1001 REASONS
WHY IT’S GREAT TO BE CATHOLIC!
Copyright © 2015 Robert M. Haddad
Published by Beacon Publishing
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No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.
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ISBN: 978-1-942611-06-6
ISBN: 9781942611127
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+Most Reverend Peter A. Comensoli
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Archdiocese of Sydney
Sydney, Australia
August 28, 2014
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Contents
Other Works by the Author
Introduction
Chapter 1: Great Church!
Chapter 2: Great Popes!
Chapter 3: Great Councils!
Chapter 4: Great Teachings
Chapter 5: Great Prayer!
Chapter 6: Great Sacraments!
Chapter 7: Great Miracles!
Chapter 8: Great Saints!
Chapter 9: Great Beauty!
Chapter 10: Great History!
Postscript
About the Author
Other Works by the Author
A Seat at the Supper
Introduction to Early Church History
Introduction to the Greatest Fathers of the Church
The Apostles’ Creed
Law and Life
The Case for Christianity – St. Justin Martyr’s
Arguments for Religious Liberty and Judicial Justice
The Family and Human Life
Defend the Faith!
Answering the Anti-Catholic Challenge
Christ our Light and Life
Gratia Series
Initiate!
Introduction
The Catholic Church is the most maligned institution in the world today. No day goes by without some form of public attack being levelled against her, especially in the mainstream media. Some of these attacks are justified, many of them are not. Of course, none of this is any surprise to Catholics who take their faith seriously, nor is it anything new; it’s been going on for over 2,000 years. Christ himself warned us to expect this when he said, “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household” (Matt. 10:25).
Catholics are accustomed to having their church and faith attacked. For many centuries the ‘attack’ came from Jews who rejected Christ as the Messiah, Moslems who denied the Trinity and the divinity of Christ, and Protestants who ‘protested’ again a myriad of Catholic teachings. In more recent centuries, atheists and secularists have ramped up their own attacks, seeking to marginalize the influence of the Catholic Church in society and erase God from the public sphere. Secularism continues to advance with ever increasing strides, aided and abetted by media and entertainment industries pushing ever more aggressively their anti-God agenda.
Unfortunately, sometimes we Catholics are our own worst enemies, providing plenty of fodder for external opponents to point their fingers at. ‘Sins committed in the name of truth’, as Pope St John Paul II once put it, have too often blotted our history. More recently, the scandal of child sexual abuse has destroyed innumerable innocent lives, brought much of the Church into disrepute, and demoralized good and faithful Catholics everywhere. Meanwhile, many other Catholics in positions of power and authority have failed in their obligations to live, teach and pass on the Catholic faith authentically, causing countless others to permanently turn their backs on the Church.
These recent scandals have provided further ammunition to the Church’s opponents to perpetuate new anti-Catholic ‘black myths’, while never acknowledging the enormous good the Catholic Church has done over the centuries or her many apologies for her failings. At the same time, these same critics seem to be strangely silent when it comes to the ‘sins’ of others, especially those committed by anti-Catholic movements and regimes from the 18-21st centuries. This silence is deafening!
However, it is not all doom and gloom. Good things are happening and signs of hope are appearing in many places throughout the Church. While scandal and corruption will always remain a problem, Catholics need not be silent about the good things. This leads us to the purpose of this book — to tell people about the great things, in fact, 1001 great things about being Catholic!
Why 1001 great things? Years ago I saw a news report about the growth of Pentecostalism in Latin America. One firey pastor had at the back of his church a pamphlet entitled, “Twenty-five reasons why you are no longer Catholic.” I became upset when I saw this and wanted to produce my own response. Naturally, I wanted this response to be both comprehensive and overwhelming — hence the thought of collecting and publishing 1001 reasons why it’s great to be Catholic! More than most, non-Catholics should find this book of great interest.
This book does not want to hide the bad things that have happened in the Catholic Church; rather, it simply wants to proclaim to the world what are the many great things about her. In the age of the ‘new evangelization’ we should no longer simply cower under the relentless attacks against our church and faith but be willing and able to stand confidently and proclaim loudly why it’s great to be Catholic. It’s not about triumphalism, it’s about truth, and it’s always a great time to proclaim the truth!
Robert M. Haddad
29 August, 2014
The Passion of John the Baptist
Chapter 1
Great Church!
