Category Archives: Papal History

Today in Catholic History – The Battle of Bouvines

July 27, 2010 – 9:23 am

On 27 July 1214, the forces of Otto IV of the Holy Roman Empire, King John I of of England, and Count Ferrand of Flanders were defeated by the forces of Philip II Augustus of France at the Battle of Bouvines.

Otto IV had come into conflict with Pope Innocent III over whether the right of conferring the crown of the Holy Roman Empire belonged to the pope alone. Innocent III claimed that the pope had the authority to decide whether a candidate chosen by the German princes to become Emperor was worthy of that dignity. While Innocent had initially supported Otto, they became opponents in 1210 after Otto decided to restore Imperial power in Italy. Innocent was greatly upset at this, believing that a Holy Roman Empire with the addition of Italian territories would be a threat to the Papal States. Innocent would excommunicate Otto and give his support to Frederick II Hohenstaufen as a rival claimant to the title of Holy Roman Emperor.

While the forces of John I and Otto IV [25,000] outnumbered those of Philip II [15,000], the French forces were more experienced – having fought in the Crusades. the three hour battle saw around 2,000 casualties and about 9,000 captured. Philip II was nearly killed in the battle after being de-horsed several times.

After the Battle of Bouvines, Otto IV would be forced to resign and Frederick II would become the new emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. John I would also be forced to sign the Magna Carta by his nobles.

By sbeshonertor | Also posted in British History, French History, German History, Today in Catholic History | Comments (0)

Today in Catholic History – The Council of Basel

July 23, 2010 – 9:18 am

On 23 July 1431, the legate of Pope Eugene IV invoked the Council of Basel.

This council was originally called by Pope Martin V as required by the prior Ecumenical Council of Constance. Basel, Switzerland was chosen as the site of the council by the majority of participants who wished to continue the policy of Concilliarism which sought to place the authority of the council over that of the papacy. The Concilliarists wanted a site outside the Papal States, the Holy Roman Empire or France in order to avoid being unduly influenced by the rulers of those states.

From the beginning the council was in conflict between the Concilliarist who wished to limit the authority of the papacy and Pope Eugene who wished to reassert papal primacy. Eugene also believed that the council was not sufficiently dealing with the issue of the Hussites – those who followed John Hus, who had been burned at the stake at the previous council of Constance.

Attempting to take a firmer control over the Council, Eugene tried to disband it and move it to Bologna but was strongly opposed by the members of the Council of Basel and was eventually forced to withdraw his order for the councils dissolution.

The desire of Emperor John VIII Paleologus of the Byzantine Empire to have a council discussing the possibility of union between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches will give Pope Eugene his opportunity to put an end to Basel. While the attendees at Basel were willing to have such a council, they were unwilling to meet in Italy where the Emperor wished to meet. Pope Eugene will take advantage of this difference to offer Emperor John VIII a meeting location in Ferrara, Italy. The Emperor accepted and Pope Eugene declared the end of the Council of Basel on 18 September 1437 and its transfer to Ferrara. At the first session of Ferrara, all the previous decisions of the Council of Basel were declared null and void.

The majority of the attendees at Basel refused to accept the Pope’s actions and declared Pope Eugene deposed on 25 June 1439 and would elect an anti-pope Felix V. This would cause a schism in the Church which would last for ten years. In 1449, anti-pope Felix will abdicate and the remnants of the Council of Basel will dissolve themselves claiming that they believed that Pope Eugene’s successor Nicholas V accepted the superiority of the council over the papacy as defined at Constance and Basel.

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Today in Catholic History – Pastor Aeternus and Papal Infalibility

July 18, 2010 – 2:38 pm

On 18 July 1870, Pastor Aeternus or the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church of Christ was approved by the First Vatican Council.

Pastor Aeternus was intended to emphasize the power and authority of the papacy in the face of political, social, and religious threats present in Europe and the world at the time. To emphasize that the Papacy could be relied upon as the source of truth in an environment in which the very notion of absolute truth that could be known was being called into question.

Thus, Pastor Aeternus, stresses that the primacy of the Pope comes from divine authority of and was instituted by Jesus Christ and that the authority of the Pope presides over the entire Church. One of the most important aspects of Papal authority is exercised in the Pope’s teaching authority, the

We teach and define that it is a dogma Divinely revealed that the Roman pontiff when he speaks ex cathedra, that is when in discharge of the office of pastor and doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, by the Divine assistance promised to him in Blessed Peter, is possessed of that infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer willed that his Church should be endowed in defining doctrine regarding faith or morals, and that therefore such definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves and not from the consent of the Church irreformable.

