Who he was
Pietro di Murrone was born of humble parents, became a Benedictine at seventeen and was ordained priest in Rome, then lived as a hermit of great austerity on Monte Morrone and Mount Majella in the Abruzzi. So many followers gathered round him that he founded a congregation of Benedictine hermits, later called the Celestines. When the cardinals had failed for over two years to elect a successor to Nicholas IV, they chose the old hermit unanimously in July 1294, and he was crowned at L'Aquila. Overwhelmed by the office and too much under the control of King Charles II of Naples, he resigned on 13 December 1294, after first decreeing that a pope may lawfully do so.
What he is remembered for
He is remembered as the hermit pope and as one of the very few popes to resign. His successor, Boniface VIII, kept him in custody to prevent a schism, and he died, in prayer and fasting, in the castle of Fumone in 1296. Clement V canonised him in 1313; his remains rest at L'Aquila, and his feast is 19 May.
He is honoured by the Church as Saint. Read his page in the dictionary of saints.
Sources
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