct from the material Earthly City. His thought profoundly influenced the medieval worldview. Augustine's City of God was closely identified with the church, the community that worshipped God.

In the Roman Catholic Church he is a saint and pre-eminent Doctor of the Church, and the patron of the Augustinian religious order; his memorial is celebrated 28 August, the day of his death. He is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses.

Early childhood

Augustine, a Roman African, was born in 354 in the municipium of Thagaste (present-day Souk Ahras, Algeria), a provincial Roman city in North Africa to a pagan father named Patricius and a Christian mother named Monica. Augustine's family name, Aurelius, suggests that his father's ancestors were given full Roman citizenship by the Edict of Caracalla in 212. Augustine's family had been Roman, from a legal standpoint, for at least a century when he was born. While the townspeople of Thagaste were thoroughly Romanized citizens, speaking Latin and viewing themselves as Romans, the inhabitants of this territory may biologically be linked to the North Africans who would later be called Berbers.At the age of 11, Augustine was sent to school at Madaurus, a small Numidian city about 19 miles south of Thagaste noted for its pagan climate. There he became familiar with Latin literature, as well as pagan beliefs and practices. In 369 and 370, he remained at home. During this period he read Cicero's dialogue Hortensius (now lost), which he described as leaving a lasting impression on him and sparking his interest in philosophy.

Studying at Carthage

At age 17, through the generosity of fellow citizen Romanianus, he went to Carthage to continue his education in rhetoric. His mother, Monica, was a devout Christian, and his father, Patricius, a pagan. Although raised as a Christian, Augustine left the church to follow the Manichaean religion, much to the despair of his mother. As a youth Augustine lived a hedonistic lifestyle for a time, associating with young men who boasted of their experience with the opposite sex and urged the inexperienced boys, like Augustine, to seek out experiences with women or to make up stories about experiences in order to gain acceptance and avoid ridicule. At a young age, he developed an affair with a young woman in Carthage. She was his lover for over thirteen years and gave birth to his son Adeodatus.

Rhetoric

During the years 373 and 374, Augustine taught grammar at Thagaste. The following year, he moved to Carthage to conduct a school of rhetoric, and would remain there for the next nine years. Disturbed by the unruly behaviour of the students in Carthage, in 383 he moved to establish a school in Rome, where he believed the best and brightest rhetoricians practiced. However, Augustine was disappointed with the Roman schools, where he was met with apathy. Once the time came for his students to pay their fees they simply fled. Manichaean friends introduced him to the prefect of the City of Rome, Symmachus, who had been asked to provide a professor of rhetoric for the imperial court at Milan.

The young provincial won the job and headed north to take up his position in late 384. At age thirty, Augustine had won the most visible academic chair in the Latin world, at a time when such posts gave ready access to political careers. During this time, although St.Augustine showed some fervor for Manichaeism, he was never an initiate or "elect" but remained an "auditor", the lowest level in that sect's hierarchy.

While he was in Milan, Augustine's life changed. While still at Carthage, he had begun to move away from Manichaeism, in part because of a disappointing meeting with the Manichean Bishop, Faustus of Mileve, a key exponent of Manichaean theology.[21] In Rome, he is reported to have completely turned away from Manichaeanism, and instead embraced the skepticism of the New Academy movement. At Milan, his mother pressured him to become a Christian. St.Augustine's own studies in Neoplatonism were also leading him in this direction, and his friend Simplicianus urged him that way as well.But it was the bishop of Milan, St.Ambrose, who had most influence over Augustine. St.Ambrose was a master of rhetoric like St.Augustine himself, but older and more experienced.

St. Augustine's mother had followed him to Milan and he allowed her to arrange a society marriage, for which he abandoned his concubine. It is believed that Augustine truly loved the woman he had lived with for so long. In his "Confessions," he expressed how deeply he was hurt by ending this relationship, and also admitted that the experience eventually produced a decreased sensitivity to pain over time. However, he had to wait two years until his fiancee came of age, so despite the grief he felt over leaving "The One" as he called her, he soon took another concubine. Augustine eventually broke off his engagement to his eleven-year-old fiancee, but never renewed his relationship with "The One" and soon left his second concubine. It was during this period that he uttered his famous prayer, "Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet" (da mihi castitatem et continentiam, sed noli modo.)

Christian conversion
In the summer of 386, after having read an account of the life of Saint Anthony of the Desert which greatly inspired him, Augustine underwent a profound personal crisis, which led him to convert to Christianity, abandon his career in rhetoric, quit his teaching position in Milan, give up any ideas of marriage, and devote himself entirely to serving God and to the practices of priesthood, which included celibacy. Key to this conversion was a childlike voice he heard telling him in a sing-song voice, tolle, lege ("take up and read"):

I cast myself down I know not how, under a certain fig-tree, giving full vent to my tears; and the floods of mine eyes gushed out an acceptable sacrifice to Thee. And, not indeed in these words, yet to this purpose, spake I much unto Thee: and Thou, O Lord, how long? how long, Lord, wilt Thou be angry for ever? Remember not our former iniquities, for I felt that I was held by them. I sent up these sorrowful words: How long, how long, "to-morrow, and tomorrow?" Why not now? why not is there this hour an end to my uncleanness?
So was I speaking and weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart, when, lo! I heard from a neighbouring house a voice, as of boy or girl, I know not, chanting, and oft repeating, "Take up and read; Take up and read. " Instantly, my countenance altered, I began to think most intently whether children were wont in any kind of play to sing such words: nor could I remember ever to have heard the like. So checking the torrent of my tears, I arose; interpreting it to be no other than a command from God to open the book, and read the first chapter I should find. For I had heard of Antony, that coming in during the reading of the Gospel, he received the admonition, as if what was being read was spoken to him: Go, sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me: and by such oracle he was forthwith converted unto Thee. Eagerly then I returned to the place where Alypius was sitting; for there had I laid the volume of the Apostle when I arose thence. I seized, opened, and in silence read that section on which my eyes first fell: Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, in concupiscence. No further would I read; nor needed I: for instantly at the end of this sentence, by a light as it were of serenity infused into my heart, all the darkness of doubt vanished away.
The Confessions of Saint Augustine, Book VIII, Paragraphs 28 and 29.

Augustine had heard a childlike voice singing from a nearby house. He paused to give thought to how and why such a child would sing those words and then left his garden and returned to his house. At his house he picked up a book written by the Apostle Paul Epistle to the Romans, and opened it and instantly read : (Romans 13: 13-14) "Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, in concupiscence." He would detail his spiritual journey in his famous Confessions, which became a classic of both Christian theology and world literature. Ambrose baptized Augustine, along with his son, Adeodatus, on Easter Vigil in 387 in Milan, and soon thereafter in 388 Augustine returned to Africa.Also in 388 he completed his apology "On the Holiness of the Catholic Church".On his way back to Africa his mother died, as did his son soon after, leaving him alone in the world without family. This was a very difficult process for Augustine and he did not know how he would do on his own.

Priesthood

Upon his return to north Africa he sold his patrimony and gave the money to the poor. The only thing he kept was the family house, which he converted into a monastic foundation for himself and a group of friends. In 391 he was ordained a priest in Hippo Regius (now Annaba, in Algeria). He became a famous preacher (more than 350 preserved sermons are believed to be authentic), and was noted for combating the Manichaean religion, to which he had formerly adhered.

In 395 he was made coadjutor bishop of Hippo (assistant with the right of succession on the death of the current bishop), and became full bishop shortly thereafter. He remained in this position at Hippo until his death in 430. Augustine worked tirelessly in trying to convince the people of Hippo, who were a diverse racial and religious group, to convert to Christianity. He left his monastery, but continued to lead a monastic life in the episcopal residence. He left a rule (Latin, regula) for his monastery that has led him to be designated the "patron saint of regular clergy", that is, clergy who live by a monastic rule.

Much of Augustine's later life was recorded by his friend Possidius, bishop of Calama, in his Sancti Augustini Vita. Possidius admired Augustine as a man of powerful intellect and a stirring orator who took every opportunity to defend Christianity against all detractors. Possidius also described Augustine's personal traits in detail, drawing a portrait of a man who ate sparingly, worked tirelessly, despised gossip, shunned the temptations of the flesh, and exercised prudence in the financial stewardship of his see.

Teaching philosophy

Along with being a prominent figure in the religious spectrum, Augustine was also very influential in the history of education. He introduced the theory of three different categories of students, and instructed teachers to adapt their teaching styles to each student's individual learning style. The three different kinds of students are: the student who has been well-educated by knowledgeable teachers; the student who has had no education; and the student who has had a poor education, but believes himself to be well-educated. If a student has been well educated in a wide variety of subjects, the teacher must be careful not to repeat what they have already learned, but to challenge the student with material which they do not yet know thoroughly. With the student who has had no education, the teacher must be patient, willing to repeat things until the student understands, and sympathetic. Perhaps the most difficult student, however, is the one with an inferior education who believes he understands something when he does not. Augustine stressed the importance of showing this type of student the difference between "having words and having understanding," and of helping the student to remain humble with his acquisition of knowledge.

Another radical idea which Augustine introduced is the idea of teachers responding positively to the questions they may receive from their students, no matter if the student interrupted his teacher.

Augustine also founded the restrained style of teaching. This teaching style ensures the students' full understanding of a concept because the teacher does not bombard the student with too much material; focuses on one topic at a time; helps them discover what they don't understand, rather than moving on too quickly; anticipates questions; and helps them learn to solve difficulties and find solutions to problems.

Yet another of Augustine's major contributions to education is his study on the styles of teaching. He claimed there are two basic styles a teacher uses when speaking to the students. The mixed style includes complex and sometimes showy language to help students see the beautiful artistry of the subject they are studying. The grand style is not quite as elegant as the mixed style, but is exciting and heartfelt, with the purpose of igniting the same passion in the students' hearts.

Augustine's contemporaries often believed astrology to be an exact and genuine science. Its practitioners were regarded as true men of learning and called mathemathici. In reality, according to Augustine, they were not genuine students of Hipparchus or Eratosthenes but "common swindlers". Augustine himself was attracted by their books in his youth. He was particularly fascinated by those who claimed to foretell the future. It was at the time when for a period of nine years he continued his interest in Manichaeism. Astrology played a prominent part in Manichean doctrine. Later as a bishop he used to warn that one should avoid mathematicians who combine science and horoscopes:

Hence, a devout Christian must avoid astrologers (Latin mathematici) and all impious soothsayers, especially when they tell you the truth, for fear of leading his soul into error by consorting with demons and entangling himself with the bonds of such association.

Augustine balanced his teaching philosophy with the traditional Bible-based practice of strict discipline. For example, he agreed with using punishment as an incentive for children to learn. He believed all people tend toward evil, and students must therefore be physically punished when they allow their evil desires to direct their actions.

