ited in the writings of the fathers, he tells us, was "the one intellectual cause of his renouncing the religion in which he was born, and submitting himself to the holy see. The identity of the Catholic Church of the nineteenth century with the Church of the fathers was “the great manifest historical phenomenon," his eminence bears witness, "which converted me." Protestant denominations, on the contrary, are all modern; the oldest of them having only a few centuries of existence. They saw no sect quite like themselves at the time of their separating from the Catholic Church, or probably they would have joined it. These sects, in fact, only began when their several founders gave them existence; hence they are often distinguished by the name of their founder or by some special feature of their new doctrine; and far from being apostolic, they reject apostolical Tradition and the testimonies of the first successors of the Apostles, either in profession or in practice, or in both. Cardinal Bellarmine has enumerated a score of Protestant doctrines, which are but old heresies, condemned in the early centuries of the Church. (De Notis Ecclesia, book iv., chap. ix.) The following historical series of all the Bishops of Rome, successors of St. Peter, to the present time, confirms the fact that this luminous mark of apostolicity belongs to the Roman Catholic Church alone. Chapter XXVI. List of the Sovereign Pontiffs who, in a direct line, have Succeeded St. Peter in the See of Rome. Donus or Domnus II., Rome.... John XIV., Pavia... Boniface VII., Antipope, French, last ing 7 months.... John XV., Rome: unconsecrated, died within four months from his doubtful election... .985 in any of the ancient chronologies of Popes, nor is it mentioned by any of the contemporaries, nor by any trustworthy historian during some centuries that followed the epoch of the pretended reign. Leibnitz, Blondel, Boxhorn, Cave, and other Protestants, have proved the whole thing to be absolutely false. It appears this story has no other foundation than a false rumor by Frederick Spanheim, eagerly received by people disaffected to the papal chair. A Protestant clergyman, W. S. Baring Gould, shows the absurdity of the story in his curious Myths of the Middle Ages. 137. 138. Benedict VII., Rome. 139. ៖៖៖៖៖៖ 984 ..985 193. 196. 197. 198. ..... 1145 1153 199. 191. Nicholas IV., Ascoli: Franciscan..... 1288 192. St. Celestine V., Terra di Lavoro, Naples: resigned the pontificate for a hermitage 1294 Boniface VIII., Anagni: canonized St. Louis, king of France; ordered a jubilee to be proclaimed every 100 years.. 1294 CENTURY XIV.-10 Popes. 194. Bl. Benedict XI., Treviso: Dominican.... 1303 Clement V., Bordeaux: ordered the 195. election of Popes in conclave; removed to Avignon; helped the rebuilding of St. John Lateran, destroyed by fire; under him took place the fifteenth general council at Vienne, France, in 1311. 1305 John XXII., Cohors, France: ordered the bells to be tolled every evening for the angelus...... Benedict XII., Foix, France......... 1334 Clement VI., Limoges, France: Benedictine: endowed with wonderful mem ory..... Innocent VI., Limoges, France....... 1352 200. Bl. Urban V., Mende, France: transferred his residence from Avignon to Rome; Paleólogus abjured the Greek schism in his hands: Benedictine..... ... 1316 1342 1362 In the year 1378 began a schism, that NO. 201. 202. to Rome 1377.... is, a series of Antipopes, which lasted 51 years, i.e., till the year 1429. Gregory XI.,Limoges, France: returned .Succeeded 1370 219. Urban VI., Naples.... ... 1378 203. Boniface IX., Naples; published the crusade against Bajazet. 1389 220. 221. CENTURY XV.-13 Popes. 204. Innocent VII., Sulmona.... 1404 205. 206. Adrian VI., Utrecht, Netherlands..... 1522 Clement VII., Florence (De Medici): excommunicated Henry VIII., king of England (1530)....... ... 1523 Paul III., Rome (Farnese): convoked the Council of Trent to put down heresies and correct abuses.. Julius III., Tuscany... 1534 1550 1566 Marcellus II., Montepulciano (Cervini) 1555 Paul IV., Naples: Caraffa (Theatine) 1555 Pius IV., Milan (Medici): ended and confirmed the Council of Trent....... 1559 227. St. Pius V., Bosco, near Alessandria, Piedmont (Ghislieri): Dominican: repressed the Turks..... Gregory XIII., Bologna (Buoncompagni): corrected the calendar...... 1572 Sixtus V. (Peretti), Ancona: Franciscan he published a revised edition of the Bible, called the Vulgate...... 1585 Urban VII. (Castagna), Rome..... 1590 Gregory XIV. (Sfondrati), Cremona.. 1590 Innocent IX. (Facchinetti), Bologna.. 1591 Clement VIII. (Aldobrandini), Florence published an edition of the Vul ..... gate, newly revised, as in present use. 1592 CENTURY XVII.-11 Popes. 214. 215. ....... Sixtus IV., Savona: Franciscan: received an embassy from the czar of Russia, J. Basilowitz, declaring that he, having refused to acknowledge the patriarch of Constantinople, accepted the union of the Roman Church, sworn in the Council of Florence.... Innocent VIII., Genoa: under his pontificate Spain was freed from Mohammedanism; Pico of Mirandola, at the age of 24 years, sustained 900 theses, extracted from Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic authors; Christopher Columbus discovered America...... 234. 235. 1605 1605 Clement XI. (Albani), Urbino....... 1700 Innocent XIII. (Conti, Dominican), 252. Pius VI. (Braschi), Cesena.... 1769 1775 |