Preliminary
The Catholic Church has for over 2,000 years attracted either the love or hatred of countless millions of people. To her enemies, she is an obscure sect, a den of iniquity and corruption, an impediment to any real relationship with Christ, the “whore of Babylon” (Rev. 17:9), or the purveyor of superstition and ignorance. These same enemies would be glad to see the end of the Catholic Church, hoping to poach all her members, cause her to be outlawed and forcibly repressed, or watch her slowly wither and die.
However, to those who know and love her, the Catholic Church is something altogether different. Scripture makes it clear that Christ founded a church which would be his “Body”, his “bride”, “the Israel of God.” It would be a visible and spiritual community built on the “rock” of St Peter who would govern it with the power of the “keys” as Christ’s ‘Prime Minister’. The other Apostles would also have power to “bind and loose” in union with St Peter and their respective successors would provide central and united government over the millennia under the protection of the Holy Spirit. It would be a church with a triple hierarchical structure of bishop, presbyter and deacon, would evidence this structure over its entire history, would spread its branches across the entire world to encompass all peoples, would require obedience from all her members, and would comfortably embrace diversity within unity. The protection of the Holy Spirit would enable this church to be the “pillar and bulwark of truth”, to withstand the “powers of death”, and ensure her survival until the end of the world.
Only the Catholic Church has the necessary 2,000+ year history to prove an historic link with Christ and qualify as the church founded by him. Only the Catholic Church can show it has all the qualities and attributes mentioned above. Only the Catholic Church can, therefore, be the recipient and beneficiary of Christ’s promises and protection. Only those who belong to the Catholic Church, therefore, can comfortably say they belong to the one true Church of God, the one true ark of salvation.
Reasons
1. The Catholic Church is the only church that can show that it is over 2,000 years old and hence the only church that can establish that it was founded by Christ himself. St Paul refers to this same Church when he says, “to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever” (Eph. 3:21).
2. The Catholic Church is not only a ‘Bible-believing’ church but also the Church of the Bible.
3. Being over 2,000 years old, the Catholic Church is the only organized society that has outlasted all other empires, kingdoms and nations since the times of the Roman Empire.
4. The Catholic Church is the only church that can show it began as the “mustard seed” in the time of Christ and grew into that tree in which all “the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches” (Matt. 13:31).
5. Only the Catholic Church can show that it is simultaneously one, holy, catholic and apostolic, that is, one in government and doctrine, possesses all of Christ’s holy teachings, is universal in her membership, and can trace her history back to Christ and the Apostles.
6. Being the church founded by Christ, the Catholic Church qualifies to be the one bride of Christ: “I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband” (2 Cor. 11:2).
7. Being the church founded by Christ, the Catholic Church is the ‘body of Christ’, with Christ as its head: “Christ is the head of the church, his body” (Eph. 5:23).
8. Being the church founded by Christ, the Catholic Church is also the new “Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16).
9. Being the church founded by Christ, the Catholic Church is a divine institution with a universal name, not a human institution bearing the name of its human founder.
10. Being the church founded by Christ, the Catholic Church possesses a hierarchical authority to govern it (Luke 6:13; Matt. 18:17-18), has the power to sanctify the faithful (John 15:16) and to forgive sins (John 20:23), as well as the authority to teach (Matt. 28:20) and to baptize (Matt. 28:19). So empowered, the Catholic Church continues Christ’s mission (John 20:21) until the end of the world (Matt. 28:20).
11. Being the church of Christ, the Catholic Church is as Christ intended it to be, namely a visible and spiritual institution: “A city set on a hill cannot be hid” (Matt. 5:14).
12. Being the church founded by Christ, the Catholic Church has the triple hierarchical structure of authority apparent in the New Testament, namely, bishops, presbyters (priests) and deacons (1 Tim. 3:1, 8; 5:17).
13. Being the church founded by Christ, the Catholic Church’s leaders possess a divine, not human, authority: “Obey your leaders and submit to them; for they are keeping watch over your souls, as men who will have to give account” (Heb. 13:17).
14. Being the church founded by Christ, the Catholic Church is both God’s church and the pillar of truth: “… if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).
15. Being the church founded by Christ, the Catholic Church enjoys the promise of the Holy Spirit’s continuous protection and source of its infallible teaching authority: “And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth … for he dwells with you, and will be in you … the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:16-17, 26).
16. Being the church founded by Christ, the Catholic Church is founded on the rock that is St Peter: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18).
17. Being the church founded by Christ, the Catholic Church has the power to bind and loose in Christ’s name: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven” (Matt. 16:19).
