Imago31 Oct 2004

This pope gave up his robes
Celestine V didn't want to be pope and tried to retire to monastery

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

St. Celestine V
When: 1210-1296

Where: Italy

What: Founder of an order of monks and pope

Canonized: 1313

Feast: May 19



An old saying warns: Be careful what you ask for, you might get it. St. Celestine V may have wished he had heeded that warning.

As the abbot of an order of monks, he told the College of Cardinals to stop their fighting, which had gone on for two years, and elect a new pope. If they didn't, he warned, he would call the wrath of God down upon them. So on July 5, 1294, the cardinals elected the 84-year-old abbot as the new pope.