MILLENNIUM MILESTONES & MEMORIES: TIME CAPSULES

1352 A.D.
French-born Cardinal Etienne Aubert becomes Pope Innocent IV, 199th successor of Peter and 5th in the Avignon line of Popes in exile in southern France. He would order the Spanish Cardinal Albornoz to restore order in the Papal States. A great lover of the arts and culture, he would build a surround wall around the papal palace to defend Avignon.
1947 A.D.
Pope Pius XII publishes his 14th encyclical Optissima Pax, which prescribes public prayers for social and world peace.

401 A.D.
Death of Pope Saint Anastasius I, 39th successor of Peter. Elected on November 27, 399, his two year pontificate was marked by resolving the schism between Rome and the Church of Antioch. He strenuously fought the followers of immoral practices, maintaining that the Divinity was also hidden in material things. He also decreed that priests should remain standing during the Gospel.
1372 A.D.
Death of Pope Blessed Urban V, 200th successor of Peter. This French-born pontif was elected on November 6, 1362. The sixth in the line of Avignon Popes in exile, he actually returned the papacy back to Rome but after three years of tumults and disorder, had no choice but to return the Holy See to Avignon. He hadded the third crown to the tiarra which signified imperial power. The other two crowns represent royal power and spiritual power.

399 A.D.
Death of Saint Fabiola, penitent and founder of Rome's first hospital. She repented of a sinful life after divorce and cohabitation with a lover, by donning sackcloth and standing at the gates of the Lateran until Pope Saint Siricus would absolve her.
1046 A.D.
At the Synod of Sutri the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III, German king removed Pope Gregory VI from the papal throne. He had been elected on May 5, 1045 and would die late in 1047. He took the place of Pope Benedict IX who was also forced to abdicate during these Dark Ages. Gregory personally led his army in protecting himself from invasion by Henry. To Gregory is attributed the forming of the first pontifical army.
1073 A.D.
Death of Saint Domingo, Spanish abbot and monastery founder.
1935 A.D.
Pope Pius XI issues his 25th encyclical Ad Catholici sacerdoti