Why did Gregory XII, the last pope to resign before Benedict, quit 600 years ago?

XVI in February 2013.

But if Joseph Ratzinger justified his departure by citing the world’s “rapid transformations” and his “advanced age”, which deprived the cardinals of the power to exercise the office he elected in 2005, the resigning previous pope did so. for quite different reasons.

This is Gregory XII, who left his papacy in 1415.

Allegations of hundreds of cases of pedophilia within the church or clashes with the Vatican Bank may seem like serious conflicts to one pope, but Gregory had to deal with threats from two other popes, each of their own, their own College Cardinals. and their own administrative offices.

The crisis went down in history as the Western Divide, the Great Divide, or the Great Western Divide.

Rome vs. avignon

On November 30, 1406, Angelo Correr, a member of the Venetian aristocracy, XII. Gregory was elected pope and proclaimed himself a cardinal the year before.

Correr was Bishop of Castello (1380) and Latin Patriarch of Constantinople (1390) in the Papal States.

But while his religious career brought him closer to the St. Peter’s Chair in Rome, there was already another pope in another chair: Benedict XIII, whose papacy was in Avignon, France.

The schism in the Catholic Church began in 1378, when a group of cardinals hostile to Pope Urban 6 elected as pope another cardinal, Robert de Guinevere, who settled in Avignon as Clement 7th.

Benedict XIII succeeded Clement VII in the parallel papacy of France in 1394.

XII.

Gregory XII repeated his oath after becoming pope and on December 12, 1406, III.

After extensive negotiations, the two priests agreed to meet in the city of Savona, but this meeting never took place and distrust between the two men of the Church grew with cross-accusations between the French city and the Italian city.

a third pope

The presence of two popes in Rome and Avignon not only implied divisions in religious temples, but also created political hostilities and nationalist conflicts with different kings supporting different popes.

When the situation became untenable, several proposals emerged to end the schism, and in 1409 the Council of Pisa was held with cardinals from both factions.

Both Gregory 12 and Benedict 13 were invited, but neither attended.

The Council of Pisa dismissed both popes and elected a new one: Alexander V.

However, neither Gregory nor Benedict resigned, so the Catholic Church now had three popes, not two, as it sought to reunite.

Faced with such chaos, a new council, called the Council of Constance, was convened in Germany in 1414. Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund played a key role in this meeting.

The new council (who had replaced Alexander VI) dismissed John 23, rejected any claim by Benedict 13 to remain pope of Avignon, and eventually accepted the resignation of Pope Gregory 12 of Rome, one of the most serious crises in the world. it ended. The church is Catholic.

Gregory XII resigned on July 4, 1415, and died on October 18, 1417, at the age of 90.

That same year, Martin V was elected as the legitimate – and only – pope.

Angelo Correr died as Cardinal Bishop of Porto, a title bestowed on him by the last council.

For historians of the Catholic Church, Urban VI and his successors (including Gregory XI) are legitimate popes, so Avignon popes are sometimes called antipopes.

– This text was originally published at https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-64134994.