Death

Shortly before Augustine's death, Roman Africa was overrun by the Vandals, a warlike tribe with Arian sympathies. They had entered Africa at the instigation of Count Boniface, but soon turned to lawlessness, plundering private citizens and churches and killing many of the inhabitants. The Vandals arrived in the spring of 430 to besiege Hippo, and during that time Augustine endured his final illness.

Possidius records that one of the few miracles attributed to Augustine took place during the siege. While Augustine was confined to his sick bed, a man petitioned him that he might lay his hands upon a relative who was ill. Augustine replied that if he had any power to cure the sick, he would surely have applied it on himself first. The visitor declared that he was told in a dream to go to Augustine so that his relative would be made whole. When Augustine heard this, he no longer hesitated, but laid his hands upon the sick man, who departed from Augustine's presence healed.

Possidius also gives a first-hand account of Augustine's death, which occurred on August 28, 430, during the siege of Hippo by the Vandals. Augustine spent his final days in prayer and repentance, requesting that the penitential Psalms of David be hung on his walls so that he could read them. He directed that the library of the church in Hippo and all the books therein should be carefully preserved. Shortly after his death, the Vandals raised the siege of Hippo, but they returned not long thereafter and burned the city. They destroyed all of it but Augustine's cathedral and library, which they left untouched.

According to Bede's True Martyrology, Augustine's body was later removed to Cagliari, Sardinia by the Catholic bishops whom the Arian Vandal Huneric had expelled from north Africa. Bede tells that the remains were subsequently redeemed out of the hands of the Saracens there— by Peter, bishop of Pavia and uncle of the Lombard king Liutprand— and deposited in the church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro (Italian for "Saint Peter in the Sky of Gold") in Pavia, Italy, about the year 720.

In January 1327 Pope John XXII issued the papal bull Veneranda Santorum Patrum, in which he appointed the Augustinians guardians of the tomb of Augustine (the Arca di Sant'Agostino), which was remade in 1362 and elaborately carved with bas-reliefs of scenes from Augustine's life. The actual remains of Augustine, however, were no longer identified. Then, illiterate stonemasons working in the crypt altar removed paving blocks and discovered a marble box. Within it were other boxes; in the third box were fragments of wood, numerous bones and bone fragments, and glass vials. Some of the workers later claimed to have seen the name "Augustine" written in charcoal on the top of the box. A factor complicating the authentication of the remains was that San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro was shared by the two Augustinian religious orders in bitter rivalry. The controversy on the authenticity of the bones resulted in broadsides, pamphlets and books.

The Augustinians were expelled in 1700, taking refuge in Milan with the relics of Augustine, and the disassembled Arca, which were removed to the cathedral there. The erstwhile cathedral in Pavia fell into disrepair; it was a military magazine under the Napoleonic occupation. It was not reconstructed until the 1870s, under the urging of Agostino Gaetano Riboldi, later Cardinal Riboldi, and reconsecrated in 1896 when the relics of Augustine and the shrine were once again reinstalled.

St. Joseph Calassanctius, Confessor August 27th

The Last Communion of St Joseph of Calasanz," by Goya


Saint Joseph Calasanctius (Spanish: José de Calasanz) (September 11, 1557 – August 25, 1648), also known as Joseph Calasanz and Josephus a Matre Dei, was the founder of the Pious Schools and the Order of the Piarists.


The Spanish Years


Joseph Calasanctius, or José de Calasanz, as he is called in Spanish, was born at Peralta de la Sal, Aragón, in the Kingdom of Spain on September 11, 1557. His parents were Don Pedro Calasanz and Doña Maria Gaston, who gave him, the youngest of eight children, a good education at home and then at the school of Peralta. After his classical studies at Estadilla, he took up philosophy and jurisprudence at Lerida and earned the degree of Doctor of Laws, and then, with honors completed, his theological course at Valencia and Alcalá de Henares.

His mother and brother having died, Don Pedro wanted Joseph to marry and perpetuate the family. But a sickness in 1582 soon brought Joseph to the brink of the grave. On his recovery, he was ordained a priest on December 17, 1583 by Hugo Ambrosio de Moncada, Bishop of Urgel.

During his ecclesiastical career in Spain, Calasanctius held various offices in his native region. Joseph began his ministry in the Diocese of Albarracín, where Bishop dela Figuera appointed him his theologian, confessor, synodal examiner, and procurator, and when the bishop was transferred to Lerida Joseph followed him to the new diocese. During that period, he spent several years in La Seu d'Urgell. As secretary of the Cathedral chapter, Calasanz had broad administrative responsibilities.

In 1586 dela Figuera was sent as Apostolic visitator to the Abbey of Montserrat and Joseph accompanied him as secretary. The bishop died the following year and Joseph left, though urgently requested to remain. He hurried to Peralta de la Sal, only to be present at the death of his father. He was then called by his Bishop of Urgel to act as vicar-general for the district of Tremp.

The Roman Years
In 1592, he moved to Rome in the hope of furthering his ecclesiastical career. He lived there for most of his remaining fifty-six years. He became, during this long period, a fully fledged Roman with strong ties to both Rome and Italy, without ever losing touch with his Spanish roots.

In Rome he found a protector in Cardinal Marcoantonio Colonna who chose him as his theologian and instructor to his nephew. Rome offered a splendid field for works of charity, especially for the instruction of neglected and homeless children, many of whom had lost their parents. Joseph joined the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and gathered the boys from the streets and brought them to school. The teachers, however, being poorly paid, refused to accept the additional labor without remuneration.

The pastor of Santa Dorotea, Anthony Brendani, offered him two rooms and promised assistance in teaching, and when two other priests promised similar help, Calasanctius, in November 1597, opened the first free public school in Europe.

In 1600 Calasanctius opened his “Pious Schools” in the center of Rome and soon there were extensions in response to growing demands for enrollment from students.

Pope Clement VIII gave an annual contribution and many others shared in the good work, so that in a short time Joseph had about one thousand children under his charge. In 1602 he rented a house at Sant'Andrea della Valle, commenced a community life with his assistants, and laid the foundation of the Order of the Pious Schools or Piarists.

In 1610 Calasanctius wrote the "Document Princeps" in which he set out the fundamental principles of his educational philosophy. The text was accompanied by regulations for teachers and for students. In 1612, the school moved to San Pantaleo which became the motherhouse of all the Pious Schools.

On September 15, 1616 the first public and free school in Frascati was started up on his initiative. One year later, Pope Paul V approved the "Congregation of the Pious Schools," the first religious institute dedicated essentially to teaching. During the following years Calasanctius established Pious Schools in various parts of Europe.


After convincing the Pope of the need to approve a religious Order with solemn vows dedicated exclusively to the education of youth, the congregation was made a religious order on November 18, 1621 by a Brief of Pope Gregory XV, under the name of "Ordo Clericorum regularium pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum" (Order of Clerks Regular Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools). The term "Pauline" was dropped by this pope, while it was part of the original name per Pope Paul V. The Constitutions were approved on January 31, 1622 by Pope Gregory XV, and had all the privileges of the mendicant orders conferred upon it, Joseph Calasanctius being recognized as Superior General. The Order of the Pious Schools was thus the last of the religious Orders of solemn vows approved by the Church.


Educational Ideas

As recognized by Ludwig Von Pastor, Calasanctius was the founder of the first free public school in modern Europe. It was a revolutionary initiative, a radical break with the class privileges that kept the masses marginalized and in poverty. In the history of education, Joseph Calasanctius is the great educator of the poor, offering education free of charge to all classes of society, without discrimination.

Calasanctius displayed the same moral courage, in his attitude to victims of the Inquisition, such as Galileo and Campanella, and in the acceptance of Jewish children in his schools, where they were treated with the same respect as other pupils. Similarly, Protestant pupils were enrolled in his schools in Germany. So great and universal was Calasanctius’ prestige that he was even asked by the Turkish Empire to set up schools there, a request which he could not, to his regret, fulfill, due to a lack of teachers. He organized and systematized a method of educating primary school pupils through progressive levels or cycles; a system of vocational training; and a system of public secondary education.

In an era when no one else was interested in public education, Calasanctius managed to set up schools with a highly complex structure. He was concerned with physical education and hygiene. He addressed the subject in various documents and requested school directors to monitor children’s health.

Calasanctius taught his students to read both in Latin and in the vernacular. While maintaining the study of Latin, he was a strong defender of vernacular languages, and had textbooks, including those used for teaching Latin, written in the vernacular. In that respect he was more advanced than his contemporaries.

Calasanctius placed great emphasis on the teaching of mathematics. Training in mathematics and science was considered very important in his Pious schools, both for pupils and teachers. But Calasanctius’ main concern was undoubtedly the moral and Christian education of his students. As both priest and educator, he considered education to be the best way of changing society. All his writing is imbued with his Christian ideals, and the constitutions and regulations of the Pious schools were based on the same spirit. Calasanctius created an ideal image of a Christian teacher and used it to train the teachers who worked with him.

Calasanctius was the first educator to advocate the preventive method: it is better to anticipate mischievous behaviour than to punish it. This method was later developed by St John Bosco, the founder of the Salesian Schools. In terms of discipline, and contrary to the prevailing philosophy of his own and subsequent eras, Calasanctius favored the mildest punishment possible. While believing that punishment was necessary in certain cases, he always preached moderation, love and kindness as the basis of any discipline.

Relationship with Galileo and Tommaso Campanella

At a time when humanistic studies ruled the roost, Calasanctius, sensed the importance of mathematics and science for the future and issued frequent instructions that mathematics and science should be taught in his schools, and that his teachers should have a firm grounding in those subjects. Calasanctius was friend of Galileo Galilei and sent some distinguished Piarists as disciples of the great scientist. He shared and defended his controversial view of the cosmos.

When Galileo fell into disgrace, Calasanctius instructed members of his congregation to provide him with whatever assistance he needed and authorized the Piarists to continue studying mathematics and science with him. Their dignified and courageous support for Galileo does both Calasanctius and the Piarists great credit, bearing witness to the tolerance of a great educator. Unfortunately, those opposed to Calasanctius and his work used the support and assistance offered by the Piarists to Galileo as an excuse to attack them. Despite such attacks, Calasanctius continued to support Galileo. When in 1637 Galileo lost his sight, Calasanctius ordered the Piarist Clemente Settimi to serve as his secretary.

Calasanctius brought the same understanding and sympathy he had shown to Galileo to his friendship with the great philosopher Tommaso Campanella (1558–1639). Campanella was one of the most profound and fertile minds of his time, producing famous philosophical works. Despite the fact that he was a highly controversial figure in his time, Campanella too maintained a strong and fruitful friendship with Calasanctius.

The philosopher whose utopian visions proposed social reforms in which the education of the masses played an important part must have been a kindred spirit for Calasanctius, who was already putting these Utopian ideas into practice. Calasanctius, with his courage and open-mindedness, invited the controversial thinker to Frascati to help teach philosophy to his teachers. It is not surprising, then, that Campanella, who had rallied to the support of Galileo, also came to the defense of his friend Calasanctius with his Liber apologeticus.