18. Where there was a king and chamberlain in the days of the ‘old Israel’ (Is. 22:22), the Catholic Church as the ‘new Israel’ likewise has a king and chief minister, namely Christ and the Popes as successors to St Peter.
19. Those who listen to the Catholic Church as the historic and biblical church of Christ enjoy union with Christ and all other faithful followers: “… if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matt. 18:17).
20. To hear and obey the Pope and bishops as successors to St Peter and the Apostles is to hear and obey Christ: “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me” (Luke 10:16).
21. To receive and obey the Pope and bishops as successors to St Peter and the Apostles is to receive and obey both Christ and the Father: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives any one whom I send receives me; and he who receives me receives him who sent me” (John 13:20).
22. The authority given by Christ to St Peter and the Apostles did not die with them but was passed on via the laying on of hands (Acts 1:20; Acts 13:2; 1 Tim. 4:14; Tit. 5-10). This is known as ‘Apostolic succession.’ The Popes and bishops of the Catholic Church can show that they are the successors to St Peter and the Apostles through a continuous chain of successive ordinations over the centuries.
23. Apostolic succession within the Catholic Church was the criterion used in early Christianity to determine authentic Apostolic Tradition and hence authentic Christian truth: cf. St Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 3, 4, 1 (c. 180).
24. The Catholic Church’s model of stable and monarchical bishops is identical to the model of church governance evident in the writings of early Church Fathers such as St Ignatius of Antioch, who at the beginning of the 2nd century wrote: “Let no one do anything of concern to the Church without the bishop. Let that be considered a valid Eucharist which is celebrated by the bishop, or by one whom he appoints. Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there … Nor is it permitted without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate the agape; but whatever he approve, this too is pleasing to God, so that whatever is done will be secure and valid” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8, 1, c. 110).
25. Possessing stable and monarchical bishops, the Catholic Church has a system of local church government that brings order and certainty in administration and doctrine: “This is why I left you in Crete, that you might amend what was defective, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you” (Tit. 1:5).
26. Like many of the Apostles and St Paul (1 Cor. 7:8), Catholic bishops are not married, making them free to serve God and his people without reserve or restriction.
27. The Catholic Church’s unity of government is assisted by having a comprehensive canon law that covers all aspects of the Church’s life and the life of her members.
28. Possessing a centralized teaching authority of Pope and bishops guided by the Holy Spirit, the Catholic Church maintains Christianity as a divinely revealed religion rather than a collection of private individual opinions.
29. Possessing a centralized teaching authority of Pope and bishops the Catholic Church is united in government, doctrine and sacraments in line with the words of St Paul, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:5).
30. Since the Catholic Church is united in government and doctrine its faithful members cannot be “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14).
31. Since the Catholic Church is united in government and doctrine its faithful members cannot be misled by the “ignorant and unstable” who “twist” the Scriptures “to their own destruction” (2 Pet. 3:16).
32. Since the Catholic Church is united in government and doctrine it will never be laid waste or fall as per the following warning: “… Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and house falls upon house” (Luke 11:17).
33. As the church of Christ, the Catholic Church has his promise of victory over the powers of Hell: “… the powers of death shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).
34. The Catholic Church has managed to survive all heresies, schisms, internal and external threats and attacks over the past twenty centuries, and is guaranteed to continue to do so until the end of the world: “… and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matt. 28:20).
35. Throughout its history, the Catholic Church has travelled through repeated cycles of growth, stagnation, decay and decline, only to recover to emerge ever stronger and glorious.
36. Though always regrettable, the existence of unfaithful members in the Catholic Church conforms her to Christ’s images of the wheat and the weeds (Matt. 13:24-30), the good and the bad fish (Matt. 13:47-52), and the sheep and the goats (Matt. 25:31-46).
37. Only the Catholic Church has heeded Christ’s command to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19).
38. Being an international church, the Catholic Church is not a national church subject to the whims of any secular government or ruler.
39. Being an international church, the Catholic Church is not a racially based church. It has members from every race, language and culture, making it a truly universal church.
40. Being neither a nationalistic nor ethnocentric church, the Catholic Church possesses a universal vision, reflecting God’s concern for the whole of humanity.
41. Being a visible and corporate international society, the Catholic Church avoids the radical individualism that is contrary to the vision in the Scriptures (1 Cor. 25-26).
42. Though the Catholic Church is one in government, faith and sacraments there is great diversity within her unity. The many and different Oriental (Eastern) Churches in communion with the See of Peter are highly esteemed for their venerable antiquity and the Apostolic Traditions they possess from the Fathers.
