Pope John XXII

Pope John XXII, born Jacques Duèze, was the head of the Catholic Church from 1316 until he died in 1334. He was the second pope to live in Avignon, a city in France, where he ruled the church for many years. During his time as pope, he made many important decisions and lived in a grand style, collecting power and wealth for the papacy.

Pope John had strong disagreements with Louis IV the Bavarian, the Holy Roman Emperor. Because of these disagreements, Louis invaded Italy and named his own pope, Nicholas V, creating a split in the church. John also disagreed with some ideas of the Franciscan order about how poor Jesus and his followers should have been, and he wrote several official documents to explain his beliefs.

One of the important things Pope John did was to officially recognize Thomas Aquinas as a saint in 1323. However, some of his teachings about seeing God in heaven caused controversy. He changed his mind about these ideas near the end of his life. Pope John XXII died in Avignon on December 4, 1334.

Early life and election

Jacques Duèze was born in 1244. His father was likely a merchant or banker from Cahors. Jacques studied laws and theology in Montpellier and Paris. He later taught laws in Cahors and Toulouse.

In 1300, Jacques became the Bishop of Fréjus. In 1308, he was appointed chancellor of Charles II of Naples. In 1310, he became Bishop of Avignon. In 1316, after Pope Clement V passed away, the cardinals met in Lyon and chose Jacques to be the new pope. He took the name John XXII and chose to live in Avignon, continuing what is known as the Avignon Papacy.

Papacy

After being chosen as pope, John gave a large sum of money to the cardinals who supported him. He was skilled at managing church affairs and reorganized the Catholic Church efficiently. John was known for having a strong will and got involved in the politics of many European countries to support the church's interests. He often wrote to leaders who did not follow the church's beliefs to remind them of his authority.

In 1317, John officially recognized Louis of Toulouse as a saint. In 1318, he sent a friendly message to a Muslim ruler named Özbeg Khan, who treated Christians well. John is also known for writing a special prayer called "Anima Christi," which in English is "Soul of Christ, sanctify me ...". In 1329, he said that many writings by a thinker named Meister Eckhart were wrong. He also helped start a small university in the city of Cahors.

In 1332, John planned to move the pope's home to Bologna. However, when he arrived, he thought the city was not safe. This caused problems, and the building meant for the pope was destroyed. John passed away in Avignon on December 4, 1334, at around 89 or 90 years old, and was buried in the Notre-Dame-des-Doms cathedral there.

Edward II and Irish bishoprics

In 1316, John received a visit from Edward II of England about who should be the bishops of Dublin and Cashel. Edward wanted to choose who became bishop and did not want any Irish people to be chosen. John chose William FitzJohn, who was already a bishop, to be the bishop of Cashel, and he chose Alexander Bicknor, Edward's personal pick, to be the bishop of Dublin.

In 1318, John sent a letter to Edward II congratulating him on winning a battle. He also told Edward that England belonged to the pope and that Edward owed loyalty to the pope. Later, some Irish leaders asked John to remove Edward as the leader of Ireland because they were unhappy with how England treated them. John hinted that he might consider changing who led Ireland.

Canonization of Thomas Aquinas

See also: Canonization of Thomas Aquinas

In 1317, a monk named Guillelmo de Tocco started looking into making Thomas Aquinas a saint. In 1318, de Tocco met with John and gave him letters and records showing Thomas Aquinas's miracles and why people thought he should be a saint. John chose three cardinals to check these records, and they said everything was in order. John then picked three church leaders to talk to people about Thomas Aquinas.

The leaders talked to 111 people over fifteen days, and then sent their reports to John. In 1323, John officially made Thomas Aquinas a saint.

Conflict with Louis IV

Before John became pope, two men were fighting to be the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire: Louis IV the Bavarian and Frederick I of Austria. John did not pick a side at first. In 1314, Louis was named king by some leaders, while Frederick was named by others the day before. In 1317, John gave the pope the power to control the empire through a special announcement.

By 1322, John was upset with Louis because of actions taken in Italy. In 1323, John told Louis he was unhappy with him and later did not allow him to stay in power. Louis did not accept this and called a meeting of supporters, where he named another pope, Antipope Nicholas V, in 1328. John fought back and did many things to oppose Louis. In 1330, the man Louis picked as pope gave in to John just before John died.

Franciscan poverty

See also: Absolute poverty of Christ and Apostolic poverty

John wanted to stop what he thought were wrong ideas among some Franciscans, who believed that Jesus and his followers owned nothing at all. In 1317, John made an announcement saying that following church rules was more important than being poor. In 1322, he said that the idea that Jesus and his followers owned nothing was wrong. In 1323, he said that the belief that Jesus and his followers had no possessions was incorrect and against church teaching.

Some important members of the Franciscan order, such as Michael of Cesena and William of Ockham, disagreed with John.

Beatific vision controversy

From late 1331 to early 1332, John gave several talks saying that people who died believing in God would not see him until after the world ends. This caused disagreement among church leaders about whether people get to see God right after they die. In 1334, leaders in Paris said that people who die with God in their hearts get to see him right away. John, realizing many thought he was wrong, changed his mind before he died and agreed that people who die with God in their hearts do get to see him right away.

Role in witchcraft suppression

During Pope John's time as leader, the church started taking a stronger stand against actions thought to be witchcraft. This change happened partly because John himself had faced a dangerous plot involving poison. In 1326, he issued an announcement describing what people do when they practice witchcraft and warned that doing these things was very wrong. He said that anyone who ignored his warning would be cut off from the church. He also said that witchcraft was a serious crime and could be tried by church courts, just like other crimes against church teachings. Even before this, in 1320, a church leader acting for John told investigators in certain areas to look for people practicing witchcraft and to treat them the same as other criminals.