Persecution and Death

The pedagogical idea of Saint Joseph Calasanctius of educating every child, his schools for the poor, his support of the heliocentric sciences of Galileo Galilei, and his life of sanctity in the service of children and youth, carried with them the opposition of many among the governing classes in society and in the ecclesiastical hierarchy.

In 1642, as a result of an internal crisis in the congregation and outside intrigues and pressures, Calasanctius was briefly held and interrogated by the Inquisition. The following year, drawn into a power struggle fueled by political interests and personal ambitions, Calasanctius was removed from his post as Superior General, to be replaced by one of his detractors.

Opposition to the Piarist education of the poor, internal struggles within the order, and the Piarists' espousal of heliocentrism, with a group of Piarists helping out Galileo Galilei, led to his removal from office; the Order was deprived of its privileges by pope Innocent X in 1646 аfter a series of scandals involving, in particular, Stefano Cherubini, the headmaster of the Piarist school in Naples.

Calasanctius continued to live in disgrace and the whole system built up over the years was in danger of collapse. Nevertheless, he always showed an examplary attitude facing the problems, a saintly life of prayer, sacrifice, patience and humility, and remained faithful to the Church.

Calasanctius died August 25, 1648, at the age of 90, admired for his holiness and courage by his students, their families, his fellow Piarists, and the people of Rome. He was buried in the church of San Pantaleo.

Veneration

Eight years after his death, Pope Alexander VII cleared the name of the Pious Schools. Joseph Calasanctius was beatified on August 7, 1748 by Pope Benedict XIV.

He was later canonized by Pope Clement XIII on July 16, 1767.

On August 13, 1948, Pope Pius XII declared him to be the "Universal Patron of all Christian popular schools in the world."

His heart and tongue are conserved incorrupt in a devotional chapel in the Piarist motherhouse in Rome.

St. Zephyrinus, Pope and Martyr August 26

Pope Saint Zephyrinus, born in Rome, was bishop of Rome from 199 to 217. His predecessor was bishop Victor I. Upon his death on December 20, 217, he was succeeded by his principal advisor, bishop Callixtus I.

Papacy

Despite his long pontificate relatively little is known of him. His critic, Saint Hippolytus, described him as a simple man without education, a weak man "unskilled in the church's rule" and dominated by his deacon Callixtus, who succeeded him as Pope. Hippolytus charged him with laxity in enforcing discipline and failure to assert his authority sufficiently in repressing the heresies (especially Sabellianism) then prevalent in Rome.

Conflicts

Under Zephyrinus, the position of the Christians, which had remained favourable in the first years of the government of Emperor Septimius 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.

Eusebius of Caesarea recounts that a certain Natalius who had at first accepted to be made bishop of a group that held that Christ, though conceived by the Holy Ghost, was a mere man, and even inferior to Melchizedek, then repented and begged Zephyrinus to receive him back into the communion of the Church.

The Roman priest St. Hippolytus was a vigorous proponent of a Logos doctrine that emphasized the distinction of the Persons of the Trinity. He taught that the Divine Logos that became man in Christ differs in everything from God and is the mediary between God and the world of creatures. This doctrine in the form in which Hippolytus set it forth aroused many doubts, and another theological school appeared in opposition to it, emphasizing the absolute unity of God. This doctrine, known as Monarchianism, affirmed the sole deity of God the Father and considered Christ to be a manifestation of God in the manner (modus) of 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. 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 St. Hippolytus offered many difficulties as regards the tradition of the Church. Unable to respond adequately to the learned arguments of Hippolytus, 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.

In his opposition to St. Zephyrinus, St. Hippolytus started the first schism in the history of the Christian Church.[2] When St. Callixtus, whom St. Hippolytus blamed for the inaction of St. Zephyrinus, succeeded Zephyrinus as Pope, St. Hippolytus and a number of his scholars left the Church, and for over ten years St. Hippolytus stood at the head of a separate congregation, possibly as bishop, and is sometimes considered the first antipope.

St. Louis IX, King of France, Confessor August 25

Louis IX of France was revered as a saint and painted in portraiture well after his death (such portraits may not accurately reflect his appearance). This portrait was painted by El Greco ca 1592–95.





St. Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was a member of the House of Capet, the son of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile. He worked with the Parliament of Paris in order to improve the professionalism of his administration in regards to legal actions.

He is the only canonised king of France; consequently, there are many places named after him, most notably São Luís do Maranhão, Brazil, St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States and both the state and city of San Luis Potosí, in Mexico. Saint Louis was also a tertiary of the Order of the Holy Trinity and Captives (known as the Trinitarians). On 11 June 1256, the General Chapter of the Trinitarian Order formally affiliated Louis IX at the famous monastery of Cerfroid, which had been constructed by Felix of Valois north of Paris.

Early life

Louis was born in 1214 at Poissy, near Paris, the son of King Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile. A member of the House of Capet, Louis was twelve years old when his father died on 8 November 1226. He was crowned king within the month at Reims cathedral. Because of Louis's youth, his mother ruled France as regent during his minority.

His younger brother Charles I of Sicily (1227–85) was created count of Anjou, thus founding the second Angevin dynasty.

No date is given for the beginning of Louis's personal rule. His contemporaries viewed his reign as co-rule between the king and his mother, though historians generally view the year 1234 as the year in which Louis began ruling personally, with his mother assuming a more advisory role. She continued as an important counselor to the king until her death in 1252.

On 27 May 1234, Louis married Margaret of Provence (1221 – 21 December 1295), whose sister Eleanor was the wife of Henry III of England


Patron of arts and arbiter of Europe

Louis' patronage of the arts drove much innovation in Gothic art and architecture, and the style of his court radiated throughout Europe by both the purchase of art objects from Parisian masters for export and by the marriage of the king's daughters and female relatives to foreign husbands and their subsequent introduction of Parisian models elsewhere. Louis' personal chapel, the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, was copied more than once by his descendants elsewhere. Louis most likely ordered the production of the Morgan Bible, a masterpiece of mediaeval painting.

Saint Louis ruled during the so-called "golden century of Saint Louis", when the kingdom of France was at its height in Europe, both politically and economically. The king of France was regarded as a primus inter pares among the kings and rulers of the continent. He commanded the largest army, and ruled the largest and most wealthy kingdom of Europe, a kingdom which was the European centre of arts and intellectual thought (La Sorbonne) at the time. The prestige and respect felt in Europe for King Louis IX was due more to the attraction that his benevolent personality created rather than to military domination. For his contemporaries, he was the quintessential example of the Christian prince, and embodied the whole of Christendom in his person. His reputation of saintliness and fairness was already well established while he was alive, and on many occasions he was chosen as an arbiter in the quarrels opposing the rulers of Europe.

Shortly before 1256 Enguerrand IV of Coucy arrested and without trial hanged three young squires of Laon whom he accused of poaching in his forest. In 1256 Louis had him arrested and brought to the Louvre by his sergeants. Enguerrand demanded judgment by his peers and trial by battle which was refused by the king because Louis thought it obsolete. Enguerrand was tried, sentenced and ordered to pay 12,000 livres. Part of the money was to pay for masses in perpetuity for the men he had hanged.

Religious nature

The perception of Louis IX as the exemplary Christian prince was reinforced by his religious zeal. Louis was a devout Catholic, and he built the Sainte-Chapelle ("Holy Chapel"), located within the royal palace complex (now the Paris Hall of Justice), on the Île de la Cité in the centre of Paris. The Sainte Chapelle, a perfect example of the Rayonnant style of Gothic architecture, was erected as a shrine for the Crown of Thorns and a fragment of the True Cross, precious relics of the Passion of Jesus. Louis purchased these in 1239–41 from Emperor Baldwin II of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, for the exorbitant sum of 135,000 livres (the chapel, on the other hand, cost only 60,000 livres to build).

Louis IX took very seriously his mission as "lieutenant of God on Earth", with which he had been invested when he was crowned in Rheims. Thus, in order to fulfill his duty, he conducted two crusades, and even though they were unsuccessful, they contributed to his prestige. Contemporaries would not have understood if the king of France did not lead a crusade to the Holy Land. In order to finance his first crusade Louis ordered the expulsion of all Jews engaged in usury and the confiscation of their property, for use in his crusade. However, he did not cancel the debts owed by Christians. One-third of the debts was forgiven, but the other two thirds were to be remitted to the royal treasury. Louis also ordered, at the urging of Pope Gregory IX, the burning in Paris in 1243 of some 12,000 manuscript copies of the Talmud and other Jewish books. Such legislation against the Talmud, not uncommon in the history of Christendom, was due to mediaeval courts' concerns that its production and circulation might weaken the faith of Christian individuals and threaten the Christian basis of society, the protection of which was the duty of any Christian monarch.

In addition to Louis' legislation against Jews and usury, he expanded the scope of the Inquisition in France. The area most affected by this expansion was southern France where the Cathar heresy had been strongest. The rate of these confiscations reached its highest levels in the years prior to his first crusade, and slowed upon his return to France in 1254.


In all these deeds, Louis IX tried to fulfill the duty of France, which was seen as "the eldest daughter of the Church" (la fille aînée de l'Église), a tradition of protector of the Church going back to the Franks and Charlemagne, who had been crowned by the Pope in Rome in 800. Indeed, the official Latin title of the kings of France was Rex Francorum, i.e. "king of the Franks", and the kings of France were also known by the title "most Christian king" (Rex Christianissimus). The relationship between France and the papacy was at its peak in the 12th and 13th centuries, and most of the crusades were actually called by the popes from French soil. Eventually, in 1309, Pope Clement V even left Rome and relocated to the French city of Avignon, beginning the era known as the Avignon Papacy (or, more disparagingly, the "Babylonian captivity").

St. Philip Benizi, Confessor August 23

St. Philip Benizi, Confessor († 1285)

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SAINT PHILIP BENIZI
Confessor
(1233-1285)
Third Class

St. Philip Benizi was born in Florence, on the Feast of the Assumption, 1233. That same day the Order of Servites was founded by the Mother of God. As an infant at the breast, Philip broke out into speech at the sight of these new religious, and begged his mother to give them alms. Amidst all the temptations of his youth, he longed to become himself a servant of Mary, and it was only the fear of his own unworthiness which made him yield to his father's wish and begin to practise medicine.

Alter long and weary waiting, his doubts were solved by Our Lady herself, who in a vision bade him enter her Order. Still Philip dared only offer himself as a lay brother, and in this humble state he strove to do penance for his sins. In spite of his reluctance, he was promoted to the post of master of novices; and as his rare abilities were daily discovered, he was bidden to prepare for the priesthood.