43. The Catholic Church is broad enough to hold together apparent contradictions in balance: the treasures of the Vatican and the poverty of the Franciscans; the silence of the Benedictine monastery and the enthusiasm of charismatics; the sublimity of Gregorian chant and the exuberance of drums; vernacular liturgies and the perennial Latin Mass; violins and guitars; the great university tradition and the plethora of parochial schools; the home Rosary prayer group and massive World Youth Day gatherings.
Chapter 2
Great Popes!
Preliminary
For centuries much has been written and said about the Popes of the Catholic Church. A lot of the commentary has been about the more sordid details of the Papacy, specifically corrupt Popes who bribed their way into office, lived luxurious lives, practised nepotism, begat illegitimate children, kept concubines, murdered rivals, or even waged wars, etc. Others attack the Papacy more fundamentally, condemning it as a usurped office and the Pope as the “man of sin” (2 Thes. 2:3) or “Antichrist” (1 John 1 & 2).
Undoubtedly, a number of Popes were guilty of terrible scandals and in the process brought disgrace to themselves and their office (six out of two hundred and sixty-six to be exact). However, those who rejoice in pointing out Papal failings tend to ignore the vast majority of Popes who over the past 2,000 years were faithful to Christ and the Church.
Collectively, the great Popes of the Catholic Church have contributed enormously to the betterment of humanity and the world. It is impossible to list all their great achievements but the following are some of the most outstanding: they condemned heresies; approved conciliar definitions and decrees; encouraged missionary endeavors; repressed pagan practices; promoted monasticism, piety and learning; promoted the study of Scripture; composed great writings; assisted victims of plague; saved Rome from destruction; opposed the threat of militant Islam; freed slaves; supported charities; sponsored the arts; defended marriage; established universities and seminaries; reformed the calendar; reformed the liturgy; attacked simony and concubinage; excommunicated corrupt clergy; deposed unfaithful rulers; negotiated peace between warring states; opposed violent political revolutions; and decried the modern errors and horrors of rationalism, liberalism, freemasonry, Nazism, Communism and racism, to name a few.
Above all, however, the great Popes were men of outstanding fidelity and holiness, even to the point of martyrdom. It is the purpose of this chapter to highlight and remember some of these great men.
Reasons
44. The Papacy as an institution ensures that the Church has only one legitimate visible leader on earth, avoiding the fragmentary tendency prevalent in other churches and denominations that makes even local ministers de facto ‘popes.’
45. St Hegesippus (Fragments in Eusebius, History of the Church, Bk 4, ch. 22) and St Irenaeus of Lyons (Against Heresies 3, 3, 3) provide identical lists of all the bishops of Rome from St Peter until the mid and late 2nd century respectively.
46. The first thirty-five bishops of Rome, or Popes, from St Peter (+67) to St Julius (+352) are recognized as saints for their outstanding lives of holiness and service, including many martyrs and confessors during the centuries of imperial Roman persecution.
47. The first Pope was St Peter, who arrived in Rome in AD 42, worked among its people for most of the next twenty-five years, and suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Nero c. 67. He was buried on Vatican Hill, the site where the basilica of St Peter’s in Rome now stands.
48. St Clement of Rome was the fourth Pope (88-97) and is known to history due to being asked by the church in Corinth to resolve a dispute between the clergy and the baptized members. St Clement’s intervention is embodied in his famous First Letter to the Corinthians which is still extant. St Clement died a glorious death after being exiled by the Emperor Trajan to the copper mines of the Crimea. He was thrown into the sea with a heavy stone tied to his neck.
49. St Callistus I was Pope from 217-222. During his short reign he bore the caustic attacks from rebel intellectuals and puritanical extremists for confirming the availability of confession and absolution for all post-baptismal mortal sins and also for recognizing the validity of marriages before God contracted by Christian women of higher rank with Christian men of social inferiority. In so doing, he laid the foundation for the noble teachings that the availability of the sacraments is always independent of social status and the authority of the State. On 14 October, 222, St Callistus was rewarded with the martyr’s crown, being set upon by a raging mob and thrown to his death from a height.
50. St Pontian was Pope from 230-235. Under the persecuting Emperor Maximinus Thrax he was arrested and exiled to the salt mines of Sardinia. As a result, he resigned the pontificate to allow a successor to be elected as soon as possible. Also sent to the salt mines was the anti-Pope, St Hippolytus, who on encountering St Pontian’s humility, renounced his claim to the pontificate and died in full communion with the Church.
