The announcement that Pope Francis will visit the Italian city of L’Aquila on August 28 seems unexpected. The trip, though, was already being discussed in February.
The Celestinian Forgiveness is an annual event held in the city of Celestia in central Italy around the end of August. The pope just stated that on Aug. 27, the day before his trip, he will ordain new cardinals. As a result, it appears like he organized the consistory around his trip to L’Aquila rather than the other way around.
Pope Celestine V left the Church a tremendous legacy, the Celestinian Forgiveness (Perdonanza Celestiniana in Italian). He served as Pope from July 5, 1294, to December 13, 1294, when he resigned.
The controversial 13th-century pope, sometimes known as Peter of Morrone, is a controversial character. Many people have compared him to the sick man in Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” who is described as “the one who made the great refusal out of cowardice.”
Nonetheless, he was a revolutionary pope in his own right. He was the first pope to carry out his duties outside of Rome. He was based in L’Aquila (which translates to “the Eagle”), a young city that had welcomed him back after a stint as a recluse.
After two years of internal turmoil, the cardinals elected Celestine V, believing that his age and demeanor would make him a flexible pope. They were mistaken. And, in the middle of the circumstances that eventually led to his resignation, he formed the Celestinian Forgiveness within those few months of his pontificate.
Celestine V’s bull of pardon grants a plenary indulgence to everyone who confess and repent of their sins and visit the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio between Vespers on August 28 and sunset on August 29. It was a completely unrestricted indulgence, bound only by personal repentance. As a result, it was open first and only to the impoverished and destitute.
In 1296, Celestine abdicated the papal crown and died as a prisoner. In 1313, he was canonized under the name Peter the Confessor, demonstrating that his piety was unaffected by the circumstances of his death.
Every year, for the Celestinian Forgiveness, a visiting cardinal opens the sacred entrance of Santa Maria di Collemaggio after the local mayor reads the bull of forgiveness. The bull was given to L’Aquila by Celestine and is placed in an armored chapel in the town hall tower.
As a result, Pope Francis will be the one to open the hallowed door this year. Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi of L’Aquila, as previously stated, delivered the invitation in February. Inspections by Vatican authorities who arrange papal visits followed.
Pope Francis structured a consistory around this brief trip. He will ordain 21 new cardinals on Aug. 27, 16 of whom will be eligible to vote in a future conclave. On August 28, he will fly to L’Aquila instead of celebrating Mass with the newly appointed cardinals, as is customary. For the first time in seven years, an extraordinary consistory of the world’s cardinals will meet on Aug. 29-30 to consider the new Vatican constitution.
The fact that the consistory was built around this occasion has fueled conjecture that the 85-year-old pope, who currently makes public appearances in a wheelchair, is planning to step down.
There has been precedent: Benedict XVI visited L’Aquila on April 28, 2009, to console a population shaken by the city’s recent earthquake. He stopped at Santa Maria di Collemaggio, despite the fact that the structure had been damaged by the earthquake.
Benedict XVI removed his pallium and laid it on the glass in front of the crystal coffin carrying Celestine V’s body. In retrospect, the gesture was regarded as an indication that Benedict XVI would resign at some point — or that he had already considered it.
However, it’s possible that Pope Francis will not travel to L’Aquila to signify the end of his pontificate. Other options are available. The visit could be linked to previously rumored plans that he is working on new rules for papal emeritus status.
Given that the status of the pope emeritus has never been established in law since Benedict XVI’s departure in 2013, this is a feasible argument. After all, the few past popes emeritus either did not live long or died as prisoners (like Celestine V).
Another option is that the pope would announce a reform of conclave norms, maybe raising the number of cardinal electors and possibly including non-cardinals, in the vein of Paul VI, who explored allowing presidents of episcopal conferences to attend conclaves.
At the introduction of his new book in Rome on May 5, Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodriguez Maradiaga, president of the Council of Cardinals, mentioned the prospect of new standards regarding the Sede Vacante time.
Given Pope Francis’s resolute mentality, it appears doubtful that he will use his visit to L’Aquila to announce his resignation. At the same time, he doesn’t want his reforms to go unnoticed, so a resignation, coupled with new rules on the pope emeritus and the Sede Vacante period, might conceivably give him some power over the papal succession. But that is only a guess.
What is apparent is that the Church today need a well-defined legal framework, particularly when the new Vatican constitution is implemented and harmonized with existing practices and laws.
The visit of Pope Francis to L’Aquila will undoubtedly take on symbolic significance. But it’s still unclear which one he’ll give it.