Thenceforth honors were heaped upon him; he became general of the Order, and only escaped by flight elevation to the Papal throne. His preaching restored peace to Italy, which was wasted by civil wars; and at the Council of Lyons, he spoke to the assembled prelates with the gift of tongues. Amid all these favors Philip lived in extreme penitence, constantly examining his soul before the judgment-seat of God, and condemning himself as only fit for hell. St. Philip, though he was free from the stain of mortal sin, was never weary of beseeching God's mercy. From the time he was ten years old he said daily the Penitential Psalms.

On his death-bed he kept reciting the verses of the Miserere, with his cheeks streaming with tears; and during his agony he went through a terrible contest to overcome the fear of damnation. But a few minutes before he died, all his doubts disappeared and were succeeded by a holy trust. He uttered the responses in a low but audible voice; and when at last the Mother of God appeared before him, he lifted up his arms with joy and breathed a gentle sigh, as if placing his soul in her hand.

He died on the Octave of the Assumption, 1285.



Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]

THE LIMITATIONS OF PAPAL AUTHORITY TO CHANGE SACRED TRADITION

THE LIMITATIONS OF PAPAL AUTHORITY TO CHANGE SACRED TRADITION

From the Writings of Roman Catholic Popes, Councils, Saints, and Theologians

TRADITIO Traditional Roman Catholic Network

Copyright 1994-2007 CSM. Reproduction prohibited without authorization.
Last Revised: 08/06/07



ST. AUGUSTINE (354-430)
GREAT WESTERN DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

"By teaching that superiors should not refuse to be reprehended by
inferiors, St. Peter gave posterity an example more rare and holier than that
of St. Paul as he taught that in the defense of truth and with charity,
inferiors may have the audacity to resist superiors without fear." (Epistula
19 ad Hieronymum)


ST. VINCENT OF LERINS (CA. 400-CA. 450)
CONFESSOR OF THE CHURCH

"What then should a Catholic do if some part of the Church were to
separate itself from communion with the universal Faith? What other
choice can he make but to prefer to the gangrenous and corrupted
member the whole of the body that is sound. And if some new contagion
were to try to poison no longer a small part of the Church, but all of
the Church at the same time, then he will take the greatest care to
attach himself to antiquity which, obviously, can no longer be seduced
by any lying novelty." (Commonitorium)


POPE ST. GREGORY I, "THE GREAT" (590-604)

The Canon remained unchanged from Apostolic times to the present
day, with the exception of one short clause inserted by St. Gregory the
Great.
The phrase Pope Gregory added was "diesque nostros in tua pace
disponas" [may you order our days in Thy peace] to the Hanc Igitur of
the Canon. The Romans were outraged at this act and threatened to kill
the pope because he had dared to touch the Sacred Liturgy. The Mass was
affirmed to be complete and unchangeable. Since that time no pope has
dared to change the Ordo of the Traditional Latin Mass, until in 1962
Pope John XXIII added "beati Ioseph, eiusdem Virginis Sponsi" [of
blessed Joseph, Spouse of the same Virgin] to the Communicantes of the
Canon.


POPE ST. AGATHO (678-681)

Papal Coronation Oath, to be taken by all Roman pontiffs, showing that no
Roman pontiff has the authority to contradict the Deposit of Faith, or to
change or innovate upon what has been handed by to him by Sacred Tradition
and his predecessors:

"I vow to change nothing of the received Tradition, and nothing
thereof I have found before me guarded by my God-pleasing predecessors,
to encroach upon, to alter, or to permit any innovation therein;

"To the contrary: with glowing affection as her truly faithful
student and successor, to safeguard reverently the passed-on good, with my
whole strength and utmost effort;

"To cleanse all that is in contradiction to the canonical order,
should such appear;

"To guard the Holy Canons and Decrees of our Popes as if they were
the Divine ordinances of Heaven, because I am conscious of Thee, whose place
I take through the Grace of God, whose Vicarship I possess with Thy support,
being subject to the severest accounting before Thy Divine Tribunal over all
that I shall confess;

"I swear to God Almighty and the Savior Jesus Christ that I will
keep whatever has been revealed through Christ and His Successors and
whatever the first councils and my predecessors have defined and
declared.

"I will keep without sacrifice to itself the discipline
and the rite of the Church. I will put outside the Church whoever
dares to go against this oath, may it be somebody else or I.

"If I should undertake to act in anything of contrary sense, or
should permit that it will be executed, Thou willst not be merciful to me on
the dreadful Day of Divine Justice.

"Accordingly, without exclusion, We subject to severest
excommunication anyone -- be it ourselves or be it another -- who would dare
to undertake anything new in contradiction to this constituted evangelic
Tradition and the purity of the Orthodox Faith and the Christian Religion, or
would seek to change anything by his opposing efforts, or would agree with
those who undertake such a blasphemous venture." (Liber Diurnus Romanorum
Pontificum, Patrologia Latina
1005, S. 54)

The Liber Diurnus Romanorum Pontificum, one of the oldest
collections of papal texts, privileges, and decrees, written down by
Pope St. Agatho with texts that contain centuries of tradition, includes
this Papal Coronation Oath, probably already a couple of centuries old,
by which every pope since then has sworn as a requirement of acceding to
the papal office until John Paul II failed to do so.

The oath makes it clear that a magisterium that contradicts former
magisterium is not magisterium, for the pope is sworn to put himself
outside the Church if even he contradicts what he has received from his
predecessors. The ancient papal oath, therefore, foresees the
possibility that even a pope may become a heretic or schismatic by
violating either dogma or the rites of the Church handed down by
Tradition.


SECOND COUNCIL OF NICAEA (787)

"Those therefore who after the manner of wicked heretics dare to
set aside ecclesiastical traditions, and to invent any kind of novelty,
or to reject any of those things entrusted to the Church, or who
wrongfully and outrageously devise the destruction of any of those
traditions enshrined in the Catholic Church, are to be punished thus:
if they are bishops, we order them to be deposed...."


POPE INNOCENT III (CA. 1160-1216)

"The pope should not flatter himself about his power, nor should he
rashly glory in his honor and high estate, because the less he is judged by
man, the more he is judged by God. Still the less can the Roman Pontiff
glory, because he can be judged by men, or rather, can be shown to be already
judged, if for example he should wither away into heresy, because he who does
not believe is already judged. In such a case it should be said of him: 'If
salt should lose its savor, it is good for nothing but to be cast out and
trampled under foot by men.'" (Sermo 4)


ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, O.P. (1225-1274)
THE "ANGELIC" DOCTOR AND PRINCIPAL THEOLOGIAN OF THE CHURCH

"Hold firmly that your faith is identical with that of the ancients.
Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church."

"There being an imminent danger for the Faith, prelates must be
questioned, even publicly, by their subjects. Thus, St. Paul, who was a
subject of St. Peter, questioned him publicly on account of an imminent
danger of scandal in a matter of Faith. And, as the Glossa of St.
Augustine puts it (Ad Galatas 2.14), 'St. Peter himself gave the example
to those who govern so that if sometime they stray from the right way,
they will not reject a correction as unworthy even if it comes from
their subjects....'

"The reprehension was just and useful, and the reason for it was
not light: there was a danger for the preservation of Gospel truth....
The way it took place was appropriate, since it was public and manifest.
For this reason, St. Paul writes: 'I spoke to Cephas,' that is, Peter,
'before everyone,' since the simulation practiced by St. Peter was
fraught with danger to everyone. (Summa Theologiae, IIa IIae, Q. 33, A.
4)

"Some say that fraternal correction does not extend to the
prelates either because man should not raise his voice against heaven,
or because the prelates are easily scandalized if corrected by their
subjects. However, this does not happen, since when they sin, the
prelates do not represent heaven, and, therefore, must be corrected.
And those who correct them charitably do not raise their voices against
them, but in their favor, since the admonishment is for their own
sake.... For this reason, according to other [authors], the precept of
fraternal correction extends also to the prelates, so that they may be
corrected by their subjects." (IV Sententiarum, D. 19, Q. 2, A. 2)


ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA (1347-1380)
DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

"Most Holy Father,... because He [Christ] has given you authority and
because you have accepted it, you ought to use your virtue and power. If you
do not wish to use it, it might be better for you to resign what you have
accepted; it would give more honor to God and health to your soul.... If you
do not do this, you will be censured by God. If I were you, I would fear
that Divine Judgment might descend on me. (Letter to Pope Gregory XI)

"Alas, Most Holy Father! At times obedience to you leads to eternal
damnation. (Letter to Pope Gregory IX, 1376.)


JUAN CARDINAL DE TORQUEMADA [IOANNES DE TURRECREMATA], O.P. (1388-1468)
(UNCLE OF THE GRAND INQUISITOR)
OFFICIALLY DESIGNATED THEOLOGIAN OF THE COUNCIL OF BASEL/FLORENCE
GIVEN BY POPE EUGENIUS IV THE TITLE OF "DEFENDER OF THE FAITH"

"Although it clearly follows from the circumstances that the Pope
can err at times, and command things which must not be done, that we are
not to be simply obedient to him in all things, that does not show that
he must not be obeyed by all when his commands are good. To know in
what cases he is to be obeyed and in what not,... it is said in the Acts
of the Apostles: 'One ought to obey God rather than man'; therefore,
were the Pope to command anything against Holy Scripture, or the
articles of faith, or the truth of the Sacraments, or the commands of
the natural or divine law, he ought not to be obeyed, but in such
commands, to be passed over (despiciendus)...." (Summa de Ecclesia
[1489], founded upon the doctrine formulated and defined by the Council
of Florence and defined by Pope Eugenius IV and Pope Pius IV)


"By disobedience, the Pope can separate himself from Christ
despite the fact that he is head of the Church, for above all, the unity
of the Church is dependent upon its relationship with Christ. The Pope
can separate himself from Christ either by disobeying the law of Christ,
or by commanding something that is against the divine or natural law.
by doing so, the Pope separates himself from the body of the Church
because this body is itself linked to Christ by obedience. In
this way, the Pope would, without doubt, fall into schism....
"He would do that if he did not observe that which the Universal
Church observes in basing herself on the Tradition of the Apostles, or
if he did not observe that which has been ordained for the whole world
by the universal councils or by the authority of the Apostolic See.
Especially is this true with regard to the divine liturgy, as, for
example, if he did not wish personally to follow the universal
customs and rites of the Church. This same holds true for other aspects
of the liturgy in a very general fashion, as would be the case of one
unwilling to celebrate with priestly vestments, or in consecrated
places, or with candles, or if he refused to make the sign of the cross
as other priests do, or other similar things which, in a general way,
relate to perpetual usage in conformity with the Canons.
"By thus separating himself apart, and with obstinacy, from the
observance of the universal customs and rites of the Church, the Pope
could fall into schism. The conclusion is sound and the premises are
not in doubt, since just as the Pope can fall into heresy, so also he
can disobey and transgress with obstinacy that which has been
established for the common order of the Church. Thus it is that [Pope]
Innocent [III] states (De Consuetudine) that it is necessary to obey a
Pope in all things as long as he does not himself go against the
universal customs of the Church, but should he go against the universal
customs of the church, he ought not to be obeyed...."
(Summa de Ecclesia [1489])


ST. ANTONINUS, O.P. (1389-1459)
BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN

"In the case in which the pope would become a heretic, he would
find himself, by that fact alone and without any other sentence,
separated from the Church. A head separated from a body cannot, as long
as it remains separated, be head of the same body from which it was cut
off.