51. St Fabian was Pope from 236-250. During his pontificate the schism with the followers of St Hippolytus was healed, the church in Rome was divided into seven deaconates, the Catacombs were developed for the burial of Christians, and seven missionary bishops were sent to Gaul. With the advent of Decius as Emperor, all Christians were ordered to offer incense to images of Roman deities. St Fabian was one who refused, being subsequently imprisoned and dying in custody in January, 250.
52. St Cornelius was Pope from 251-253. During his pontificate he was opposed by the hard-line anti-Pope Novatian and his followers who refused to re-admit serious sinners and apostates back into the Church without re-baptism. The ‘Novatianists’ were condemned by a synod of sixty bishops convoked by St Cornelius, which also declared that serious sinners could be re-admitted to communion after doing penance. Under the Emperor Gallus, persecution was resumed and St Cornelius was arrested and exiled to Centumcellae (Civitavecchia) where he died, perhaps from beheading, in June, 253.
53. St Stephen I was Pope from 254-257. During his pontificate he defied opposition to advocate a lenient policy towards lapsed Christians who sought reconciliation with the Church and insisted on the validity of baptism administered by heretics. St Stephen was arrested and beheaded on 2 August, 257, during the reign of the Emperor Valerian.
54. St Sixtus II was Pope from 257-258. During his brief pontificate the controversy over the validity of heretical baptism that split the North African and some Eastern churches from full communion with Rome was resolved. Under the Emperor Valerian Christians were forbidden to gather. It was while celebrating Mass in the Catacombs on 6 August, 258, with his six deacons that St Sixtus was arrested by Roman soldiers and summarily beheaded. All six deacons suffered the same fate with a seventh, St Lawrence, being cooked alive three days later. It is this St Sixtus who is mentioned in the canon of the Roman Mass.
55. St Sylvester I was Pope from 314-335. During his long reign a strong relationship was forged with the Emperor Constantine, with the latter commissioning the construction of the great churches of St John Lateran, Santa Croce, and St Peter’s Basilica. St Sylvester sent two legates, Vitus and Vincentius, to represent him at the first Council of Nicea in 325, and he later approved the Council’s determinations against the Arian heresy.
56. St Damasus was Pope from 366-384. He was strong and vigorous, particularly pro-active against the prevalent heresies of his day, namely Luciferianism, Arianism, Macedonianism and Donatism. Pope Damasus also commissioned St Jerome to translate the Bible into Latin (the so-called ‘Vulgate’ version) and introduced Latin into the liturgy (both measures aimed at meeting the spiritual needs of the Latin-speaking western Christians). Pope Damasus also asserted the primatial claims of the See of Rome against the growing influence of Constantinople.
57. St Siricius was Pope from 384-399. He was elected unanimously and was very conscious of his universal jurisdiction over the Church. His decrees, distributed widely to other bishops throughout the Church, dealt with the condemnation of Jovinianism and Priscillianism, the election of worthy candidates as bishops and priests, and the enforcement of discipline, particularly clerical celibacy. St Siricius also upheld the perpetual virginity of Mary against Bishop Bonosus of Sardica and settled the ‘Melitian Schism’ that plagued the church in Antioch.
58. St Innocent I was Pope from 401-417. He reinforced the pre-eminent authority of the Bishop of Rome, writing to and receiving appeals from bishops across the wider Church, including St John Chrysostom. In 416, St Innocent condemned the Pelagian heresy, affirming the decision of the bishops of North Africa. He also took or encouraged measures against the Novatians, Manicheans, Montanists, and Priscillianists. In addition, St Innocent participated in an unsuccessful embassy to prevent the barbarian Goths from sacking Rome, which occurred in 410.
59. St Celestine was Pope from 422-432. In his zeal for orthodoxy, he condemned the Pelagians, removed all public churches in the city of Rome from the Novatians, and affirmed the Council of Ephesus against the Nestorian denial of the title ‘Mother of God’. St Celestine also upbraided the bishops of Gaul for their lax attitude towards heretical novelties. In 431, he sent Bishop Palladius on mission to Ireland, and a year later commissioned the great St Patrick to continue the same work.
60. St Leo the Great was Pope from 440-461. He was the first Pope to be called “the Great.” St Leo is best known for confronting Attila the Hun in 452 and persuading him not to attack Rome. Theologically, St Leo is most remembered for issuing the so-called ‘Tome of Leo’, a document that guided the fathers of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 to reject Monophysitism in favor of the doctrine of the hypostatic union, namely, that Christ possesses two distinct natures — divine and human — united in one divine person “with neither confusion nor division.”
