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Pope Celestine V

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Pope Celestine V (Latin: Caelestinus V; 1209/1210 or 1215 – 19 May 1296), born Pietro Angelerio (according to some sources Angelario, Angelieri, Angelliero, or Angeleri), also known as Pietro da Morrone, Peter of Morrone, and Peter Celestine, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States for five months from 5 July to 13 December 1294, when he resigned. He was also a monk and hermit who founded the order of the Celestines as a branch of the Benedictine order.

Pope Saint

Celestine V

O.S.B.
Bishop of Rome
Portrait by Niccolò di Tommaso, Castel Nuovo
ChurchCatholic Church
Papacy began5 July 1294
Papacy ended13 December 1294
PredecessorNicholas IV
SuccessorBoniface VIII
Previous post(s)
  • Superior-General of the Celestines (1274–1294)
Orders
Consecration19 August 1294
by Hugh Aycelin
Personal details
Born
Pietro Angelerio

1209/1210 or 1215
Near Campobasso, Kingdom of Sicily
Died19 May 1296
Ferentino, Papal States
Coat of armsCelestine V's coat of arms
Sainthood
Feast day19 May
Venerated inCatholic Church
Canonized5 May 1313
by Pope Clement V
AttributesPapal tiara and vestments, book
PatronageBookbinders, papal resignations, Aquila, Urbino, Molise, Sant'Angelo Limosano
Other popes named Celestine

He was elected pope in the Catholic Church's last non-conclave papal election, ending a two-year impasse. Among the few edicts of his to remain in force is the confirmation of the right of the pope to resign; nearly all of his other official acts were annulled by his successor, Boniface VIII. On 13 December 1294, a week after issuing the decree, Celestine resigned, stating his desire to return to his humble, pre-papal life. He was subsequently imprisoned by Boniface in the castle of Fumone in the Lazio region, in order to prevent his potential installation as antipope. He died in prison on 19 May 1296.

Celestine was canonized on 5 May 1313 by Pope Clement V. No subsequent pope has taken the name Celestine.

Early life

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Pietro Angelerio was born to Angelo Angelerio and Maria Leone in the rural region of Molise, in the Kingdom of Sicily. The exact village is believed to be Sant'Angelo Limosano, now part of the province of Campobasso in Italy. His father died when Pietro was five or six, leaving him the second-youngest of seven sons to have survived infancy, of twelve total born to Maria.[1]

Maria was particularly fond of Pietro and encouraged his spiritual development, imagining a different future for her son than becoming just a farmer or shepherd as were the local occupations. She sold some family property to hire a tutor for him, which engendered resentment and hostility from his brothers. Despite this, Pietro took to education well and quickly learned to read the psalter.[2]

He became a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Santa Maria di Faifoli [it] in the Diocese of Benevento when he was 17. He showed an extraordinary disposition toward asceticism and solitude, and in the early 1230's retired to a solitary cavern on the Montagne del Morrone, hence his name (Peter of Morrone). He began attracting followers of his eremitic lifestyle, and gained a reputation as a miracle worker.[3] In 1244, after a brief visit to Rome for his ordination, he left this retreat, and went with two companions to a similar cave on the even more remote Maiella mountain in the Abruzzi region of central Italy, where he continued to live as a strict ascetic according to the example of John the Baptist.[4][5]

Founding of the Celestines

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While living like this in 1244, he founded the order subsequently named after him, the Celestines. A new religious community was formed, and in 1254 Pietro formally issued a rule formulated in accordance with his own practices, influenced by the writings of Peter Damian, a renowned reformist monk.[2] While fundamentally Benedictine, the order also had ties to radical Franciscans, who were dismayed by the Church's increasing worldliness and political entanglements.[6] A church was built at the foot of Morrone in 1259, and in June 1263 the new institution was formally approved by Pope Urban IV.[5]

