MILLENNIUM MILESTONES & MEMORIES: TIME CAPSULES

283 A.D.
Death of Pope Saint Eutychian, 27th successor of Peter. Born in Rome he was elected on January 5, 269. During his 14-year pontificate he ordered that martyrs' remains should be covered with a "Dalmatic" which was similar to the cloke worn by the Roman emperors. This has evolved to today it is worn by deacons at solemn religious functions. Pope Eutychian also instituted the blessing of the crops.
1254 A.D.
Death of Pope Innocent IV, 180th successor of Peter. This celebrated canonist's papacy lasted ten and a half years. His election took place at Anagni after a two year vacancy. He called the 13th Ecumenical Council and instituted the feast of the Visitation as well as undertaking the 5th Crusade with Saint Louis IX, king of France.
1598 A.D.
Birth of Giovanni Bernini, the celebrated Italian sculptor of the baroque era, famous for monuments in St. Peter's Square and the statue of Saint Teresa in Ecstasy.
1965 A.D.
Pope Paul VI and the Orthdox Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously lift the mutual excommunication interdicts they had placed on each other in 1054, the year of the Great Schism of East and West.

1587 A.D.
Death of Mary, Queen of Scots, Catholic Queen who was persecuted by the English for her faith, and was put to death at the order of her sister Queen Elizabeth after nineteen years imprisoned by the latter. Elizabeth, fearing Mary would be elected Queen of England because her claim was more valid, did the dastardly deed.
1854 A.D.
Proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX asserting that the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived without Original Sin. For more on this, see LITURGY.
1864 A.D.
Pope Pius IX publishes his 24th encyclical Quanta cura which condemned errors of that time.
1869 A.D.
The First Vatican Council, also known as the 20th Ecumenical Council, is convened by Pope Pius IX at St. Peter's in Rome.
1962 A.D.
Pope John XXIII closes the first session of the Second Vatican Council, the 21st Ecumenical Council. He would not live to reconvene Vatican II which would be left to his successor Pope Paul VI.
1965 A.D.
Pope Paul VI brings the 21st Ecumenical Council, Vatican II, to a solemn close after a three year run incorporating four sessions in which sixteen documents were promulgated.