Pope St. Celestine V

Pietro Angelerio was born around 1215 in Molise, Italy, and lived for decades as a Benedictine hermit in the mountains of Abruzzo. Known as Pietro del Morrone for his remote retreat on Mount Morrone above Sulmona, he founded a monastic order (the Celestines) dedicated to severe asceticism and contemplative prayer. In 1294, after two years of deadlock in papal elections, the eighty-year-old hermit sent a letter warning the cardinals that divine judgment awaited them for their delay. They responded by electing him pope—a choice he reportedly tried to flee. On August 29, 1294, he was crowned Pope Celestine V at the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio in L'Aquila, with over 200,000 people in attendance including King Charles II of Anjou. One of his first acts as pope was revolutionary: he issued the *Bull of Forgiveness* (*Bolla del Perdono*), granting a plenary indulgence to all who visited the Basilica of Collemaggio between the vespers of August 28 and August 29 each year, confessed their sins, and received Communion. This indulgence was available to rich and poor alike—unprecedented generosity that predated and inspired the first Roman Jubilee of 1300. Overwhelmed by the political machinations of his office and recognizing his unfitness for governance, Celestine resigned the papacy on December 13, 1294, after just five months. His successor, Boniface VIII, imprisoned him out of fear that rivals might rally around the beloved hermit. Celestine died in captivity at the Castle of Fumone on May 19, 1296. Dante placed Celestine in the Inferno as "he who made the great refusal," but Pope Francis offered a different reading during his 2022 visit to L'Aquila: Celestine was not a man of "no" but of "yes"—yes to humility, yes to recognizing his limitations, yes to trusting God's will over worldly power. Celestine was canonized by Pope Clement V in 1313. His relics were transferred to the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio in 1327, where they remain today. Pope Benedict XVI visited the tomb in 2009 and left his pallium there—a gesture later interpreted as foreshadowing his own historic resignation in 2013. Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of the basilica in 2022, the first pope to do so in 728 years. **Feast Day:** May 19 **Patronage:** Bookbinders