Saint Celestine V, Pope, a Unique Papal Election

Saint Celestine V, Pope, a unique papal election

Celestine is a saint who will always be remembered for the unique manner in which he was elected Pope, for his spectacular incompetence in that office, and for the distinction of being the first pontiff ever to have resigned. Pietro di Murrone was born in born 1215 in the Neapolitan province of Moline to a poor family. He became a Benedictine monk at the age of seventeen and was eventually ordained priest at Rome. His love of solitude led him fi…

Pope Saint Celestine V

Pope Saint Celestine V was the eleventh of twelve children. His father died early, and his mother raised him with an influence towards a religious vocation.  When his mother would ask, “Which one of you is going to become a saint?” little Peter would answer “Me, Mama! I’ll become a saint!”. At age seventeen, he became a Benedictine monk at the monastery of Santa Maria di Faifoli, near Montagano, Italy. Here he began to persue a life of solitude.…

St. Peter Morrone (Pope Celestine V)

St. Peter Morrone was born in 1215 in Isernia, Italy. Drawn to prayer and solitude from a young age, he became a Benedictine monk and later lived as a hermit in the mountains. His holiness attracted followers, and he eventually founded a new branch of the Benedictines, later called the Celestines. In 1294, during a […]