So then, should anyone, which God forbid, have the temerity to reject this definition of ours: let him be anathema.

This declaration of Papal Infallibility was indeed controversial, even among the bishops present at the First Vatican Council. Many bishops who accepted Papal Infallibility still believed that the tense situation and likely negative response by secular society suggested that it would be imprudent to issue Pastor Aeternus at this time. This was a particular concern of the Bishops of the United States, France, and Germany. Indeed 60 bishops abstained from the vote on Pastor Aeternus by leaving Rome for their home countries on the day the vote was taken.

However, the large majority of bishops supported Pastor Aeternus and all of those who abstained did voice their acceptance of the document after it was confirmed at the First Vatican Council.

Negative reaction amongst some Catholics in Switzerland, Austria and Germany will lead to the formation of the Old Catholic Church. German Chancellor Otto von Bismark will begin his policy of persecution directed against the Catholic Church, the Kulturkampf, in response to Pastor Aeternus, arguing that German Catholic obedience to the papacy meant that they were not fully loyal to the German Kaiser.

Pastor Aeternus

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Today in Catholic History – Transferal of the Body of Pius IX and an Incident Involving the Tiber

July 13, 2010 – 12:08 pm

On 13 July 1881, the body of Pope Pius IX was transferred from St. Peter’s Basilica to the the Basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura.

Pius IX’s body was moved to San Lorenzo because he had been responsible for its restoration in 1870 and during the reconstruction had a mausoleum built for his tomb.

On the night of the 13th of July, the body of Pius IX was moved to its permanent resting place in utmost secrecy because the Italian government believed that permitting any sort of ceremony would only serve to strengthen the support of the papacy in its struggle against the Italian government. However, people did find out about the transfer and a large crowd of one hundred thousand gathered to pay their final respects with flowers and lit candles.

However, not everyone in Rome came to show their devotion. Anti-clerical Italians, angry at the Pope’s hostility to the new government and to the forces of secularism, attacked the procession by throwing stones and even attempted to toss the body of Pius IX into the Tiber River before they were driven away by those devoted to Pius.

After Pope Leo XIII, the successor of Pius IX, dies, concern that a similar attack might take place will lead Pope Pius X to order that the transfer of Leo’s body to the Basilica of Saint John Lateran also be made in utmost secrecy.

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Today in Catholic History – Ex Quo Singulari

July 11, 2010 – 11:16 am

On 11 July 1742, Pope Benedict XIV issued the bull Ex Quo Singulari which addressed the issues of Catholic missionary activity in China and the Chinese Rites Controversy.

Following the example of Matteo Ricci, the Jesuit missionaries in China sought to present the Catholic faith in a way more compatible to traditional Chinese practices so as to encourage conversions in that country. One particularly problematic aspect of the Jesuit method of evangelization was in regards to Chinese veneration of their ancestors. The Jesuits taught that the Chinese practice was compatible with Catholic belief because it was a social and not a religious ritual. However other missionaries in China such as the Franciscans and Dominicans argued that the Jesuits were not teaching the Catholic faith properly and appealed to the pope. The other missionary orders wanted to present a Catholic faith and practice which would be exactly the same as it was in the countries of Europe.

In Ex Quo Singulari, Benedict XIV sided with the Franciscans and Dominicans against the Jesuits and forbade any further discussion of the issue. Papal policy led to a marked decline in conversions in China and indeed the Chinese Emperor would tell a visiting papal delegate, “You destroyed your religion. You put in misery all Europeans living here in China. You desecrated the honor of all those, who died long ago.” The Emperor would also ban all Catholic missionary activity.

In 1939, Pius XII would reverse this policy to permit the veneration of deceased family members and the Catholic Church would again begin to flourish until the Chinese Communist revolution in 1949.

On the Chinese Rites Controversy

By sbeshonertor | Also posted in History of China, Jesuit History, Today in Catholic History | Comments (0)

Today in Catholic History – The Finding of the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan

July 8, 2010 – 10:12 am

On 8 July 1579, a little girl by the name of Matrona discovered an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the city of Kazan that would come to be known as Our Lady of Kazan or the Theotokos of Kazan [Казанская Богоматерь]

This icon is of the highest importance for Russian Orthodox faithful and many churches throughout Russia are dedicated to Our Lady of Kazan. Her feast day on 4 November is also the Russian Day of National Unity. The Russian Orthodox believe that prayers to the Blessed Mother through the icon have protected Russia against Polish invasion in 1612, Swedish invasion in 1709 and French invasion in 1812.