Having heard that it was probable that Pope Gregory X, then holding a council at Lyon, would suppress all such new orders as had been founded since the Lateran Council had commanded that such institutions should not be further multiplied, Pietro went to Lyon. There, in 1274, he succeeded in persuading Gregory to approve his new order, making it a branch of the Benedictines and following the Rule of Saint Benedict, but adding to it additional severities and privations. Gregory took it under papal protection, assured to it the possession of all property it might acquire, and endowed it with exemption from the authority of the ordinary. Nothing more was needed to ensure the rapid spread of the new association and Pietro lived to see himself as "superior-general" to thirty-six monasteries and more than six hundred monks.[7][5]

In a chapter of the order held in 1293, the original monastery at Maiella being judged to be too desolate and exposed to too rigorous a climate, it was decided that the Abbey of the Holy Spirit in the plains near Sulmona should be the headquarters of the order and the residence of the general-superior, as it continued to be until the order was extinguished in the 19th century.[8] Pietro took up residence in a cliffside hermitage overlooking the new monastery, but he would not remain undisturbed there for long.[1]

Election as pope

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Main article: Papal election, 1292–1294

The cardinals assembled at Perugia after the death of Pope Nicholas IV in April 1292. After more than two years, a consensus had still not been reached. Pietro, well known to the cardinals as a Benedictine hermit, sent the cardinals a letter warning them that divine vengeance would fall upon them if they did not quickly elect a pope. Latino Malabranca, the aged and ill Dean of the College of Cardinals cried out, "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I elect brother Pietro di Morrone!" The cardinals promptly ratified Malabranca's desperate decision. When sent for, Pietro obstinately refused to accept the papacy, and even, as Petrarch says, tried to flee, until he was finally persuaded by a deputation of cardinals accompanied by the king of Naples and the pretender to the throne of Hungary. Elected on 5 July 1294,[9] he was crowned at Santa Maria di Collemaggio in the city of Aquila in the Abruzzo on 29 August, taking the name Celestine V.[4]

Papacy

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Shortly after assuming office, Celestine issued a papal bull granting a rare plenary indulgence to all pilgrims visiting Santa Maria di Collemaggio through its holy door on the anniversary of his papal coronation.[10] The Celestinian forgiveness (Perdonanza Celestiniana) festival is celebrated in L'Aquila every 28–29 August in commemoration of this event.[11]

With no political experience, Celestine proved to be an especially weak and ineffectual pope.[12] He held his office in the Kingdom of Naples, out of contact with the Roman Curia and under the complete power of King Charles II. He appointed the king's favorites to Church offices, sometimes several to the same office. One of these was Louis of Toulouse, whom Celestine ordered given clerical tonsure and minor orders, although this was not carried out. He renewed a decree of Pope Gregory X that had established stringent rules for papal conclaves after a similarly prolonged election. In one decree, he appointed three cardinals to govern the Church during Advent while he fasted, which was again refused.[13]

Realizing his lack of authority and personal incompatibility with papal duties, he consulted with Cardinal Benedetto Caetani (his eventual successor) about the possibility of resignation.[13] This resulted in one final decree declaring the right of resignation. He promptly exercised this right, resigning on 13 December 1294, after five months and eight days as pope.[14] In the formal instrument of renunciation, he recited as the causes moving him to the step: "The desire for humility, for a purer life, for a stainless conscience, the deficiencies of his own physical strength, his ignorance, the perverseness of the people, his longing for the tranquility of his former life".[15] Having divested himself of every outward symbol of papal dignity, he slipped away from Naples and attempted to retire to his old life of solitude.[citation needed]

The next pope to resign of his own accord was Gregory XII in 1415 (to help end the Western Schism), followed by Benedict XVI in 2013, 719 years later.[16][17]

Retirement, death, and canonization

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Tomb of Celestine V
Saint

Celestine V

O.S.B.
 
