The Avignon Papacy

Text

There are some things in this world that may seem obvious, constant, unchangeable – until someone decides to challenge them.

Such a thing happened in the year 1309, when Pope Clement V, a Frenchman by birth, decided to reside in Avignon instead of Rome (which had been a sacred tradition until then). Many voices raised concerns, mainly about the Pope’s dependence on the French king, but that changed nothing. On the contrary – to this day, each of the Popes following Clement (all of them Frenchmen, by the way) decided to stay in Avignon.

Will this ever end? Will the Popes return to Rome? For now it seems unlikely. The French king has the papal office at his service and he will not let it easily slip from his grasp. May he be punished for his corrupt ways in the life to come.