Sunday, May 15, 2011

Pope Gregory VII

Speaking truth to power. The Mad Monarchist reports.
Purely in terms of the Catholic Church, Gregory VII was a great reforming pope. He brought about a revival in the understanding of the “true presence” and in the character and quality of the clergy as he was greatly distressed, upon taking the throne, to see how many priests and bishops were living immoral lives, were ignorant of many basic teachings and who had obtained their offices in irregular ways. Celibacy was made, unequivocally the rule and selling Church offices was condemned. He cleaned up, reformed and improved the Church in a big way, however, those clerics who gained their positions in an “irregular” way was something that caused a great deal of trouble in dealing with. This led to what is known as the “Investiture Dispute” between Pope Gregory VII on one hand and the Holy Roman Emperor on the other. Originally, this was a dispute over who had the right to appoint bishops; the Pope or the Emperor. At heart, however, it was a clash between the power of the Church and the State such as would be seen time and time again throughout history.
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