Portrait - Bartolomé Román.
Pope; Confessor
BornPietro Angelerio
1209/1210 or 1215
Sant'Angelo Limosano, Isernia, Kingdom of Sicily
Died19 May 1296
Castello Longhi, Ferentino, Papal States
Venerated inCatholic Church
Canonized5 May 1313, Avignon, Papal States by Pope Clement V
Feast19 May
AttributesPapal vestments
Papal tiara
Benedictine habit
PatronageBookbinders
L'Aquila
Urbino
Molise
Sant'Angelo Limosano
Celestines

The former Celestine, now reverted to Pietro Angelerio, was not allowed to become a hermit once again. Various parties had opposed his resignation and the new Pope Boniface VIII had reason to worry that one of them might install him as an antipope. To prevent this, he ordered Pietro to accompany him to Rome. Pietro escaped and hid in the woods before attempting to return to Sulmona to resume monastic life. This proved impossible, and Pietro was captured after an attempt to flee to Dalmatia was thwarted when a tempest forced his ship to return to port. Boniface imprisoned him in the castle of Fumone near Ferentino in Lazio, attended by two monks of his order, where Pietro died after 10 months at about the age of 81. His supporters spread the allegation that Boniface had treated him harshly and ultimately executed Pietro, but there is no clear historical evidence of this.[18] Pietro was buried at Ferentino, but his body was subsequently moved to the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio in L'Aquila.[19]

Philip IV of France, who had supported Celestine and bitterly opposed Boniface, nominated Celestine for sainthood following the election of Pope Clement V. The latter signed a decree of dispensation on 13 May 1306 to investigate the nomination.[20] He was canonized on 5 May 1313 after a consistory in which Boniface's Caetani family was outvoted by members of the rival Colonna family.[21]

Legacy

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Most modern interest in Celestine V has focused on his resignation.[22] He was the first pope to formalize the resignation process and is often said to have been the first to resign; in fact he was preceded in this by Pontian (235), John XVIII (1009), Benedict IX (1045), and Gregory VI (1046).[23] As noted above, Celestine's own decision was brought about by mild pressure from the Church establishment. His reinstitution of Gregory X's conclave system established by the papal bull Ubi periculum has been respected ever since.[citation needed]

A 1966 visit by Pope Paul VI to Celestine's place of death in Ferentino along with his speech in homage of Celestine prompted speculation that the Pontiff was considering retirement.[24][25]

Celestine's remains survived the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake with one Italian spokesman saying it was "another great miracle by the pope".[26] They were then recovered from the basilica shortly after the earthquake.[27] While inspecting the earthquake damage during a 28 April 2009 visit to the Aquila, Pope Benedict XVI visited Celestine's remains in the badly damaged Santa Maria di Collemaggio and left the woolen pallium he wore during his papal inauguration in April 2005 on his glass casket as a gift.[28][29] Benedict XVI would go on to become the first pope since Celestine to voluntarily resign of his own initiative.[17]

To mark the 800th anniversary of Celestine's birth, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed the Celestine year from 28 August 2009 through 29 August 2010.[30] Benedict XVI visited the Sulmona Cathedral, near Aquila, on 4 July 2010[31] as part of his observance of the Celestine year and prayed before the altar consecrated by Celestine containing his relics on 10 October 1294.[32]

His entry in the Martyrologium Romanum for 19 May reads as follows:

Ad Castrum Fumorense prop Alatrium in Latio, natalis sancti Petri Caelestini, qui, cum vitam eremeticam in Aprutio ageret, fama sanctitatis et miraculorum clarus, octogenarius Romanus Pontifex electus est, assumpto nomine Caelestini Quinti, sed eodem anno munere se abdicavit et solitudinem recedere maluit.

At Castrum Fumorense near Alatri in Lazio, the birth of Saint Peter Celestine, who, when leading the life of a hermit in Abruzzo, being famous for his sanctity and miracles, was elected Roman Pontiff as an octogenarian, assumed the name Celestine V, but abandoned his office that same year and preferred to return to solitude.

