The Great Western Schism by Most Rev. Donald Sanborn (2020)
There are many traditional Catholics who, in an effort to find a precedent to our current problem in the Church, look to the Great Western Schism as this precedent. The Great Western Schism was a split among Catholics which took place from 1378 to 1417. It was caused by the election of two different popes simultaneously.
Then a third was added. Pope Clement V decided, upon his election to the papacy in 1305, to not take up residence in turbulent Rome, but instead to reside at a papal-owned enclave in southern France known as Avignon. This was nothing new for the popes. For many centuries Rome often became uninhabitable for them because of warring factions within Rome who wanted their own candidates on the throne. There was also an anti-papal republican faction in Rome which wanted to see the return of republican Rome and the overthrow of the papal monarchy. So in order to protect the safety of their own persons, and merely to have some peace and quiet, popes in the Middle Ages commonly took refuge in France.
There are many traditional Catholics who, in an effort to find a precedent to our current problem in the Church, look to the Great Western Schism as this precedent. The Great Western Schism was a split among Catholics which took place from 1378 to 1417. It was caused by the election of two different popes simultaneously.
Then a third was added. Pope Clement V decided, upon his election to the papacy in 1305, to not take up residence in turbulent Rome, but instead to reside at a papal-owned enclave in southern France known as Avignon. This was nothing new for the popes. For many centuries Rome often became uninhabitable for them because of warring factions within Rome who wanted their own candidates on the throne. There was also an anti-papal republican faction in Rome which wanted to see the return of republican Rome and the overthrow of the papal monarchy. So in order to protect the safety of their own persons, and merely to have some peace and quiet, popes in the Middle Ages commonly took refuge in France.
There are many traditional Catholics who, in an effort to find a precedent to our current problem in the Church, look to the Great Western Schism as this precedent. The Great Western Schism was a split among Catholics which took place from 1378 to 1417. It was caused by the election of two different popes simultaneously.
Then a third was added. Pope Clement V decided, upon his election to the papacy in 1305, to not take up residence in turbulent Rome, but instead to reside at a papal-owned enclave in southern France known as Avignon. This was nothing new for the popes. For many centuries Rome often became uninhabitable for them because of warring factions within Rome who wanted their own candidates on the throne. There was also an anti-papal republican faction in Rome which wanted to see the return of republican Rome and the overthrow of the papal monarchy. So in order to protect the safety of their own persons, and merely to have some peace and quiet, popes in the Middle Ages commonly took refuge in France.