61. St Gelasius I was Pope from 492-496. He was the last Pope of African origin. During his short pontificate he vigorously asserted the primacy of the Bishop of Rome over the entire Church, continued the struggle against Monophysitism in the East, and repressed the last remnants of Roman pagan purification rituals, replacing them with the celebration of the purification of the Virgin Mary (Candlemas) on 2 February.
62. St Silverius reigned as Pope for less than a year, from 536 to 537. According to Liberatus of Carthage, he was a victim of Vigilius, a “greedy and treacherous pro-Monophysite”, who schemed with the Byzantine Empress Theodora to advance the cause of Monophysitism throughout the Church. Despite entreaties to the Emperor Justinian for a fair trial, St Silverius was exiled by Vigilius to the desolate island Palmarola, where he died of starvation a few months later.
63. Vigilius was Pope from 537 to 555. His election followed the death of St Silverius and was achieved through pressure exerted upon the Roman clergy by the Byzantine army then in Italy under General Belisarius. However, after becoming Pope Vigilius underwent an extraordinary turnaround, renouncing Monophysitism. This resulted in his arrest and transfer to Constantinople where he was imprisoned for seven years. It was only after the second ecumenical council of Constantinople in 553 again condemned Monophysitism that Vigilius was allowed by the Emperor Justinian to return to Rome. During the return journey Vigilius died while in Sicily (7 January, 555).
64. Pelagius II was Pope from 579-590. During his reign the Bishop of Milan returned to full communion with the Church and the Visigoths of Spain embraced Catholicism. Pelagius was noted for his generosity, spending his own money to beautify the Basilica of St Peter and converting his private residence into a hospital for the sick. He died in February, 590, during an outbreak of the plague in Rome.
65. St Gregory the Great was Pope from 590-604. He was notable for many significant achievements, including organizing charitable services, re-organizing the Papal land holdings in central Italy to meet the needs of the starving in Rome, preventing a Lombard attack on Rome in 593, issuing pastoral guidelines for bishops (Liber Regulae Pastoralis), commissioning St Augustine of Canterbury to evangelize England, and presiding over the form of liturgical music later known as ‘Gregorian chant.’ St Gregory was also a voluminous writer, authoring nearly a thousand letters, books, commentaries and homilies. Throughout his pontificate, St Gregory remained sincerely humble, calling himself “Servus Servorum Dei” (“Servant of the Servants of God”).
66. St Martin I was Pope from 649-655. One of his first acts was to call the Council of Lateran to condemn Monothelitism, the heresy that denied the human will of Christ. As a consequence, the Byzantine Emperor, Constans, had St Martin arrested and brought to Constantinople. After years of public humiliations and indignities, St Martin was declared a heretic and a public enemy of the Church and State and exiled to the Crimea, where he died on 16 September, 655.
67. St Sergius I was Pope from 687-701. He was renowned for his humility and holiness. St Sergius rigorously opposed the request of the Byzantine Emperor, Justinian II, to allow the marriage of priests and deacons and added the prayer ‘Lamb of God’ to the canon of the Mass. Justinian ordered St Sergius’ arrest and abduction. However, his attempts were frustrated by the people of Rome. Rather than exploit the anti-Byzantine sentiment, St Sergius endeavored to calm the revolt. He was proclaimed a saint by popular acclaim immediately after his death.
68. St Gregory II was Pope from 715-731. Realizing the growing threat of advancing Islamic armies, he had the walls of Rome repaired. St Gregory sent missionaries (including St Boniface) to Bavaria and Germany and supported the spread of monasticism. He also continued to oppose Monothelitism and wrote letters to a number of bishops in the East opposing the rising Iconoclast (‘image breaking’) heresy.
69. St Zachary was Pope from 741-752. His great communication skills enabled the Church to have all lands taken by the Lombards restored to her and prevented further attacks against the city of Ravenna. St Zachary greatly supported the missionary work of St Boniface in Germany and converted the heretic Vigilius before making him bishop of Salzburg. He also arranged for the feeding of numerous poor and pilgrims who made their way to the tomb of St Peter and spent Papal monies to buy back Christian slaves being sold to the Moors. In addition, St Zachary commissioned the French bishops to crown Pepin as king of the Franks, laying the foundation for what would later be the Holy Roman Empire.