"A pope who would be separated from the Church by heresy,
therefore, would by that very fact itself cease to be head of the
Church. He could not be a heretic and remain pope, because, since he is
outside of the Church, he cannot possess the keys of the Church."
(Summa Theologica)


GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA (1452-1498)
DOMINICAN PREACHER (CAUSE FOR CANONIZATION PENDING)

The Lord, moved to anger by this intolerable corruption, has, for
some time past, allowed the Church to be without a pastor. For I bear
witness in the name of God that this Alexander VI is in no way Pope and
cannot be.... This I declare in the first place and affirm it with all
certitude, that the man is not a Christian; he does not even believe
any longer that there is a God; he goes beyond the final limits of
infidelity and impiety." (Letter to the Emperor)


SYLVESTRO MAZZOLINI (PRIERIAS), O.P. (1460-1523)
THEOLOGIAN

"What should be done when the pope, because of his bad customs,
destroys the Church...? What if the pope wanted, without reason, to
abrogate positive law...? He would certainly sin; he should neither be
permitted to act in such a fashion nor should he be obeyed in what was
evil; but he should be resisted with a courteous reprehension. (De
Iuridica et Irrefragabili Veritate Romanae Ecclesiae Romanique
Pontificis, secs. 4 and 15)


GIACOMO TOMMASO DE VIO GAETANI [CAJETAN], O.P. (1469-1534)
THEOLOGIAN AND CARDINAL

Cardinal Cajetan points out that the famous axiom "Ubi Petrus, ibi
Ecclesia" [Where the Pope is, there is also the Church] holds true only
when the Pope acts and behaves as the Pope, because Peter "is subject to
the duties of the Office"; otherwise, "neither is the Church in him, nor
is he in the Church." (Apud St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, IIa
IIae, Q. 39, Art. 1, ad 6)

This statement accords with that of St. Ignatius of Antioch (ob. ca.
107), one of the Apostolic Fathers: "Where Christ is, there is the Church"
(Epistula ad Smyrnaeos, 8).

One must resist to his face a Pope who publicly destroys the Church.
(De Comparata Auctoritate Papae et Concilio, cap. XXVII apud Victoria)


FRANCISCO DE VICTORIA, O.P. (1480?-1546)
THEOLOGIAN

"Consequently, if he [the pope] wished to give away the whole
treasure of the Church or the Patrimony of St. Peter to his relatives,
if he wanted to destroy the Church or the like, he should not be
permitted to act in that fashion, but one would be obliged to resist
him. The reason for this is that he does not possess power in order to
destroy; therefore, if there is evidence that he is doing it, it is
lawful to resist him. The result of all this is that if the pope
destroys the Church by his orders and acts, he can be resisted and the
execution of his mandates prevented.

"Second proof of the thesis. By Natural Law it is lawful to repel
violence with violence. Now then, with such orders and idspensations the
pope exerts violence, since he acts against the Law, as we have proven.
Therefore, it is lawful to resist him." (Dialogus de Potestate Papae [1517],
para. 4)


POPE ADRIAN VI (1522-1523)

"If by the Roman Church you mean its head or pontiff, it is beyond
question that he can error even in matters touching the faith. He does this
when he teaches heresy by his own judgment or decretal. In truth, many Roman
pontiffs were heretics. The last of them was Pope John XXII (1316-1334)."
(Quaest. in IV Sententiam).

"After his death [Pope] Honorius was anathematized by the Eastern
Church. We must remember that he was accused of heresy, a crime which
legitimizes the resistance of inferiors to superiors, together with the
rejection of their pernicious doctrines. (Allocution III, Lect. In Conc. VIII,
act. VII)

(For further information about Pope Honorius, see below.)


ST. ROBERT BELLARMINE, S.J. (1542-1621)
CARDINAL AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

"In order to resist and defend oneself no authority is required....
Therefore, as it is lawful to resist the Pope, if he assaulted a man's
person,
so it is lawful to resist him, if he assaulted souls or troubled the state
(turbanti rempublicam) and much more if he strove to destroy the Church. It
is
lawful, I say, to resist him by not doing what he commands, and hindering the
execution of his will." (De Romano Pontifice, Lib. II, Ch. 29)

"A pope who is a manifest heretic automatically (per se) ceases to
be pope and head of the Church, just as he ceases automatically to be a
Christian and a member of the Church. Wherefore, he can be judged and
punished by the Church. All the early Fathers are unanimous in teaching
that manifest heretics immediately lose all jurisdiction." (De Romano
Pontifice, II.30)

According to St. Robert Bellarmine, papal infallibility is a
charism of divine assistance accorded by God to the Pope because of his
possessing the magisterium, or the office of primacy. Bellarmine
concludes that in the event that an individual Pontiff should
delinquently lose the papacy, he would necessarily lose not only the
papal office but also the divine charism of infallibility.

In short, the divine assistance is attached not to the person of
the Pope per se, but to the office that is filled by this person.
Therefore, an individual Pontiff enjoys this assistance of the Holy
Spirit as long as he also enjoys the possession of the magisterial
office. Should this office be forfeited, his prerogative of
infallibility would also lapse. Thus, Bellarmine foresaw the
possibility of an individual Pontiff lapsing into manifest heresy.

The First Vatican Council incorporated Bellarmine's own formula in
qualifying papal infallibility. In his treatise De Romano Pontifice,
Bellarmine limits infallibility to those pronouncements made by the
Sovereign Pontiff "cum ex cathedra loquitur." Thus, the charism of
infallibility is a free gift given the Pontiff not for his personal
sanctification, but to assure the welfare of others by means of his
preserving and explaining the Deposit of Faith.

The First Vatican Council amended the original title of its draft
from De Romani Pontificis Infallibilitate (Concerning the Infallibility
of the Roman Pontiff) to De Romani Pontificis Infallibili Magisterio
(Concerning the Infallible Magisterium of the Roman Pontiff). By
stressing the infallible magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, this latter
title clarified not only the source and purpose of the divine charism of
infallibility, but its resultant loss should an individual Pope
regretfully lapse from the magisterial office. In this respect, the
Constitution merely defined what in fact had already become the common
opinion, as most capably explained by Bellarmine.


NINETEENTH (DOGMATIC) OECUMENICAL COUNCIL, TRENT (1545-1563)

"Si quis dixerit, receptos et approbatos ecclesiae catholicae
ritus in solemni sacramentorum administratione adhiberi consuetos aut
contemni, aut sine peccato a ministris pro libito omitti, aut in novus
alio per quemcumque ecclesiarum pastorem mutari posse: anathema sit." -
-Session VII, Canon 13
[If anyone says that the received and approved rites of the
Catholic Church, accustomed to be used in the administration of the
Sacraments, may be despised or omitted by the ministers without sin and
at their pleasure, or may be changed by any pastor (a term that includes
the Supreme Pastor, the Pope] of the churches to other new ones, let him
be anathema.]


FRANCISCO SUAREZ, S.J. (1548-1617)
CALLED BY POPE PAUL V DOCTOR EXIMIUS ET PIUS (MOST EXALTED AND PIOUS)
CONSIDERED THE GREATEST THEOLOGIAN OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS

"Et hoc secundo modo posset Papa esse schismaticus, si nollet
tenere cum toto Ecclesiae corpore unionem et coniunctionem quam debet,
ut si tentat et totem Ecclesiam excommunicare, aut si vellet omnes
Ecclesiasticas caeremonias apostolica traditione firmatas evertere. (De
Charitate, Disputatio XII de Schismate, sectio 1)
["And in this second way the Pope could be schismatic, if he were
unwilling to be in normal union with the whole body of the Church,
as would occur if he attempted to excommunicate the whole Church, or, as
both Cajetan and Torquemada observe, if he wished to overturn the rites
of the Church based on Apostolic Tradition."]

"If [the pope] gives an order contrary to right customs, he should
not be obeyed; if he attempts to do something manifestly opposed to
justice and the common good, it will be lawful to resist him; if he
attacks by force, by force he can be repelled, with a moderation
appropriate to a just defense." (De Fide, Disp. X, Sec. VI, N. 16)


POPE PAUL IV (1559-1566)

"If ever it should appear that any bishop, even one acting as an
Archbishop, Patriarch, or Primate, or a Cardinal of the Roman Church,
or a legate, or even the Roman Pontiff, whether prior to his promotion to
cardinal, or prior to his election as Roman Pontiff, has beforehand deviated
from the Catholic faith or fallen into any heresy, We enact, we decree, we
determine, we define: Such promotion or election in and of itself, even with
the agreement and unanimous consent of all the Cardinals, shall be null,
legally invalid, and void.

"It shall not be possible for such a promotion or election to be
deemed valid or to be valid, neither through reception of office,
consecration, subsequent administration, or possession, not even through the
putative enthronement of a Roman Pontiff himself, together with the
veneration and obedience accorded him by all. Such promotion or election
shall not through any lapse of time in the foregoing situation be considered
even partially legitimate in any way.... Each and all of the words, as acts,
laws, appointments of those so promoted or elected -- and indeed, whatsoever
flows therefrom -- shall be lacking in force, and shall grant no stability
and legal power to anyone whatsoever.

"Those so promoted or elected, by that very fact and without the need
to make any further declaration, shall be deprived of any dignity, position,
honor, title, authority, office, and power.... Therefore, it is permitted to
no one to impair this page of Our approval, renewal, sanction, statute, wills
of repeal, of degrees, or to go contrary to it by a rash daring deed. If
anyone, moreover, will have presumed to attempt this, he will incur the wrath
of Almighty God an of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul." (Cum ex
apostolatus officio, February 16, 1559, sec. 9, apud "Fontes Iuris Canonici,"
1971)

Two popes, Innocent III and Paul IV, both vigorous defenders of
papal authority, together with many theologians, admitted the principle
that a pope, in his personal capacity, can defect from the Faith or
become a heretic; that when the fact of defection becomes manifest, such
a pope automatically (ipso facto) loses his office and authority; and
that such a pope should be resisted.

What is even more significant is that in his Cum ex apostolatus
officio, Paul IV even perceives the possibility of a Protestant being
elected to the throne of Peter. He says that in such a case, the pope's
acts would be automatically void, and he would not be the pope, even if
he had been accepted and obeyed as true Pope by the whole Church. This
papal document shows the mind of the Church on this matter. In such a
case, Paul IV is calling upon Catholics to resist such a "pope" with all
their might.


