Papacy
| Papal styles of Pope Gregory XIV |
|
|---|---|
| Reference style | His Holiness |
| Spoken style | Your Holiness |
| Religious style | Holy Father |
| Posthumous style | None |
Gregory XIV's brief pontificate was marked by vigorous intervention in favour of the Catholic party in the French Wars of Religion. Instigated by the king of Spain and the duke of Mayenne, he excommunicated Henry IV of France on 1 March 1591, reiterating the 1585 declaration of Pope Sixtus V that as a heretic (Protestent) Henry of Navarre was ineligible to succeed to the throne of Catholic France and deprived of his dominions.
Gregory XIV levied an army for the invasion of France, and dispatched his nephew Ercole Sfondrati to France at its head. He also sent a monthly subsidy of 15,000 scudi to Paris to reinforce the Catholic League. By coming down solidly on the side of Spanish interests, in part because Gregory XIV was elected due to the influence of the Spanish cardinals, the recent papal policy of trying to maintain a balance between Spain and France was abandoned.
Gregory XIV created five Cardinals, among whom was his nephew Paolo Emilio Sfondrati, his Secretary of State. He attempted to convince Philip Neri, a long-time friend, to accept the post of Cardinal, but Neri refused, saying that there were many more deserving of the honour than him.
In a decree dated 18 April 1591 (Bulla Cum Sicuti), Gregory XIV ordered reparations to be made by Catholics in the Philippines to the natives, who had been forced into slavery by Europeans, and he commanded under pain of excommunication of the owners that all native slaves in the islands be set free.
Also in 1591, Gregory XIV modified the Apostolic Constitution Effraenatam of Pope Sixtus V (1588) so that the penalty for abortion did not apply until the foetus became animated.
The biographers mention that Pope Gregory XIV had a nervous tendency to laughter, which occasionally became irresistible and even manifested itself at his coronation. Gregory, who was in poor health before his election to the papacy, died due to a large gallstone and was succeeded by Innocent IX.
Read more about this topic: Pope Gregory XIV
Famous quotes containing the word papacy:
“The Papacy is no other than the ghost of the deceased Roman empire, sitting crowned upon the grave thereof.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)
“The Papacy is no other than the ghost of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the grave thereof.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)
“The Papacy is no other than the Ghost of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the grave thereof; For so did the Papacy start up on a Sudden out of the Ruins of that Heathen Power.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)