70. St Leo III was Pope from 795-816. In April, 799, he survived an assassination attempt launched by a jealous aspirant to the Papal chair. It was this Pope who, on Christmas Day, 800, crowned Charlemagne as the first Holy Roman Emperor, making him at the same time protector of the Roman Church. With treasures supplied by Charlemagne, St Leo became a great benefactor to the churches and charities of Rome. He also settled disputes between various episcopal sees in England and gave refuge to various priests and monks who opposed the divorce and remarriage of the Byzantine Emperor.
71. St Leo IV was Pope from 847-855. One of his first acts was to order the rebuilding of churches in Rome damaged by attacks from the Saracens, including St Peter’s and St Paul’s. He also ordered Rome’s defensive walls to be rebuilt and extended to include Vatican Hill and the tomb of St Peter as protection against future Saracen attacks. In 849, St Leo summoned the coastal cities of Naples, Gaeta and Almalfi to form a naval alliance that won a major victory over the Saracen fleet at the Battle of Ostia. St Leo also convoked a synod of bishops in Rome to re-establish discipline, learning and piety among the clergy.
72. St Nicolas I was Pope from 858-867. He was an authentic ascetic who encouraged religious life in Rome and throughout Italy. St Nicolas came to the Papal chair at a time of anarchy both in the Church and the Holy Roman Empire. He determined to restore morality and integrity to the clergy, starting with the excommunication and deposition of the corrupt Archbishop of Ravenna. This was followed with depositions of unworthy bishops throughout France and Germany and the excommunication of royalty who left their legitimate spouses for paramours, including King Lothair II. St Nicolas also opposed and excommunicated the schismatic Photius of Constantinople, compelling the Eastern bishops back into union with Rome.
73. St Leo IX was Pope from 1049-1054. He came to the Papal chair after the disastrous pontificate of the corrupt Benedict IX, which was the zenith of the ‘dark age of the Church.’ Already known for his outstanding piety as Bishop of Toul in Germany, he entered Rome barefoot and dressed as a monk, and then was immediately proclaimed as Pope by the Roman people and Cardinals. As Pope, St Leo at once attacked the three greatest evils that plagued the Church: simony, clerical immorality and imperial interference. To extend his reform agenda, St Leo toured Italy and other parts of Europe, convoking synods, deposing unworthy bishops, punishing unfit priests, and reforming monasteries. Despite a disastrous military campaign against the oppressive Normans in southern Italy, St Leo managed to convert them and extracted from them a commitment to end their oppression. St Leo died on 19 April, 1054, while Papal legates were on their way to negotiate reconciliation with the Archbishop of Constantinople, Michael Caerularius, who had ordered the removal of St Leo’s name from the Canon of the Mass and closed all Latin churches in the city.
74. St Gregory VII was Pope from 1073-1085. As an administrator, reformer and leader he is considered one of the greatest Popes to ever shepherd the Church. Soon after becoming Pope, St Gregory attacked simony and clerical concubinage. Priests with mistresses or wives were no longer permitted to practise the priesthood. Despite strong opposition from France and Germany, St Gregory refused to relent. In 1075, he forbad any king or emperor to confer investiture on any cleric, reserving that right to himself. King Henry IV of Germany was excommunicated for his defiance and only restored after his humiliation by St Gregory at Canossa. Henry, however, failed to keep his promises and invaded Rome, setting up an anti-Pope (Clement III) in the place of St Gregory. St Gregory fled to Salerno, where on 25 May, 1085, he died. His last words were, “I have loved justice and hated iniquity. Therefore I die in exile.”
75. Bl. Urban II was Pope from 1088-1099. He continued the reforms of St Gregory VII with enthusiasm and finesse as well as the struggle against Henry IV and the anti-Pope Clement III. He also excommunicated King Phillip I for his adulterous marriage. In response to the embassy from Byzantine Emperor Alexios Comnenos, Urban called the First Crusade to wrestle Jerusalem and the Holy Land back from the Moslems. Urban was also successful in restoring Sicily to the Christian fold after centuries of Islamic domination.
76. Bl. Eugene III was Pope from 1145-1153. He was a disciple of the great St Bernard of Clairvaux. Immediately upon his election Eugene was faced with demands from Republicans under Arnold of Brescia to forfeit all temporal power in Italy to them. As a consequence of this struggle Eugene was compelled to flee Rome for France, where he stayed for three years. While in France, Eugene campaigned to correct errors, enforce clerical discipline and propagate the faith. Unworthy clerics were deposed, including the Archbishops of York and Mainz. Even after returning to Rome Eugene feared for his life, so he travelled throughout northern Italy, promoting reform wherever he went. After hearing of the fall of Edessa to the Moslems in 1145 he called for a second crusade to reinforce the threatened Holy Land, a call supported by St Bernard and answered by Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany.