In literature

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Opuscula omnia, 1640

A persistent tradition identifies Celestine V as the nameless figure Dante Alighieri sees among those in the antechamber of Hell, in the enigmatic verses:

vidi e conobbi l'ombra di colui
che fece per viltade il gran rifiuto.
("I saw and recognized the shade of him
who due to cowardice made the great refusal.")

— Inferno III, 59–60

The first commentators to make this identification included Dante's son Jacopo Alighieri,[33] followed by Graziolo Bambaglioli in 1324. The identification is also considered probable by recent scholars (e.g., Hollander, Barbara Reynolds, Simonelli, Padoan). Petrarch was moved to defend Celestine vigorously against the accusation of cowardice and some modern scholars (e.g., Mark Musa) have suggested Dante may have meant someone else (Esau, Diocletian and Pontius Pilate have been variously suggested).

In 1346, Petrarch declared in his De vita solitaria that Celestine's refusal was a virtuous example of solitary life.[34]

Pope Celestine V is referenced in Chapter 88 of Dan Brown's Angels & Demons, where he is controversially referenced as an example of a murdered pope. Brown writes that an X-ray of his tomb "revealed a ten-inch nail driven into the Pope's skull."[35] While the reference to the X-ray is fictitious (no X-ray has ever been conducted on Celestine's tomb), it has been indeed alleged that Celestine was murdered, possibly by order of his successor, Pope Boniface VIII; however, there is no historical evidence of this.[36] A 2013 examination of the half-inch hole in Celestine's skull found it to have occurred post-mortem, when the remains were already skeletonized, likely during a reburial.[37]

The life of Pope Celestine V is dramatised in the plays L'avventura di un povero cristiano (Story of a Humble Christian) by Ignazio Silone in 1968 and Sunsets and Glories by Peter Barnes in 1990.

His life is the subject of the short story "Brother of the Holy Ghost" in Brendan Connell's short story collection The Life of Polycrates and Other Stories for Antiquated Children.[38]

He is the subject of a popular history by author Jon M. Sweeney, The Pope Who Quit: A True Medieval Tale of Mystery, Death, and Salvation, published by Image Books/Random House in 2012.[2] In 2013, HBO optioned the film rights.[39]