ST. FRANCIS DE SALES (1567-1622)

"Now when [the Pope] is explicitly a heretic, he falls ipso facto
from his dignity and out of the Church, and the Church must either
deprive him, or, as some say, declare him deprived, of his Apostolic
See." (A Catholic Controversy, 1596)


ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI, C.S.S.R. (1696-1787)
BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

"If ever a pope, as a private person, should fall into heresy, he
would at once fall from the pontificate. If, however, God were to permit a
pope to become a notoriously and contumacious heretic, he would by such fact
cease to be pope, and the apostolic chair would be vacant." (Verita della
Fede, Pt. III, Ch. VIII.9-10)


JOHN HENRY CARDINAL NEWMAN (1801-1890)

"It is not a little remarkable that, though historically speaking
the fourth century is the age of the doctors, illustrated as it is, by
the Saints Athanasius, Hilary, the two Gregories, Basil, Chrysostom,
Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine (and all those saints bishops also,
except one, nevertheless in that very day the divine tradition committed
to the infallible Church was proclaimed and maintained far more by the
faithful than by the episcopate....
"I mean still, that in that time of immense confusion the divine
dogma of Our Lord's divinity was proclaimed, enforced, maintained, and
(humanly speaking) preserved, far more by the Ecclesia docta ("the
taught Church" -- the faithful) than by the Ecclesia docens ("the
teaching Church" -- the Magisterium); that the body of the Episcopate
was unfaithful to its commission, while the body of the laity was
faithful to its baptism....
"On the one hand, then, I say that there was a temporary
suspension of the functions of the Ecclesia docens. The body of bishops
failed in their confession of the faith. There was weakness, fear of
consequences, misguidance, delusion ... extending itself into nearly
every corner of the Catholic Church. (The Arians of the Fourth Century,
1833)

"...Though dogmatic statements are found from time to time in a
Pope's Apostolic Letters, etc., yet they are not accounted to be exercises of
his infallibility if they are said only obiter -- by the way, and without
direct intention to define. A striking instance of this sine qua non
condition is afforded by Nicholas I [858-867], who, in a letter to the
Bulgarians, spoke as if baptism were valid, when administered simply in the
Lord's Name, without direct mention of the Three Persons, but he is not
teaching and speaking ex cathedra, because no question on this matter was in
any sense the occasion of his writing. The question, asked of him was
concerning the minister of baptism, -- viz., whether a Jew or Pagan could
validly baptize; in answering in the affirmative, he added obiter, as a
private doctor, says Bellarmine, "that the baptism was valid, whether
administered in the name of the three Persons or in the name of Christ only"
(De Romano Pontifice, Lib. IV, Cap. 12). (Infallibility and Conscience)


DOM PROSPER LOUIS PASCAL GUERANGER (1805-1875)
THEOLOGIAN

"When the shepherd turns into a wolf, it behooves the flock to defend
itself in the first place. Doctrine normally flows from the bishops down to
the faithful people, and subjects should not judge their chiefs. But, in the
treasure of revelation, there are certain points that every Christian
necessarily knows and must obligatorily defend." (L'anne liturgique - Le
temps de la septuagesime, 1932)


FR. HENRY IGNATIUS DUDLEY RYDER (1837-1907)
THEOLOGIAN AND SUPERIOR OF THE BIRMINGHAM ORATORY
SUCCESSOR AND STUDENT OF JOHN HENRY CARDINAL NEWMAN

"It has always been maintained by Catholic theologians that for
heresy the Church may judge the Pope, because, as most maintain, by
heresy he ceases to be Pope. There is no variance on this head amongst
theologians that I know of, except that some, with Turrecremata and
Bellarmine, hold tha by heresy he ipso facto ceases to be Pope: whilst
others, with Cajetan and John of St. Thomas, maintain that he would not
formally [as opposed to materially] cease to be Pope until he was
formally deposed.

"The privilege of infallible teaching belongs only to an undoubted
Pope; and on the claims of a doubtful, disputed Pope the Church has the
right of judging. No single example can be produced of a Pope whose
orthodoxy and succession ws undoubted upon whom the Church pretended to
sit in judgment.... During a contested Papacy the state of things
approximates to that of an interregnum. The exercise of active
infallability is suspended." (Catholic Controversy, 6th ed., Burns &
Oates, pp. 30-31)


FRANCIS XAVIER WERNZ, S.J. (1842-1914)
SUPERIOR GENERAL OF THE JESUITS
& RECTOR OF THE PONTIFICAL GREGORIAN UNIVERSITY AT ROME
AND FRANCOIS D'ASISE VIDAL Y BARRAQUER (1868-1943)
CARDINAL

Finally, one cannot consider as schismatics those who refuse to obey
the Roman Pontiff because they would hold his person suspect or, because of
widespread rumors, doubtfully elected (as happened after the election of
Urban VI), or who would resist him as a civil authority and not as pastor of
the Church. (Wernz-Vidal, Ius Canonicum [Rome: Gregorian University, 1937],
Vol. VII, p.398


VENERABLE POPE PIUS IX (1846-1878)

"I am only the pope. What power have I to touch the Canon?" In
response to requests that he add the name of St. Joseph to the
Canon of the Mass.

"If a future pope teaches anything contrary to the Catholic Faith,
do not follow him." Letter to Bishop Brizen

"The opinion according to which the pope, in virtue of his
infallibility, is an unlimited and absolute Sovereign, supposes a totally
erroneous conception of the dogma of papal infallibility. Thus, as the
[First Vatican Council] declared in clear and explicit terms, and as the
nature of things itself shows, this infallibility is confined to that which
is proper to the supreme pontifical Magisterium, which in truth coincides
with the limits of the infallible Magisterium of the Church generally, which
is limited by the doctrine contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, as by
the definitions already pronounced by the Magisterium of the Church. ("A
Collective Declaration of the German Bishops," confirmed by Pope Pius IX)


TWENTIETH OECUMENICAL (DOGMATIC) COUNCIL, VATICAN I (1869-1870)

"Neque enim Petri successoribus Spiritus sanctus promissus est, ut
eo revelante novam doctrinam patefacerent, sed ut eo assistente traditam
per apostolos revelationem seu fidei depositum sancte custodirent et
fideliter exponerent. (Constitutio Dogmatica Prima de Ecclesia Christi
[Pastor Aeternus], cap. 4, "De Romani Pontificis Infallibili
Magisterio")
[For the Holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter not
so that they might, by His revelation, make known some new doctrine, but
that, by His assistance, they might religiously guard and faithfully
expound the revelation or Deposit of Faith transmitted by the Apostles.]

"The question was also raised by a Cardinal, 'What is to be done
with the Pope if he becomes a heretic?' It was answered that there has
never been such a case; the Council of Bishops could depose him for
heresy, for from the moment he becomes a heretic he is not the head or
even a member of the Church. The Church would not be, for a moment,
obliged to listen to him when he begins to teach a doctrine the Church
knows to be a false doctrine, and he would cease to be Pope, being
deposed by God Himself.
"If the Pope, for instance, were to say that the belief in God is
false, you would not be obliged to believe him, or if he were to deny
the rest of the creed, 'I believe in Christ,' etc. The supposition is
injurious to the Holy Father in the very idea, but serves to show you
the fullness with which the subject has been considered and the ample
thought given to every possibility. If he denies any dogma of the
Church held by every true believer, he is no more Pope than either you
or I; and so in this respect the dogma of infallibility amounts to
nothing as an article of temporal government or cover for heresy."
[Address at the First Vatican Council by Archbishop Purcell, of
Cincinnati, Ohio, on the infallibility of the Pope as defined at the
Council.]

In drafting the definition of the Dogma of Infallibility in 1869, the
periti of Vatican Council I actually discovered that more than forty popes
had preached personal doctrinal errors in preceding centuries, though not in
an infallible context.

The Council Fathers, having re-affirmed what the Church had always
taught that it was necessary for salvation to be in union with the Bishop of
Rome and that he who rejected his authority could not hope to be saved, went
on to reason that therefore the Pope could not err or lead his flock astray,
for in that case the faithful might, on certain occasions, find themselves in
the position of having to follow him into his error. As no one is ever bound
to an evil act, this would be an absurdity.
At this point the Council had to define also the limits of
infallibility, and lay down the precise conditions that must be satisfied for
a pronouncement to be ex cathedra. Clearly the Council was aware that
obedience to the Pope -- only relatively infallible -- could not under all
circumstances be identified with obedience to God, Who alone is the Source of
all Truth and Holiness. Not only was the Infallibility of the Pope defined
at the Vatican Council, but also the limits and extent of this Infallibility.
To put it another way, the Council laid down also the fact that outside these
limits the Pope remained capable of erring and was not entitled to command
blind obedience.


FR. ADRIAN FORTESCUE (1874-1923)
BRITAIN'S GREAT LITURGICAL HISTORIAN
(1874-1923)

"The Pope has no authority from Christ in temporal matters, in
questions of politics.... His authority is ecclesiastical authority; it goes
no further than that of the Church herself. But even in religious matters,
the Pope is bound, very considerably, by the divine constitution of the
Church. There are any number of things that the pope cannot do in religion.
He cannot modify, nor touch in any way, one single point of the revelation
Christ gave to the Church; his business is only to guard this against attack
and false interpretation. We believe that God will guide him that his
decisions of this nature will be nothing more than a defense or unfolding of
what Christ revealed.
"The pope can neither make nor unmake a sacrament; he cannot affect
the essence of any sacrament in any way. He cannot touch the Bible; he can
neither take away a text from the inspired Scriptures nor add one to them.
He has no fresh inspiration nor revelation.
"His business is to believe the revelation of Christ, as all Catholics
believe it, and to defend it against heresy.... The Pope is not, in the
absolute sense, head of the Church; the head of the Church is Jesus Christ
our Lord.... The Pope is the vicar of that head, and therefore visible head
of the Church on earth, having authority delegate from Christ over the Church
on earth only.... If the Pope is a monarch, he is a very constitutional
monarch indeed, bound on all sides by the constitution of the Church, as this
has been given to her by Christ." (The Early Papacy to the Synod of
Chalcedon in 451, pp. 27-28)


POPE LEO XIII (1878-1903)

Pope Leo XIII, who had named St. Joseph as the Patron of the
Universal Church and had written an encyclical letter about him, refused
permission for the addition of the saint's name to the Canon of the
Mass, citing the tradition of the Church that the Canon was to remain
unchanged.


POPE ST. PIUS X (1903-1914)

"One of the primary obligations assigned by Christ to the office
committed to Us of feeding the Lord's flock is that of guarding with the
greatest vigilance the Deposit of Faith delivered to the Saints,
rejecting the profane novelties of words, and the gainsaying of
knowledged falsely so-called.... We may no longer keep silent
[against the Modernists], lest we should seem to fail in our essential
duty." (Encyclical Letter "Pascendi Dominici Gregis," September 8,
1907, Sec. 1)

These words of the great anti-Modernist pope-saint, one of the
only two popes canonized in the last 700 years, indicate that it is
possible for a pope to fail in his essential duty of safeguarding
the purity of the Faith.


THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA (1907)

"It has been a common teaching of theologians that a validly
elected pope can fall into heresy and so vacate the See of Peter by
automatic tacit resignation." (Vol. VII, p. 261)

"Were a Pope to become a public heretic, where he clearly opposed what has
been defined as de fide Catholicism, many theologians hold that no formal
sentence of disposition would be required, as by becoming a public
heretic the Pope would ipso facto cease to be pope."


POPE PIUS XII (1939-1958)

"The sacred pastors are not the inventors and composers of the
Gospel, but merely the authorized guardians and preachers divinely
established. Wherefore, we ourselves, and all bishops with us, can and
must repat the words of Jesus Christ: "My teaching is not my own, but
his who sent me" (John 7:16)....
"Therefore, we are not teachers of a doctrine born of the human
mind, but we are in conscience bound to embrace and follow the doctrine
which Christ Our Lord taught and which He solemnly commanded His
Apostles and their successors to teach (Matthew 28:19-20)." (Encyclical
Letter "Ad Sinarum Gentem," October 7, 1954)

This great pope of our century speaks of the limitations of his
office, acknowledging that even the pope has no power to innovate upon
the Faith, but only to pass down the Apostolic teaching.


UDALRICUS BESTE
THEOLOGIAN

"Not a few canonists teach that, outside of death and abdication, the
pontifical dignity can also be lost by falling into certain insanity, which
is legally equivalent to death, as well as through manifest and notorious
heresy. In the latter case, a pope would automatically fall from his power,
and this indeed without the issuance of any sentence, for the first See [the
Apostolic See] is judged by no one.... The reason is that, by falling into
heresy, the pope ceases to be a member of the church. He who is not a member
of a society, obviously, cannot be its head. (Introductio in Codicem, 1946,
Canon 221)


=====================================================================
POPES WHO ARGUABLY FELL INTO MATERIAL (PERSONAL) HERESY


POPE ST. MARCELLINUS (296-304)

Marcellinus, during the persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian in
303-304, offered incense to the idols of the pagan gods. Therefore, he
apostatized, left the Catholic Faith, and left the Church. Catholic theology
teaches that it is possible for this to happen with a pope as with any other
man, as a pope is a man and has freewill to accept or reject the Catholic Faith.

The Catholic faithful were so scandalized by the pope's apostasy that
they accosted him and reproached him severely. Under pressure from the Catholic
faith, Marcellinus publicly recanted his error and deposed himself. He declared
himself unworthy of Christian burial and excommunicated all who might presume to
bury him. His body lay above ground for 35 days decomposing.


POPE LIBERIUS (352-355)

By his own admission (Letter "Studens Paci"), Liberius signed an
heretical semi-Arian profession of faith at Sirmium in 357, during the period
of the Arian heresy in the Church. He also excommunicated St. Athanasius,
who was courageously defending the orthodox Catholic faith.

Liberius also signed, in December 359, when he was under pressure at
the hands of the Emperor, who was holding him prisoner at Byzantium, a semi-
Arian formula that had already been accepted by all the (heretic) Eastern
bishops, 160 in number, meeting at Seleucia, and by 400 (heretic) Western
bishops, at Rimini -- by all of them except St. Hilary, St. Athanasius, and a
tiny handful of others, whom Liberius went so far as to condemn and
excommunicate.

These facts are attested to by St. Athanasius (History of the Arians,
sec. 41; Apologia against the Arians, sec. 89), St. Hilary of Potiers
(Historical Fragments, Ad Constantium), and St. Jerome (Chronicle), who
wrote: "Liberius, conquered by the tedium of exile, WITH HERETICAL
PERVERSITY, signed [the profession of semi-Arian faith] and entered into Rome
as a conqueror."

Neither St. Athanasius nor St. Hilary had any problem resisting the
heretical politics of Pope Liberius.


POPE ZOSIMUS (417-418)

Pope Zosimus, in the presence of the Roman clergy, recognized as
orthodox the heretical statements of Pelagius, which had been condemned by
Pope Innocent I and the two Councils of Carthage.

Pelagianism, which denied the doctrine of Original Sin and man's need
for grace, was a virulent heresy of the time, against which St. Augustine
wrote numerous tracts (The Remission of Sins and the Baptism of Children, The
Spirit and the Letter, Letter to Hilary, Nature and Grace, Perfect Justice,
The Acts of Pelagius, The Grace of Christ, and Original Sin).

The pope condemned those who held the orthodox Catholic faith as
calumniators (Letter "Postquam nobis," November 21, 417; Letter "Magnum
pondus") and demanded a formal retraction from the orthodox African bishops,
St. Augustine of Hippo and St. Aurelius of Carthage.

In response, St. Augustine and St. Aurelian took a solemn oath with
God as witness (obtestatio), affirming that the prior Catholic doctrine
prevailed over the judgment of the pope, which was upheld by a plenary
council of all Africa assembled. Confronted with resistance to his part in
perpetuating heresy, Pope Zosimus finally recanted and renewed the
excommunication of the heretic Pelagius.

It was around this time that St. Augustine uttered the famous words
(or something close to them): Roma locuta est; causa finita est, in a Sermon
CXXXI of September 417. Pope Zosimus was waffling on his precedessor's, Pope
St. Innocent I's, anathema against the heretic Pelagius. St. Augustine meant
by his statement since Rome had already spoken on the matter (a reference to
Pope St. Innocent I's anathema against Pelagius), the case ought not to
be reopened, even by Pope Zosimus, who ought to give his assent to the
solemn judgment of his predecessor.

St. Augustine made his statement, then, at a time when a pope was in
the process of lending aid and comfort to heretics, when he should have been
holding fast to what his predecessor had decreed. The great Saint was not
saying that every decision of Rome must be blindly obeyed; otherwise, he
would have supported the reigning pope. He was warning people, the Pope
included, that Rome had already spoken on this matter and that it would be
gravely wrong for anyone (even, presumably, a pope) to attempt to reverse a
solid and sound judgment on a matter of Catholic doctrine.


POPE ANASTASIUS (496-498)

This pope appears held in Hell in Dante Alighieri's Inferno (Canto XI,
lines 8-9):

...Anastasio papa guardo,
lo qual trasse Fotin dela via dritta.
[...I hold Pope Anastasius,
whom Photinus drew from the straight path.]

In mediaeval tradition, this pope was held to have been persuaded by
Photinus, a deacon of Thessalonica, to deny the divine birth of Christ.
Although later scholarship has cast doubt on the correctness of this
tradition, the point is that it was a widely held opinion of the Church that
a pope was a heretic, so widely held, in fact, that this pope appears as a
heretic in one of the most read and influential texts of the Middle Ages,
written by a Franciscan Tertiary and praised by several subsequent popes as
showing consonance with the Apostolic Tradition.


POPE VIGILIUS (537-555)

Vigilius became to all appearances a supporter of heresy when, in
553, he refused to uphold firmly the Church's teaching that Christ had two
Wills, against "Monothelism." He did not condemn either this or the older
Monophysite heresy. The Roman deacon Pelagius attacked Vigilius on this
account and charged him with heresy, for which he was excommunicated by
Vigilius. It was Pelagius, however, who succeeded him as pope, only to fall
into similar habits of temporizing and diplomatic duplicity as his
predecessor!

The Emperor Justianian had called a kangaroo council to rescind the
condemnation of the heresy of monophysitism, a heresy that denied the two
natures, human and divine, of Christ. Pope Vigilius, who wished to return to
Rome from exile, in a decree, or Iudicatum, recanted his former orthodox
Catholic position, condemned the orthodox decree of the Council of Chalcedon
(451), and excommunicated the bishop-authors of that decree (the so-called
Three Chapters of Theodoret).

As a result of this action, he was excommunicated for heresy by
an African Council and forced to annul the Iudicatum, although he
continued to support it privately in correspondence with the emperor.
The Fifth Oecumenical Council at Constantinople (553) excommunicated Pope
Vigilius, and the next year he recanted again, saying that he had been
deceived by the devil.

Having thus succumbed to public and personal heresy, Pope Virgilus
died before he reached Rome. His heresy had a great repercussion on the
Church of the time. In the West, it even caused a schism in northern Italy.


POPE BONIFACE IV (608-615)

Pope Boniface manifested strong tendencies toward the Nestorian
heresy, which denied the correct doctrine of the two natures of Christ and
denied that the Blessed Virgin Mary was the Mother of God. This heresy was
condemned by the Councils of Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451) and persists
in parts of the East to this day.

St. Columbanus wrote to the pope vehemently reprimanding him for his
heretical tendencies (Epistula V), called upon the pope to prove his
orthodoxy and to call a council to clarify the doctrinal confusions that the
pope had created.


POPE HONORIUS I (625-638)

Honorius is, among all the popes in any way guilty of heresy, both
the best known and the most culpable. The phrase he used when justifying his
compromise with the heretics has a surprisingly up-to-date ring about it, for
all that it was spoken in 634: "We must be careful not to rekindle ancient
quarrels." On the strength of this argument, he allowed error to spread
freely, with the result that truth and orthodoxy were effectively banished.
Pope Honorius wrote a letter approving the heresy of the Patriarch Sergius of
Constantinople, monothelitism, which held against the doctrine of the human
and divine natures of Christ that there was only a single will in Christ.

This heresy was strongly opposed by St. Sophronius, later Patriarch
of Jerusalem, St. Maximus the Confessor, and various popes. St. Sophronius
called a council to combat the heresy, at which the constant teaching of the
Church on the two natures, human and divine, in Christ was demonstrated.
Pope Honorius in reply reproved the orthodox Catholic patriarch and enlisted
the help of the heretical emperor Heralitus.

The heresy of monothelitism, to which Pope Honorius personally held,
was condemned by Pope Severinus (640-640), Pope John IV (640-642) in 642,
Pope Theodore I (642-649), who excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople
for defending the error, Pope St. Martin I 9649-655), who died a martyr for
defending the orthodox Catholic doctrine, and Pope Eugenius I (654-657).

Finally, the Third Oecumenical Council of Constantinople (680-681)
condemned the heresy of monothelitism and condemned and excommunicated Pope
Honorius (after his death) as a heretic, as did Pope St. Leo II, who followed
the Council, in these words:

"Having found that [Honorius's letters] are in complete disagreement
with the Apostolic dogmata and the definitions of the Holy Councils,
and of all the approved Fathers; and that, on the contrary, they
lead to the false doctrines of the heretics, we absolutely reject and
condemn them as being poisonous to souls.

"We also state that Honorius, formerly pope of the elder Rome, had
been also rejected from God's Holy Catholic Church and is being
anathematized, on account of the writings that he sent to Sergius,
where he adopted his ideas in everything, and reaffirmed his impious
principles. He is shown to be incapable of enlightening this Apostolic
Church by the doctrine of Apostolic Tradition, in that he allowed its
immaculate faith to be blemished by a sacrilegious betrayal."

