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Today in Catholic History – The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ

April 3, 2010 – 10:26 am

There are several indications from astronomical investigation that point to the date of Friday 3 April 33 AD as the date of the death of Jesus. Of course, this conclusion lacks the historical certainty that we might wish – we don’t have a death certificate – but does appear to be accurate based upon the scriptural, historical and astronomical evidence presently available.

The first to use astronomy to calculate the date of Jesus’ death was Isaac Newton who compared the visibility of the moon in both the Hebrew and Julian calendars and came up with the date of Friday 23 April 34 AD. But later analysis of Newton’s calculations identified a minor error, involving an characteristic of the Jewish calendar during Newton’s time which was not present at the time of Jesus. When this error was corrected, a date in 33 AD appears as more correct according to the astronomers John Pratt and Bradley Schaefer.

In 2003, using a computer program astronomers Liviu Mircea and Tiberiu Oproiu calculated the death of Jesus for 3 pm on Friday 3 April 33 AD and his resurrection on the 5th of April.

Using the completely different approach of a lunar eclipse model, Profs. Colin Humphreys and W. G. Waddington of Oxford University also arrived at the conclusion that Friday 3 April 33 AD was the date of the Crucifixion.

More Links:
Astronomer Wants to Find the Exact Date of the Crucifixion
Exact Date of the Crucifixion
Multimedia files of Dr. Colin Humphreys explaining his investigation of the date of the crucifixion – both audio and video

Today in Catholic History – The Siege of Constantinople

April 2, 2010 – 3:54 am

On this day in 1453, the forces of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II surrounded the city of Constantinople to begin a siege of the city that would end on 29 May 1453 with the fall of that city to the Ottoman forces and the end of the Byzantine Empire.

While the last Roman Emperor Constantine XI appealed for help from the West, Pope Nicholas V was unwilling to send help without an agreement to accept the decrees of the Council of Florence regarding union between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches. Though it is questionable how much help Nicholas could have provided considering the limited assistance Pope Eugene IV was able to provide in 1438 when the Emperor of Constantinople did agree to acknowledge papal authority.

Still some Western forces did arrive from the Italian city states. But the forces of Constantinople numbered only 7,000 [of which 2,000 were foreign mercenaries] and they faced a besieging army of 100,000.

What was not accomplished by Church council was accomplished by the threat of the Ottoman armies as Catholic and Orthodox fought together against the common foe and Orthodox and Catholic faithful united in liturgy and prayers for God’s assistance.

With the fall of the city, the beginning of the Renaissance is said to have begun.

Today in Catholic History – The Praise of Folly

April 1, 2010 – 3:12 am

Desiderius Erasmus, from “The Praise of Folly”

All this amounts to no less than that all mortal men are fools, even the righteous and godly as well as sinners; nay, in some sense our blessed Lord himself, who, although he was the wisdom of the Father, yet to repair the infirmities of fallen man, he became in some measure a partaker of human Folly, when he took our nature upon him, and was formed in fashion as a man ; or when God made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Nor would he heal those breaches our sins had made by any other method than by the foolishness of ‘the cross…

Today in the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the publication of the famous book by Desiderius Erasmus “The Praise of Folly” is celebrated. The actual date is unknown but the book appeared in 1512 and with today being April Fool’s Day – is there a better day to praise folly?

Erasmus wrote this work while spending time with St. Thomas More in England and dedicated the book to him. Indeed, the Greek title of the text “Moriae Encomium” can also be read as “In praise of More”.

In the book, Erasmus extols the virtues of foolishness and is highly critical of the corruption and abuses he saw in the Catholic Church. Erasmus called for a return to the spirituality and life of the early Apostles and Church Fathers.

While his work was very popular and would serve to fuel the approaching Protestant Reformation, Pope Leo X found the book funny and Erasmus himself wanted to reform the Catholic Church while remaining part of it. However, Erasmus’ support of Luther’s call for reform but his refusal to support Luther’s schism will lead to Erasmus finding himself viewed with suspicion both by the Protestant Reformers as well as the Catholic Counter-Reformers. Luther will call him “the very mouth and organ of Satan” and Pope Paul IV will place his writings on the Index of Prohibited Books.

