Victor R. Claveau, MJ
In 1307, Pope Clement V (1305-1307), born Raymond Bertrand de Got, was elected from France and as he did not care much for Italy, moved the headquarters of the Papacy to France. And after years of moving from town to town he finally established the papacy in Avignon, where it remained for 70 years.
This was a time when the papacy steadily lost its authority. Saint Catherine of Sienna eventually went to a future Pope, Gregory XI, (the third Pope to reign in Avignon) and convinced him to return to Italy. Gregory XI abandoned Avignon and moved his court to Rome (arriving on January 17, 1377), officially ending the Avignon Papacy.
After a few years of being back in Rome Pope Gregory died. When the new Pope, Urban VI (1378-89), was elected, some of the people in France did not approve of his selection and therefore elected their own Pope, Robert of Geneva (“Clement VII”), (1378-1394) who we now refer to as an anti-pope. And rebellion went on for a number of years. Boniface IX (1389-1404)[i] succeeded Pope Urban VI. Later, in Pisa, Italy, a second antipope was elected. Pope Innocent VII (1404-1406)[ii] succeeded Pope Boniface IX, and Pope Gregory XII (1406-1415)[iii] who was succeeded Pope Boniface IX. Eugene IV (1431-47)[iv] who was succeeded Gregory XII, and Nicholas V (1447-55) who was succeeded Eugene IV.
Catholics fought against Catholics. France mounted armies against Rome, and Rome mounted armies against the Avignon Papacy. The authority of the Vatican was tremendously diminished during this period. This confusion lasted until the election of Pope Eugene IV in 1447.
A second cause was the Black Death? The Black Plague began in 1348 and lasted for 30 months. It started in the Crimea and swept down through North Africa and north through Europe. All of Europe was ravaged and it spread as far as Greenland. And it is estimated at that during this time that 25 million died of the Black Plague.
We are talking about the death of roughly, 25% of the population of Europe. Who do you think took care of these plague victims? Who was the most knowledgeable and dedicated? They were the priests, the monks, and religious sisters. The Black Plague reoccurred eight times from 1450 to 1500 A.D. There was widespread starvation.
This was when Europe began to fractionalize where different people met and coalesced together and they started what we now know as Germany, France, and the other European countries. People wanted to be with people they understood, to protect themselves. Strangers were driven away, as they might be contagious.
It was the priests and religious, in ministering to the needs of the sick and dying, who were hit the hardest. In France entire monasteries were wiped out. 300 men of the Curia in Avignon at that time perished. Thousands of religious died. It could be estimate, although I have never seen any figures that 90% of the Catholic Clergy died during this period of the Black Plague. In addition, many of the educated clergy who managed to survive were put to work by the secular authorities. So what was left for the Church as the priesthood had been decimated?
Death from starvation was also rampant. There were a lot of people, simply trying to survive, who were looking for any way to keep themselves alive. Some of these men turned to the priesthood in the hope that they would be fed by the people. The Church, in her desperation to serve the needs of the people started ordaining some men who were not really the best qualified or ideally suited. During this time of great upheaval the quality of many of the clergy was less than what would be desired.
Finally, the third cause of the Reformation was Pope Leo the 10th. Pope Leo, a layperson, ordained to the priesthood and papacy in 1513 and died in 1521, was a member of the prestigious Medici family. The first thing he said after becoming Pope to his brother was, “Let us enjoy what God has given us.” Within two years, he had emptied all of the Papal coffers through negligence. All of the money was gone, so in order to raise more he established the indulgence. Now indulgences are never to be sold, that’s not what indulgences are about. Essentially, he sent people out to raise money, not only to fill the coffers, but also for the building of St. Peter’s basilica.
[i] Opposed by antipopes Robert of Geneva (“Clement VII”), Pedro de Luna (“Benedict XIII”) (1394-1417) and Baldassare Cossa (“John XXIII”) (1400-1415),
[ii] Opposed by Pedro de Luna (“Benedict XIII”) (1394-1417) and Baldassare Cossa (“John XXIII”) (1400-1415).
[iii] Opposed by antipopes Pedro de Luna (“Benedict XIII”) (1394-1417), Baldassare Cossa (“John XXIII”) (1400-1415), and Pietro Philarghi (“Alexander V”) (1409-1410).
[iv] Opposed by Amadeus of Savoy (“Felix V”), antipope (1439-1449).