The Pope Who Quit: A True Medieval Tale of Mystery, Death, and Salvation [Paperback]

Jon M. Sweeney (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 14, 2012

The riveting story of Pope St. Celestine V, the pope who retired from the papacy.

At the close of the tumultuous Middle Ages, there lived a man who seemed destined from birth to save the world. His name was Peter Morrone, a hermit, a founder of a religious order, and, depending on whom you talk to, a reformer, an instigator, a prophet, a coward, a saint, and possibly the victim of murder. A stroke of fate would, practically overnight, transform this humble servant of God into the most powerful man in the Catholic Church. Half a year later, he would be the only pope in history to abdicate the chair of St. Peter, an act that nearly brought the papacy to its knees. What led him to make that decision and what happened afterward would be shrouded in mystery for centuries. The Pope Who Quit pulls back the veil of secrecy on this dramatic time in history and showcases a story that involves deadly dealings, apocalyptic maneuverings, and papal intrigue.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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Q&A with Author Jon M. Sweeney
Most people believe that popes serve until death-- like the modern popes. Why do you think this story of Pope Celestine V has been somewhat hidden in modern times?
Well, it has been hidden and then not-so-hidden. I mean, there have been novels and plays about a pope who quits. Morris West’s The Clowns of God in 1981 spent twenty-two weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list in hardcover. Clearly, these stories are inspired by Celestine V – since he’s the only one who ever did. But, yes, people today don’t tend to realize what it meant to be pope in the Middle Ages.

What did it mean to be pope, then?
It was quite a different job back then. In fact, it wasn’t a job. It was a divine calling. To quit as pope in 1294, as Celestine V did, was at least shocking, and then treasonous and blasphemous to many. The pope was not simply a spiritual leader. That is a modern idea.

Who was this man who became Pope Celestine V? Where did he come from?
Peter Morrone, a hermit who lived in the mountains. He was in his eighties. He was a simple, simple man, who never desired or dreamed that he might be asked to be pope.

How did you conduct the research for this book?
I first encountered the name of Peter Morrone years ago while writing a book about Francis and Clare of Assisi. I wanted to come back to him again someday. So I was delighted by the opportunity to do that.

I spent two years writing The Pope Who Quit. I traveled to Rome and Naples and many places in between to see the sites for myself. And I spent thousands of hours in the library at Dartmouth College.

Do you think we’ll ever know what truly happened to Pope Celestine V?
No. We know so little for sure about the people of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. For instance, scholars are still debating whether or not Geoffrey Chaucer -- author of The Canterbury Tales -- ever existed.

Pope Benedict XVI has confirmed that he would not hesitate to relinquish his post if he no longer felt “physically, psychologically and spiritually” up to the job. How do you think that would impact the Church?
Yes, isn’t that amazing!? He said that in a book of interviews published in late 2010. I think that that book embarrassed a lot of the members of the papal curia. They did not like their Pope talking like a Celestine V!

If he were to ever step down, I think it would seriously rock the Church, just as Celestine V’s abdication did long ago. But, that said, it could happen.

Some thought that Pope John Paul II should have stepped down, too, when he was ill. Do you agree?
I don’t know, perhaps so. He certainly was no longer the administrative leader of the Church toward the end of his life. We know that for certain. Neither was Celestine V – and that is primarily why he stepped down.

The difference between the two is that in the television age a pope can lead by spiritual example, on television, inspiring the faithful. In the late thirteenth century, a pope could not lead in that way. A pope had to be strong – or else.

Review

“I’m not embarrassed to say that I knew very little about the remarkable story of Peter Morrone, the monk turned pope. But I’m delighted to say that the tale, as exciting and compelling as any novel or film, is beautifully told by Jon Sweeney. This long-forgotten saga is rightly restored to its place as one of the most unusual episodes in the entire history of the church.” —James Martin, SJ, author of Between Heaven and Mirth

“Jon M. Sweeney’s loving portrait of Celestine V is that rare work of history that also feeds the soul. Anyone interested in the collision of hope, despair, and faith will come away nourished.” —John L. Allen Jr., author of A People of Hope

"I have read several of Jon Sweeney’s books, always with pleasure. He is a conscientious researcher, and a fine storyteller, with a wonderful gift for creating a sense of place and time. This time he tells the story of Celestine V, a hermit who was elected pope, then abdicated five months later. In The Pope Who Quit, Sweeney gives us a vivid snapshot of a tumultuous period in the history of the Catholic Church and Western Europe." –Thomas J. Craughwell, author of Saints Preserved: An Encyclopedia of Relics

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Image; Original edition (February 14, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385531893
• ISBN-13: 978-0385531894
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Catholicism > Popes

More About the Author

Jon M. Sweeney is an independent scholar and writer of popular history. He lives in Evanston, Illinois and Vermont, is married, and the father of three children. He writes and reflects on religion and culture in books, articles, reviews, blogs, and on television, and he works in book publishing.

Jon was the cofounder and editor-in-chief of SkyLight Paths Publishing in Vermont for many years. Since 2004 he has been the editor in chief at Paraclete Press.