For his part, Erasmus will write, “I detest dissension because it goes both against the teachings of Christ and against a secret inclination of nature. I doubt that either side in the dispute can be suppressed without grave loss.”

The complete text of The Praise of Folly can be found at the the Internet Archive

By sbeshonertor | Posted in Medieval History, Today in Catholic History | Comments (0)

Today in Catholic History – Bernard of Clairveaux preaches a crusade

March 31, 2010 – 2:18 am

On 31 March 1146 in Vézelay, France St. Bernard of Clairveaux issued a call for what would become known as the Second Crusade.

In 1144, the city of Edessa fell to the Seljuk Turks, this along with requests from Armenia and the other Crusader states for assistance led Pope Eugene III to ask St. Bernard to publicly call for Christian knights to again go to the Holy Land, offering the same indulgences that had been issued by Pope Urban II for the first Crusade.

In front of an enormous crowd at Vézelay, including French King Louis VII and his wife Queen Eleanor of Acquitaine, Bernard preached a very inspiring sermon. Whereas previously there had been little interest in another crusade, after Bernard’s sermon those in attendance rushed to swear oaths to go to the Holy Land. It is said that the crowd ran out of cloth to make Crusader crosses and that Bernard gave up his own outer garments to be cut up to make more. These cloth crosses were worn by crusaders as a sign of the oaths they had taken.

Bernard would later write to Pope Eugene about the great response, “Cities and castles are now empty. There is not left one man to seven women, and everywhere there are widows to still living husbands.” He would claim himself of deserving no praise for the tremendous response to his preaching as he was acting only in obedience to the will of the pope.

The Second Crusade proved to be a disaster for the Crusaders. While the Seljuk Turks were united in their resistance, the Crusaders were divided both in terms of objective as well as in their leadership. One chronicler sums up the results of the Second Crusade with these words, “having practically accomplished nothing, the inglorious ones returned home.”

The failures of the Second Crusade after such an inspirational beginning left Europe disillusioned with the whole idea of a crusade and there would never again be such a popular response to the call for a crusade as their had been with the First and Second Crusade. Much of the blame for the failure fell upon Bernard, who would later send a letter to the pope trying to distance himself from the Second Crusade and laying the faults for its failure upon the sins of the crusaders. Again, Bernard asserted that he had not preached the Second Crusade from his own desires but rather because he wished to respond to the will of the pope.

Today in Catholic History – Our Sunday Visitor offers $10,000 reward

March 30, 2010 – 3:07 am

On 30 March 1913, The Our Sunday Visitor newspaper offered a reward of $10,000 to anyone who could successfully provide evidence of the proof for the many anti-Catholic accusations which were then being expressed.

Indeed, one of the reasons Father John Francis Noll had begun the newspaper on 5 May 1912 was precisely to respond to the large amount of anti-Catholic literature published at this time including a particularly vitriolic socialist newspaper called “The Menace”. While Father Noll was especially concerned with “The Menace”, he also wanted to respond to attacks against the Catholic Church contained in other papers such as “The Guardian”, “The Liberator”, “The Sentinel of Liberty”, “The Peril”, “The American Defender”, “The Converted Catholic Evangelist”, and “The Good Citizen”.

The accusations made against the Catholic Church included such things as charges that Catholics could not be loyal to the US Government, the Catholic Church sought to control American politics, Catholics were forbidden to read the Bible, that Catholics worshiped statues, that monasteries and convents were full of immorality, that the Jesuits taught the principle “the end justifies the means”, that the Fourth Degree of the Knights of Columbus required its members to exterminate Protestants and that the Jesuits promised to do the same, that women were forced into convents against their will and that Catholics wanted to destroy public education.

Our Sunday Visitor would again offer this reward over the following decades but it was never claimed.

By sbeshonertor | Posted in Today in Catholic History, US History | Comments (0)

Today in Catholic History – Incorporation of the Knights of Columbus

March 29, 2010 – 2:00 am

On 29 March 1882, in the state of Connecticut, Reverend Michael J. McGivney, James T. Mullen, Cornelius T. Driscoll, Dr. M.C. O’Connor, Daniel Colwell, William M. Geary, and John T. Kerrigan were officially incorporated and chartered as the Knights of Columbus. Begun for the purpose of promoting the Catholic faith and providing financial aid and charity to families of deceased members, the Knights would quickly spread to other states.

