Sylvester II (999-1003), noted for his learning, was followed by three
undistinguished successors.
The influential Count Gregory of Tusculum then stepped in and got his
son Theophylact, a layman, elected as Pope Benedict VIII. He was soon
ousted by a rival claimant, Gregory, but was restored in 1014 by King
Henry II of Saxony (Germany). The Pope rewarded the King by crowning him
Holy Roman Emperor in 1022.
In 1032, Count Gergory's grandson became Pope Benedict IX. He was only
14 (some say no more than 11). Six months later, a rival faction plotted
to murder him but took fright by a solar eclipse that occurred that day.
Young Benedict went through the motions of office: celebrating High
Mass, appointing Bishops, presiding over Councils. But he led a
dissolute life feasting on immorality until the end of his life, as St
Peter Damian (1107-72) wrote. Eventually, a Roman faction expelled him
as unfit to rule. A new Pope was installed as Pope Sylvester III. He
ruled for some three uneasy months when Benedict was restored by a
Tusculum group. He continued to be devoted to pleasure and plundered the
church treasury.
He next decided to sell the papal office itself for 1500 pounds of gold
in weight.
He sold it to his godfather, Gratian, head priest of St John's Gratian
paid the price (his own money) and took over as Gregory VI in 1045.
Within a year, Sylvester III laid claim to the papacy supported by his
tribal faction. Benedict also decided to return and in 1046, Rome had
three Popes, each powerless to eject the other two. In 1046, King Henry
III was persuaded to Rome. Benedict fled to Tusculum. Sylvester was
imprisoned while Pope Gregory VI was exiled to Germany. King Henry II
then appointed Clement II as the new Pope who in turn made Henry Holy
Roman Emperor. On Clement's death in 1047, Benedict returned to reclaim
the papal office for the second time but in July 1048, Emperor Henry III
again returned, and this time Benedict fled for good. It is not clear
how he died.
======================================
Eddie Ray
------ Original Message ------
From: "The Catholic Thing" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, 3 Nov, 22 At 10:00
Subject: Listen to the Communion of Saints
Stephen P. White: As the Barque of Peter shudders
through choppy seas, we can practice being a “listening Church” by
turning our attention to the...
<https://thecatholicthing.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=86ba873afbb58919227050b08&id=8a92990588&e=efe0633c61>
Listen to the Communion
of Saints
Stephen P. White: As the Barque of Peter shudders through choppy seas,
we can practice being a “listening Church” by turning our attention to
the witnesses who by their lives have proclaimed the Truth that saves.
This week’s twin celebrations, All Saints and All Souls, provide an
occasion to step back from our current circumstances in the Church and
the world, and to view things against a broader horizon.
More than a distant constellation of moral exemplars, more
than even a host of intercessors pleading for us before the Throne of
Grace, the Communion of Saints is what awaits each one of us whose
salvation has been won through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The
glorious diversity of saints is perfected in, even as it reflects, the
splendor of the Triune God in whose life they now share in full.
If beatitude is what we were made for, our ultimate
destination and goal, the commemoration of All Souls is a reminder that
the way is narrow. The souls in Purgatory will go to Heaven. But even as
we pray for their purification and speedy welcome into beatitude, we
cannot but be reminded of the urgent need for repentance and conversion
in our own lives.
And that brings us to where the rest of us are, this pilgrim
Church on earth. And down here, we’re a bit of a mess.
The Church is mired in another of her periodic bouts of
self-reflection, which often seem more like navel-gazing than an
examination of conscience – in recent months and years, particularly
around the Synod on Synodality.
Click here to read the rest of Mr. White’s column . . .
<https://thecatholicthing.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=86ba873afbb58919227050b08&id=ab4707a506&e=efe0633c61>
Image: Adoration of the Trinity by Albrecht Dürer, 1511
[Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna]
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