On 29 June 1904, the icon was stolen from the church in Kazan. The thieves who wanted to obtain the golden covering of the icon later claimed to have destroyed it. However, rumors continued that stated that the icon had survived.

One copy of the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan, through for some time it was believed that it might have been the original icon, was obtained by the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima and kept at the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal. This copy, dated to around 1730, was given to Pope John Paul II in 1983 and kept in his study in the Vatican. While Pope John Paul II hoped to visit Russia and return this icon to the Russian Orthodox while he was there, the Russian Orthodox Church refused to grant him permission to visit that country.

Unable to visit Russia, Pope John Paul II chose to return this copy of the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan to Russia on 27 August 2004. In returning the icon, Pope John Paul II expressed his hope that Our Lady of Kazan might help bring about unity between the Orthodox and the Catholics.

Today, as I announced last Sunday, our traditional weekly meeting has a special profile. Indeed, here we are gathered in prayer around the venerable Icon of the Mother of God of Kazan, which is on the point of setting out on the return journey to Russia, which it left one day long ago.

After passing through various countries and staying a long time at the Shrine of Fatima in Portugal, it providentially arrived at the Pope’s dwelling more than 10 years ago. Since then, it has found a home with me and has accompanied my daily service to the Church with its motherly gaze.

How often since that day have I called on the Mother of God of Kazan, asking her to protect and guide the Russian people who venerate her, and to hasten the moment when all the disciples of her Son, recognizing one another as brothers and sisters, will be able to fully restore the compromised unity.

More on the transfer of the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan from Pope John Paul II to Russia

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Today in Catholic History – Pope Sixtus V and the Holy Name of Jesus

July 2, 2010 – 10:47 am

On 2 July 1587, in order to increase devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus, Pope Sixtus V granted an indulgence of fifty days to any who would greet one another with the words “Praise be to Jesus Christ” and the answer “Forever. Amen”. In Latin, this would be “Laudetur Jesus Christus” “In saecula. Amen“. In German, this would be “Gelobt sei Jesus Christus” “In Ewigkeit“. The indulgence also served to strengthen Catholic spirituality as part of the Catholic Counter-Reformation.

In 1728, Pope Benedict XIII would increase the indulgence to one hundred days. While this was again designed to increase the devotion of the Holy Name of Jesus, the greeting would also become commonly among Catholics in German speaking Europe not only as the regular method of greeting but also of identifying Protestants. For Protestant Germans, to use the greeting would mean recognizing the authority of the pope; on the other hand, to refuse to use the greeting ran the risk of being denounced to the local authorities. Indeed, the recorded responses of Protestant Germans to being greeted with the words Geolobt sei Jesus Christus ran the gamut from strict silence to the extremely vulgar.

By sbeshonertor | Also posted in Renaissance History | Comments (0)

Today in Catholic History – Pope Paul VI issues the Credo of the People of God

June 30, 2010 – 8:33 am

On 30 June 1968, Pope Paul VI ended the “Year of Faith” with the moto proprio Solemni Hac Liturgia containing the Credo of the People of God.

The Credo is an expansion of the Nicene Creed recited during the liturgy. The expansions contained within were greatly based upon the influence of French theologian and philosopher Jacques Maritain. As Solemni Hac Liturgiasays, the Credo “repeats in substance, with some developments called for by the spiritual condition of our time, the creed of Nicea, the creed of the immortal tradition of the holy Church of God.”

Maritain had suggested that Paul VI conclude the Year of Faith with a “complete and detailed profession of faith, in which everything that is really contained in the Symbol of Nicea would be presented explicitly. This will be, in the history of the Church, the profession of faith of Paul VI.”

Maritain also suggested this profession in response to the publication of the Nieuwe Katechismus [New Catechism] with the approval of the Dutch bishops a year before that had greatly disturbed him as well as the pope himself. A commission instituted by Paul VI to evaluate the Dutch Catechism accused it of “substituting one orthodoxy for another in the Church, a modern orthodoxy for the traditional orthodoxy”. Among the many criticisms of the catechism were that it asserted that there were not universal moral laws which were binding upon all people and that it denied the physical and spiritual reality of the Virgin Birth.

On this day which is chosen to close the Year of Faith, on this feast of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, we have wished to offer to the living God the homage of a profession of faith. And as once at Caesarea Philippi the apostle Peter spoke on behalf of the twelve to make a true confession, beyond human opinions, of Christ as Son of the living God, so today his humble successor, pastor of the Universal Church, raises his voice to give, on behalf of all the People of God, a firm witness to the divine Truth entrusted to the Church to be announced to all nations.