Celestine V is the subject of the poem Che Fece...Il Gran Rifiuto by the modern Greek poet Constantine P. Cavafy.[40][41]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Ferzoco, George (2001). "Peter of the Morrone (Pope Celestine V), Autobiography". In Head, Thomas F. (ed.). Medieval Hagiography. New York: Routledge. p. 729-732. ISBN 978-0-415-93753-5.
  2. ^ a b c Sweeney, Jon M. (2012). The Pope Who Quit. New York: Image Books. ISBN 978-0-385-53189-4. OCLC 713834638.
  3. ^ Ferzoco, George (2006). "Celestine V, Pope". Key Figures in Medieval Europe: an encyclopedia. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-97385-4. OCLC 63816510.
  4. ^ a b Loughlin, JF (1908). "Pope St. Celestine V". The Catholic Encyclopedia . Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  5. ^ a b c Kelly, J. N. D.; Walsh, Michael J. (2010). The Oxford Dictionary of Popes (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 206-208. ISBN 978-0-19-929581-4. OCLC 557310520.
  6. ^ Duffy, Eamon (2006). Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes (3rd ed.). New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-300-11597-0.
  7. ^ Morris, Colin (1989). The Papal Monarchy: The Western Church From 1050 to 1250. Oxford History of The Christian Church. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780198269076. Retrieved 1 June 2023 – via Scribd.
  8. ^ Brookfield, Paul. "Celestine Order." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 16 (Index). New York: The Encyclopedia Press, 1914   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. ^ Jeffrey H. Denton (2002). Robert Winchelsey and the Crown 1294–1313, Vol. 14, Cambridge University Press, p. 66.
  10. ^ Pope John Paul II (23 August 2001). "Address of John Paul II to the Jury Members of the 'Premio Internazionale Perdonanza'". Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  11. ^ Abruzzo World Club (Summer 2002). "The Perdonanza". Abruzzo Heritage. Archived from the original on 26 August 2009.
  12. ^ Clement V's bull of canonization noted his "marvelous simplicity and inexperience[] in everything belonging to the rule of the Church" Wood, Charles T. Joan of Arc and Richard III: Sex, Saints, and Government in the Middle Ages. Oxford University Press, 1991, 100.
  13. ^ a b McBrien, Richard P. (2000). Lives of the Popes
  14. ^ "Papal Resignations"', Olivier Guyotjeannin, The Papacy: An Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, ed. Philippe Levillain, (Taylor & Francis, 2002), 1305.
  15. ^ Walker, Jesse (11 February 2013) The Ones Who Walk Away From the Holy See, Reason
  16. ^ Alpert, Emily (11 February 2013). "Scandal, speculation surround past popes who resigned". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  17. ^ a b de Souza, Raymond J. (12 February 2013). "The Holy Father takes his leave". National Post. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013.
  18. ^ Gregorovius, Ferdinand (1906). History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages vol. 5 part 2
  19. ^ Brockhaus, Hannah. "Saint Celestine V and the Catholic Church's first jubilee", CNA, Aug 21, 2022
  20. ^ "Nolite timere', il film su San Pietro Celestino all'auditorium". Isernia News. 2 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  21. ^ Ronald C. Finucane (2011). Contested Canonizations: The Last Medieval Saints, 1482–1523. Catholic University of America Press, p. 19.
  22. ^ Johnston, Bruce; Jonathan Petre (8 February 2005). "Cardinal hints that ailing Pope may resign". The Telegraph. London.
  23. ^ "A History of Papal Resignations". History.com. 11 February 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  24. ^ Cf. Pope Paul VI's speech of 1 September 1966
  25. ^ "Roman Catholicism: Retirement for 200 Bishops". Time Magazine. 30 September 1966. Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  26. ^ "Pope's bones survive earthquake". United Press International. 9 April 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  27. ^ Kington, Tom (14 April 2009). "Italy earthquake focus shifts to saving Abruzzo's heritage". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  28. ^ Owen, Richard (28 April 2009). "Pope Benedict XVI visits Abruzzo earthquake zone to pray for victims". The Times. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  29. ^ Donadio, Rachel (28 April 2009). "Pope visits devastated earthquake zone". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  30. ^ "Homily of Card. Tarcisio Bertone for the opening of the Holy Door on the occasion of the Feast of Celestinian Forgiveness and the beginning of the Celestinian Year" (in Italian). The Roman Curia. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  31. ^ "Benedict Praised courage of Celestine V, another Pope who resigned". Rome Reports. 12 February 2013. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  32. ^ "Pastoral Visit to Sulmona". The Roman Curia. 4 July 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  33. ^ Alighieri, Jacopo (1848). Chiose alla cantica dell'Inferno (in Italian). Florence: Tipografica di Tommaso Baracchi. p. 12.
  34. ^ Petrarca, Francesco (1879). De vita Solitaria (in Italian). Bologna: Gaetano Romagnoli. De vita Solitaria petrarch.
  35. ^ Brown, Dan. Angels & Demons. Pocket Star Books, 2000, p. 352.
  36. ^ Ferdinand Gregorovius (1906) History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages, vol. 5 part 2.
  37. ^ "Medieval hermit pope not murdered after all". NBC News. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  38. ^ Connell, Brendan (2011). The Life of Polycrates and Other Stories for Antiquated Children. Chomu Press. ISBN 978-1907681042.
  39. ^ Sweeney, Jon M. (15 February 2013). "Predicting the Pope Would Quit". HuffPost.
  40. ^ "Che Fece ... Il Gran Rifiuto". All Poetry. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  41. ^ "C. P. Cavafy". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Celestine (popes)".
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Pope
5 July – 13 December 1294 		Succeeded by
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