All the great Oecumenical Councils since then have endorsed this
verdict. Even while proclaiming the dogma of Papal Infallibility, the Church
upheld the anathema cast many centuries ago upon one of her Pontiffs on account
of heresy.

Moreover, Pope Honorius admonished the bishops of Spain to be
benevolent toward the errors of the Jewish religion, which had been condemned
by the Council of Toledo (633), presided over by St. Isidore of Seville. St.
Braulio of Saragossa publicly reproved the pope, charging that he could not
believe that "the astuteness of the serpent had been able to leave traces of
his passing over the stone of the Apostolic See."

THE CHURCH WAS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR THAT POPE HONORIUS WAS CONDEMNED AND
EXCOMMUNICATED BY THE CHURCH AS A HERETIC, WHO WROTE HERESY IN HIS OFFICIAL
PAPAL LETTERS.

#1. Honorius was condemned by the Third Oecumenical Council of Constantinople
specifically as a heretic who had taught heresy, not just because he was just
negligent and failed to teach the true Faith when it was in danger of
subversion. The Council's findings were as follows:

We find that these documents [including those of Honorius] are quite
foreign to the Apostolic dogmata, to the declarations of the Holy
Councils, and to all the accepted Fathers, and that they follow the
false teachings of the heretics. We expel and anathematize from the
Holy Church of God Honorius, who was some time pope of Old Rome, because
of what we found written by him to Sergius, that in all respects he
followed his view and confirmed his impious doctrines.... To Honorius,
the heretic, anathema!... [The devil] has actively employed them
[including Honorius]... We slew them [including Honorius] with
anathema, as lapsed from the faith and as sinners, in the morning
outside the camp of the tabernacle of God.

#2. Pope Leo confirmed the documents of this Council with a sentence that
actually confirms that Honorius

Moreover, [we anathematize] also Honorius, who ruled this Apostolic
Church, not by the doctrine of Apostolic Tradition; rather, he tried
by profane treason to overthrow the immaculate Faith of the Roman
Church.

[Necnon et Honorium (anathematizamus), qui hanc Apostolicam ecclesiam,
non Apostolicæ Traditionis doctrina lustravit, sed profana proditione
immaculatam fidem subvertere conatus est.” (Mansi, Tomus XI. p. 731]

#3. The Council of Trullo was held just a few years after Constantinople III.
It stated that Honorius had been condemned specifically because he taught
heresy:

This council taught that we should openly profess our faith that in the
incarnation of Jesus Christ, our true God, there are two natural wills,
or volitions, and two natural operations; and condemned by a just
sentence those who adulterated the true doctrine and taught the people
that in the one Lord Jesus Christ there is but one will and one
operation: to wit, Theodore of Pharan, Cyrus of Alexandria, Honorius of
Rome, Sergius, Pyrrhus, Paul, and Peter.

The Oecumenical Council II Nicea also recorded that Honorius held the heresy
along with the other heretics:

We have also anathematised the idle tales of Origen, Didymus, and
Evagrius; and the doctrine of one will held by Sergius, Honorius, Cyrus,
and Pyrrhus, or rather, we have anathematized their own evil will.


POPE STEPHEN VI (VII) (896-897)

Stephen had the body of Pope Formosus (891-896), his second-to-last
predecessor, although not charged with heresy, exhumed, vested in
papal vestments, seated on a throne, formally placed on trial before the Roman
Synod (sometimes called the Cadaver Synod) for having invalidly usurped the
papal throne. When he was found guilty, Formosus was then stripped of his papal
vestments, and the three fingers of his right hand -- the fingers with which he
conferred blessings -- were cut off and cast away contemptuously. Formosus'
body was then thrown into the Tiber. Stephen deposed the dead pope, annulled
all his decrees, and pronounced all the ordinations conferred by him invalid.
Although several of Stephen's successors rehabilitated Formosus, Pope Sergius
III (904-911) upheld the Stephen's actions. Boniface VI (896), Stephen's
immediate predecessor, was an excommunicated priest. Formosus had himself been
excommunicated in 872.


POPE BENEDICT IX (1032-1044; 1045; 1047-8)

In 1049 Pope Benedict IX was excommunicated not for heresy, but for
simony by a Lateran synod. He reportedly renounced the papal throne in
exchange for the income of the annual St. Peter's Pence collection.


POPE PASCHAL II (1099-1118)

In 1111 Pope Paschal II succumbed to the secular power and demanded
that all bishops and abbots resign so that the secular power could make its
own appointments (lay investiture). To a man, including St. Bruno of Segni,
the bishops and abbots refused to obey the pope.

Paschal was declared suspect of heresy. In 1112 Guido of Burgundy,
Archbishop of Vienne and the future Pope Callistus II, with St. Hugh of
Grenoble and St. Godfrey of Amiens, also acted against the pope at a
provincial synod.

In 1116, like St. Peter, the pope in public repented bitterly of the
error that he had made in undermining the authority of the Church and acting
against the common good of the Church.


POPE JOHN XXII (1316-1334)

In three sermons from 1331 until 1333 preached and wrote against
the common opinion of theologians, preaching instead that the souls of the
just do not enjoy the Beatific Vision immediately after death, nor are the
wicked at once eternally damned, but that all await the final judgment of God
at the Last Day. The pope was denounced as a heretic and demanded to be
brought before a council for trial and condemnation. Yet he persisted in
teaching this error, even throwing into the papal dungeon one who accused him
of heresy. Eventually, however, the pope appointed a commission of
theologians to examine the question, which easily showed him that his
teaching was contrary to the almost universal opinion of theologians. On the
day before his death, December 3, 1334, he issued the Bull Ne Super His in
the presence of the College of Cardinals, formally and solemnly revoking his
opinion. On January 29, 1936, his successor, Pope Benedict XII, published
this document, along with his own Constitution, Benedictus Deus, which
declared authoritatively and perpetually concerning the matter.

John XXII, upon his deathbed, solemnly recanted every opinion, every
teaching contrary to the Catholic Faith, alluding to his heretical sermon
given on the Feast of All Saints in 1331, "determinationi Ecclesiae ac
successorum nostrorum" [submitting all that he may have said or written on
the subject to the judgement of the Church and of his successors]. Such
instances do not leave any room for doubt but that it is possible for a Pope
to be guilty of heresy, except in the exercise of the Extraordinary
Magisterium, which, alone, is intrinsically infallible.

"Papal teaching authority was not thought of as being independent of
the other teaching authorities in the Church. Scholastic theologians like
St. Thomas Aquinas recognized that the Pope could introduce new formulas of
faith, but Thomas thought of this in the context of papal councils like the
Lateran councils, and saw papal authority to determine the faith as being
exercised as the head of such a council, not in opposition to it or
independence from it. It became Dominican tradition that individual popes
could not could not error when acting with the counsel of the Church. This
Dominican teaching would be reiterated to good effect in the debates at the
First Vatican Council.

"A crucial influence in the development of the idea that the Pope
himself might be free from error came from the Franciscan debates about
poverty. Successive popes had ruled in favour of the Franciscan rejection of
property. When Pope John XXII repudiated that teaching and denied that
Christ was a pauper, Franciscan theologians appealed against his judgement to
the infallibility of other, earlier popes. They argued that the Church, in
the person of those popes, had repeatedly accepted the Franciscan view of
poverty as an evangelical form of life. John XXII, therefore, was in error
in rejecting this infallible teaching -- and since true popes do not err,
this proved that he was no longer a true pope. Papal infaillibility was here
being invoked not to EXALT the Pope's authority, but to limit it, by ensuring
that a pope did not arbitrarily reverse earlier Christian teaching. --Eamon
Duffy, "Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes (Yale University Press, c.
1997, p. 131


ANTIPOPES

Anacletus II (1130-1138)

Anacletus succeeded by simony in obtaining in advance the majority
of the cardinals' support in the next papal election. Immediately after
the death of Pope Honorius II (1124-1130), the uncompromised cardinals,
a minority of about one-third, met in secret conclave before notifying
the other cardinals and elected Pope Innocent II (1130-1143).

The majority of cardinals rejected the validity of what had been
done by the minority and met in conclave later the same day to elect
Anacletus. Anacletus was proclaimed pope and recognized by the
hierarchies of the world. He continued to reign at Rome for eight years
until his death, recognized by the Roman clergy to the end.

It was through the influence of St. Bernard (who at the time held
no public office in the Church, but was only an abbot of a very new
monastic order) that Pope Innocent II was recognized. St. Bernard
recognized the canonical defects of the election, chiefly clandestinity
and the small number of cardinals involved, but he did not hesitate to
rely on moral arguments and to leave it to the canonists to find a way
to justify the claim (epikeia).

Thus, St. Bernard did not hesitate to reject the validity of a pope
who was elected by the majority of cardinals, occupied the See of Rome, and
was recognized by the whole world. In addition, St. Bernard, with the zeal
of the Prophet Elias, opposed unworthy bishops and made many enemies on this
account.

After Anacletus's death and a short-lived attempt by the same
majority cardinals to elect another (anti)pope, Innocent II finally took
possession of Rome. The Second General Council of the Lateran, called
in 1139, nullified all Anacletus's official acts and deposed the
prelates whom he had appointed.


Clement VII (1378-1394)

In 1376 Gregory XI (1370-1378) was the last of the popes who
established their see at Avignon, France. After having been vehemently
upbraided by St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), he re-established his
see in Rome. Upon his death in 1378, the cardinals duly elected an
Italian, Urban VI (1378-1389). Dissatisfaction on the part of the
French members of the Sacred College of Cardinals and disagreement
concerning the validity of the choice led to a second conclave and the
election of another pope, a Frenchman, as Clement VII, who immediately
took up his see in Avignon. As both Urban VI and Clement VII claimed to
be legitimate popes, the Western Church divided into two camps, each
supporting one or the other, in what is known as the "Great Western
Schism."

"There was really no schism, for the majority of the people
desired unity under one head and intended no revolt against papal
authority. Everywhere the faithful faced the anxious problem: where is
the true pope? Even saints and theologians were divided on the
question.... Unfortunately, led by politics and human desires, the
papal claimants launched excommunications against each other." --The
New Catholic Dictionary (1929)

Even saints disagreed on who the true pope was. St. Vincent
Ferrer, together with most of the people of both France and Spain,
supported what was later proven to be an antipope. All of the cardinals of the
Church and most of the theologians recognized an anti-Pope, who ruled from Rome.

The "schism" was not ended until 39 years later, when the General
Council of Constance (1414-1418) elected an undisputed pope, Martin V
(1417-1431). However, after Benedict XIII defied the Council of Constance
and failed to resign his claim as pope, he and a few of his followers
proclaimed that they alone held the true succession from St. Peter. They
have held court in the Basque country up to this day. Because of this, the
Great Western Schism has not fully come to an end.