77. Innocent III was Pope from 1198-1216. He was a strong Pope during difficult times. He deposed Otto of Brunswick as emperor of Germany for his dishonesty and persecution of the Church. He also placed the Kingdom of France under interdict due to King Phillip II divorcing his wife. King John of England was compelled to accept Innocent’s nomination, Stephen Langton, as Archbishop of Canterbury also under threat of interdict. Hungary, Poland and Norway each had their nominated next kings approved by Innocent. In 1208, Innocent called upon Phillip II to suppress the heretical Albigensians, a crusade which ultimately proved successful. Concerning the Islamic threat, Innocent arranged an alliance between Castile, Navarre and Aragon to pursue the Spanish ‘reconquista’ against the Moslem south. His calling of the fourth crusade to the Holy Land, however, proved to be disastrous, leading to the sack of the cities of Zara and Constantinople without his foreknowledge or approval. On the religious side, Innocent approved the Order of the Friars Minor (Franciscans) in 1209 and convoked the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215.
78. Bl. Gregory X was Pope from 1271-1276. He was elected after a Papal election that lasted a record three years due to divisions between the Italian and French cardinals. At the time of his election, Gregory was in the Holy Land supporting the ninth and final crusade. His first actions as Pope included an appeal for aid for the beleaguered Crusaders in Acre and a letter against the persecution of Jews. Once back in Italy, Gregory summoned an ecumenical Council to meet at Lyons in 1274. The aim of this Council was to heal the East-West schism, consider support for the Holy Land, and to reform abuses within the Church. Bl. Gregory is also noted for legislation governing future Papal elections which remained substantially intact until the pontificate of Paul VI in the 1960s.
79. Boniface VIII was Pope from 1294-1303. His pontificate was a difficult one for him personally and for the Church in general. He faced multiple revolts against his authority led by Cardinals belonging to the Colonna family. On a more positive note, Boniface worked diligently to bring peace to a number of rival states, including Sicily, Venice, Genoa, France and Germany. On 25 December, 1299, Boniface began a year long Jubilee celebration to commemorate the 1,300th anniversary of the birth of Christ. In 1302, Boniface issued the encyclical Unam Sanctam which re-asserted the primacy of the Pope over the whole Church, including the authority to judge kings. For this he was assaulted and imprisoned by representatives of the French King, Philip IV, but remained steadfast in defense of the authority and independence of the Church until his death.
80. St Pius V was Pope from 1566-1572. He was responsible for concluding the Council of Trent and appointing St Charles Borromeo to oversee the enactment of its decrees. Following Trent, St Pius continued the momentum of reform by publishing a new universal Catechism, a new Breviary for priests and a new Sacramentary for Mass. Mass within the Latin Church was standardized and Pius ordered the establishment of seminaries for the training of young men for the priesthood. Pius was severe on heretical bishops and corrupt cardinals. He was instrumental in the formation of the Holy League, whose combined naval force won the great victory over the Ottoman Turks at the battle of Lepanto in 1571. Pius also declared St Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church and patronized the great composer Palestrina.
81. Gregory XIII was Pope from 1572-1585. As a layman and law academic Gregory led a wayward life, living with a mistress and having an illegitimate son. He reformed his life after taking holy orders, eventually becoming a cardinal and participating in the Council of Trent. As Pope, Gregory led a very simple and upright life and pursued reform of the Church with vigor and efficiency. He dispatched missionaries to Asia and Japan and established universities and seminaries throughout Europe, favoring the Jesuits. He also reduced the power of the cardinals and updated the Index of Forbidden Books. Another of Gregory’s notable achievements was the reform of the Julian calendar, which because of his involvement became known as the ‘Gregorian calendar.’
82. Bl. Innocent XI was Pope from 1676-1689. He was a man of exceptional piety and unselfish devotion to the Church and the poor. Innocent followed a frugal lifestyle and expected the cardinals to do likewise. Within only two years of being elected, Innocent restored the finances of the Papal treasury by paying off all its debts. He worked hard to ensure purity of faith and morals in the Church through proper education of the clergy, reformation of religious life, and the promotion of modesty of dress. He particularly encouraged the laity to receive the sacraments regularly, especially Holy Communion. As to matters political, Innocent struggled throughout his entire pontificate against King Louis XIV’s attempts to control the Church and its revenues in France, meeting with only limited success.