These men chose the name Knights of Columbus to emphasize the Catholic connection to the history of the America’s from the time of Columbus to today and to emphasize that as Knights the men would exemplify the ideals of service to faith, country, and humanity.

Today there are more than 1.7 million members in 13,000 councils in more than thirteen countries. There are nearly 200 councils on college campuses. The Knights have given over one billion dollars to charity over the last ten years and over 68 million hours of service.

More information on the Knights.

By sbeshonertor | Posted in Today in Catholic History, US History | Comments (0)

#227 – The Cadaver Synod

March 28, 2010 – 1:53 pm

The Cadaver Synod or the Synod Horrenda was one of the most unpleasant events in the history of the papacy at which Pope Stephen VI placed his predecessor Pope Formosus on trial. What made it more unpleasant was that Pope Formosus had died nine months earlier.

Links:
For more on the Cadaver Synod
Robert Browning’s The Ring and The Book account of the Cadaver Synod
On the difference between valid and licit sacraments

Picture is Jean Paul Laurens’ “Le Pape Formose et Etienne VII”

Be sure to check out the CUTH blog for more on the history of the Catholic Church

Send e-mail questions and comments to catholicunderthehood@gmail.com or leave voice mail at 1 740 936 4354

To listen, just click on the link below:

podcasticon #227 – The Cadaver Synod

By sbeshonertor | Posted in Italian History, Podcast, Sacraments | Comments (0)

Today in Catholic History – The Trial of Father Henry Garnet, SJ

March 28, 2010 – 5:57 am

On 28 March 1606, Jesuit Father Henry Garnet was tried for eleven hours for alleged participation in the Gunpowder Plot to assassinate James I of England/VI of Scotland by blowing up the House of Lords. Though Garnett professed his innocence and claimed that anything he knew of the plot was protected by the seal of the confession, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. Father Garnet, SJ was executed on May 3, 1606 by hanging.

After his death, a head of straw with the blood of the Jesuit priest was taken as a relic. Later, the blood was said to have congealed into a likeness of the face of Father Garnet. This straw was later taken to the Jesuits at Liège but disappeared during the French Revolution.

The book, “A True And Perfect Relation Of The Whole Proceedings Against The Late Most Barbarous Traitors, Garnet A Jesuit And His Confederates” also dating from this same period is said to be bound in the skin of the Jesuit father and his face is said to appear on its cover.

For more on the Gunpowder Plot see this earlier episode of Catholic:Under The Hood

By sbeshonertor | Posted in History of United Kingdom, Jesuit History, Today in Catholic History | Comments (0)

Today in Catholic History – Pope Clement V excommunicates Venice

March 27, 2010 – 3:32 am

In a war with Venice and their Doge Pietro Gradeningo over political control of Ferrara in Italy, Pope Clement V issued an excommunication of the entire city of Venice on 27 March 1309 – an ecclesiastical penalty that would not be lifted until 17 February 1313.

Clement decreed not only that the Venetians were to be considered outside of the Church but also annulled trade agreements and religious services. When the excommunication failed to convince Venice to accept Papal control of Ferrara, a crusade against Venice would be ordered a few months later.

At this time, ecclesiastical penalties such as excommunication or interdict, the prohibition on the celebration of sacraments in a particular area, were seen as effective means of encouraging a population to persuade its leaders to change their ways and accept papal demands.

Due to the problems caused by the animosity of the papacy and the threats of other Italian city states who wished to take advantage of the pope’s crusade, the citizens of Venice rebelled against their Doge/leader. However, attempts to overthrow the Venetian government failed and contributed to the establishment of the Council of Ten as an emergency, but eventually permanent, government for the city state.

The death of the Doge and willingness of the new Venetian leadership to accept Papal control over Ferrara brought about the lifting of the excommunication. Indeed, when Doge Pietro Gradeningo died religious burials were prohibited by the excommunication and he would be laid in an unmarked grave.

For more information

By sbeshonertor | Posted in Italian History, Today in Catholic History | Comments (0)