Historical Events in Church Annals for July 21:

• 1542 A.D.
• Pope Paul III establishes the Inquisition in Rome. It had already been tested in Spain and France. Now, with the Protestant Reformation it was decided to set it up in Rome under the guidance of the Jesuits which he had given official approval as an Order in 1534.

• 1571 A.D.
• Pope Saint Pius V decrees that the Inquisition be extended to the Portuguese Navy where dissension forced this move.

• 1619 A.D.
• Death of Saint Lawrence of Brindisi. For more on this saint, see DAILY LITURGY.

• 1900 A.D.
• Pope Leo XIII issues his 75th encyclical - Omnibus compertum aimed at the Patriarch and bishops of the Greek-Melkite rite on unity among Greek Melkites with Rome.

Historical Events in Church Annals for July 22:

• 60 A.D.
• This is the approximate year historians believe Mary Magdalene, Disciple of the Lord, died at Ephesus. Many accounts place her there, having traveled the first time to Ephesus with John the Evangelist and staying on after John left for Rome. For more, see DAILY LITURGY.

• 259 A.D.
• Pope Saint Denis becomes the 25th successor of Peter. Also called Dionysius, he reorganized the parishes of Rome and obtained liberty for the Christians from Gallienus.

• 1515 A.D.
• Birth of Saint Philip Neri in Florence, Italy. He would go on to become a Dominican and go on to found the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity - a lay organization dedicated to ministering to needy pilgrims - and eventually he founded the Oratorians and is affectionately known in Italy as the "Apostle of Rome."

• 1647 A.D.
• Birth of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in Burgundy, France. It would be to this French Visitation nun to whom Jesus would reveal Devotion to the Sacred Heart and First Fridays, which would lead to the establishment of the Feast of the Sacred Heart.

• 1676 A.D.
• Death of Pope Clement X, 239th successor of Peter. It was Clement who intervened in the election of the King of Poland and obtained the nomination of John Sobiesky, beloved for his profound Christian convictions and because he had defeated the Turks at the battle of Chaezim. He celebrated the 15th Jubilee in 1675.

Historical Events in Church Annals for July 23:

• 685 A.D.
• Election of Pope John V as the 82nd successor of Peter. This Syrian-born pontiff restored order to to the dioceses of Sardinia and Corsica, insisting on the right of the Holy See to nominate bishops to the islands. His election as Pope was due to the interference by the Byzantine Court.

• 1373 A.D.
• Death of Saint Bridget of Sweden, mystic who spent most of her later life in Rome. For more on this mystic, see THIS WEEKEND'S LITURGY.

• 1532 A.D.
• Turkish invasions force Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to abandon his crusade against the Protestants, thus agreeing to a peace treaty and depriving Pope Clement VII of the clout to rid the Protestant Reformation.

• 1647 A.D.
• Birth of Giovanni Francesco Albani in Urbino, Italy. He would go on to become a cardinal and the 243rd successor of Peter as Pope Clement XI in which he waited seven days before accepting his nomination to make sure it was legitimate. A man of great culture and a lover of the arts, he enriched the Vatican Library and concluded the 16th Jubilee in 1700.

July 21-23, 2000
volume 11, no. 124
MILLENNIUM MILESTONES

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