In early 2013, as the author of The Pope Who Quit, Jon was interviewed on CBS News in Chicago, WGN-TV, Fox News, and WTTW's "Chicago Tonight." He also appeared on CBS Sunday Morning to talk about St. Patrick on March 17, 2013.

His spiritual and religious life continues to evolve, and much of Jon's writing is about this. His first 20 years were spent as an involved evangelical (a story he told in the memoir Born Again and Again); he then spent 22 years as an active Episcopalian (see Almost Catholic, among others); and in the fall of 2009 he was received into the Catholic Church. Today, he is a Catholic (of a more monastic variety), but his most regular spiritual practice is Jewish, as he prays regularly with his wife, a rabbi, and they keep a Jewish home (see the forthcoming Mixed-Up Love).

Sweeney says that he loves the church, the synagogue, and other aspects of organized religion and wants to see these organisms survive (he loves religion; he's not just spiritual), but he also is not interested in doing things to simply prop up falling institutions. In all of his writing, Jon is drawn to the ancient and medieval (see The Road to Assisi, and The Pope Who Quit, which was recently optioned by HBO, Inc.). Many of Jon's books have been selections of History Book Club, Book-of-the-Month Club, and Quality Paperback Book Club.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Pope Who Quits Does Not Disappoint February 19, 2012

By Dr. Kevin G. Vost

Format:Paperback

The medieval times of 13th century Christendom present a world so different from our own, jam-packed with unique and intriguing characters whose stories are so little known, yet so well worth knowing. I'd recently written a biography of a man from that time called "great" in his own day, Albert the Great, a man who was placed in the heaven of Dante's Divine Comedy, yet who was not canonized a saint until six-and-a-half centuries years after his death. That's why my interest was piqued by the story of a man of St. Albert's time who was known as a quitter, whom Dante placed outside the gates of the Inferno, he "who through cowardice made the great refusal," and yet, who would be canonized a saint a mere seven years after his death.

But there too was greatness in this man, Peter Morrone, who would become Pope St. Celestine V, "the pope who quit," and Jon Sweeney does a remarkable job of bringing him to life for us today. In The Pope Who Quit, Sweeney vividly recreates that intriguing world of 13th century Europe and the remarkable manner in which a powerful cardinal and a king brought down to the chair of St. Peter a holy hermit living atop a mountain east of Rome. This book is full of intrigue, the planning and machinations of the likes of Cardinal Benedict Geatani (who would succeed Celestine as Pope Boniface VIII) and King Charles II (nephew of St. Louis IX, King of France) who would house this unlikely spiritual and temporal leader, not upon Peter's chair in Rome, but within his own castle at Naples.

In this incredible, but true tale we see the painful and confusing results when a truly holy man and dynamic leader within his own monastic order is thrust in such an unusual manner (you'll have to read the book for that) into a spiritual and worldly office that would immediately appear so diametrically opposed to his temperament, inclinations, and abilities. Just imagine walking into the mighty castle at Naples to see that the reclusive pope has erected within it a small hut for his own living quarters! Much confusion reigned in the brief time of his papacy, and you will share in his struggles as Celestine V seeks a way to become Peter Morrone again, to abdicate the role of supreme pontiff, something none of his 191 predecessors had done before, and none of his 173 successors have ever done since.

The Pope Who Quit, while historically fascinating, is far more than a historical curiosity. It is more too than perhaps one of the world's greatest examples of "the Peter Principle," the idea that people are promoted until they reach the position at which they are incompetent (in this case, the position being that of St. Peter himself!) The subtitle reads "A True Medieval Tale of Mystery, Death, and Salvation" and that it is. There are lessons to be found for us today within this mysterious tale. The holy monk himself would soon suffer a mysterious death, and not long after be recognized as a saint. As we all learn from our own mistakes, maybe too we can learn positive lessons from this man who willingly suffered the humiliation and the risk of bodily harm in abandoning this most holy office, when he felt this was his call from God. I think his act of "quitting" and of "cowardice," was an act of great wisdom and courage. You'll have to read The Pope Who Quit to inform your own opinion.

Deftly written and masterfully interweaving medieval narrative with modern parallels, The Pope Who Quit will not disappoint.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fasinating March 13, 2013

By Pb

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I found this book fascinating. The topic could have been how political power is used in the name of GOD. Still happening today. The author has included so many details about so many people I did find myself lost on occasion but my ability to keep pace or not did not take away from my enjoyment of the book. This pope was certainly both simple (as in humble) and complex.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars the point of the book is not to argue whether there was ever more than one pope who quit the papacy---that issue is for another May 5, 2012

By vrod

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is not concerned with the argument that there was more than one pope who quit the papacy--validly elected or not--that is an issue for another book. But if you want to know about the culture, times, church politics of this pope's time--this is a wonderful book. It paints a vivid portrait of Celestine and the forces within and without the Church that led to his resignation. Well written and erudite, this work will expand your knowledge of this particular episode within the history of a Europe that was well on its way towards the forces that would lead to the Reformation and the rise of the nation-state.