Solemni Hac Liturgia

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Today in Catholic History – Pope Pius XII issues Mystici Corporis Christi

June 29, 2010 – 8:32 am

On 29 June 1943, Pope Pius XII issued his encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi which presented the teaching of the Catholic Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.

In this encyclical, Pius XII asserts that complete participation in the Church and in the Body of Christ belongs to those who are in communion with the visible representantive of Christ, the Pope. These faithful are brought into union with Christ through the Eucharist, a union which is marked by the faithful working toward perfection and Christ working in the faithful. The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ because the union with Christ is not a purely physical or spiritual union, rather it is a supernatural union. The Mystical Body of Christ is truly visible on Earth as it is at the same time truly united with Christ in heaven.

The encyclical stresses the responsibilities of all the faithful – both lay and religious – to work toward the perfection of the Body of Christ. So, as a result of this encyclical, many new associations of lay faithful were formed.

The Mother of God also plays an important role in the nature of the Body of Christ as a mystical union of the faithful as she who is the Mother of the Son is also the Mother of all those who belong to the Son. Having been assumed into heaven, she now intercedes for all her children.

And if at times there appears in the Church something that indicates the weakness of our human nature, it should not be attributed to her juridical constitution, but rather to that regrettable inclination to evil found in each individual, which its Divine Founder permits even at times in the most exalted members of His Mystical Body, for the purpose of testing the virtue of the Shepherds no less than of the flocks, and that all may increase the merit of their Christian faith. For, as We said above, Christ did not wish to exclude sinners from His Church; hence if some of her members are suffering from spiritual maladies, that is no reason why we should lessen our love for the Church, but rather a reason why we should increase our devotion to her members. Certainly the loving Mother is spotless in the Sacraments by which she gives birth to and nourishes her children; in the faith which she has always preserved inviolate; in her sacred laws imposed on all; in the evangelical counsels which she recommends; in those heavenly gifts and extraordinary grace through which with inexhaustible fecundity, she generates hosts of martyrs, virgins and confessors. But it cannot be laid to her charge if some members fall, weak or wounded. In their name she prays to God daily: “Forgive us our trespasses;” and with the brave heart of a mother she applies herself at once to the work of nursing them back to spiritual health. When, therefore, we call the Body of Jesus Christ “mystical,” the very meaning of the word conveys a solemn warning. It is a warning that echoes in these words of St. Leo: “Recognize, O Christian, your dignity, and being made a sharer of the divine nature go not back to your former worthlessness along the way of unseemly conduct. Keep in mind of what Head and of what Body you are a member.”

The encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi

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Today in Catholic History – Paul VI announces that the bones of Saint Peter have been discovered

June 26, 2010 – 9:56 am

On 26 June 1968, Pope Paul VI announced that the bones of Saint Peter were discovered.

It was during the Papacy of Pius IX that a necropolis and a second-century victory monument was discovered unter the Basilica of St. Peter. This victory monument had been described in ancient sources as standing over the grave of St. Peter.

Below the monument some bones were discovered that some thought might be the bones of the Saint. However, it was later determined that the bones were those of a woman, two men and some animals. The bones of the two men were of people around fifty years of age which would make them too young to be St. Peter. Later, behind a buttressing wall covered with inscriptions dedicated to Peter, Christ, Mary and everlasting life was found a marble-lined repository that contained a box with bones thought to be those of a pope. Inside the box was a piece of red plaster with the words Petr(os) eni. The archeologist responsible for examining the box asserted that the inscription meant “Peter is here” and asked to have the bones analyzed.

It took six years to analyze the bones. When the conclusions of the examination were published, it was determined that the bones were of a man who died between the ages of 65-70, the man was 5’6 ½” tall, all the bones were present except the foot bones, the bones were covered with a gold and purple cloth.

The bones seemed to fit with the traditional understanding of St. Peter as someone who died around sixty years of age. Since St. Peter was crucified upside down with nails through his feet, that would explain the lack of foot bones with an otherwise complete skeleton – since normally the hands decompose faster than feet. The purple cloth had been placed on the bones of the skeleton, not the skin which indicated that the relics were considered particularly special.

Based upon this information, Paul VI announced to the world on 26 June 1968, that “very time-consuming and accurate studies” and ” the judgment of the talented and prudent people” had convinced him that the relics of St. Peter had been identified.

An informative series of articles on the excavations under the Basilica of St. Peter can be found here, here, here, here, and here. A visual visit to the tomb of St. Peter can be seen here.

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