John XXII
Papacy began	7 August 1316
Papacy ended	4 December 1334
Predecessor	Clement V
Successor	Benedict XII
Orders
Created Cardinal	23 December 1312
Personal details
Birth name	Jacques Duèze or d'Euse
Born	1244 Cahors, Kingdom of France
Died	4 December 1334(1334-12-04) (aged 89) Avignon, Papal States
Other Popes named John

Papal styles of Pope John XXII
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father

  17th-century engraving of Pope John XXII

Pope John XXII (1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was pope from 7 August 1316 until his death. He was the second Pope of the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377), elected by a conclave in Lyon assembled by King Philip V of France. Like his predecessor, Clement V, he centralized power and income in the Papacy and lived a princely life in Avignon.^[1] He opposed the political policies of Louis IV of Bavaria as Holy Roman Emperor, which prompted Louis to invade Italy and set up an antipope, Nicholas V. Pope John XXII faced controversy in theology involving his views on the Beatific Vision, and he opposed the Franciscan understanding of the poverty of Christ and his apostles. He canonized St. Thomas Aquinas.

  Biography

The son of a shoemaker in Cahors, Jacques Duèze studied medicine in Montpellier and law in Paris.

The death of Pope Clement V in 1314 was followed by an interregnum of two years due to disagreements between the cardinals, who were split into two factions. After two years, Philip V of France finally in 1316 managed to arrange a papal conclave of twenty-three cardinals in Lyon. This conclave elected Jacques Duèze, who took the name John XXII and was crowned in Lyon. He set up his residence in Avignon rather than Rome, continuing the Avignon Papacy of his predecessor.

  Pope John XXII cameo

John XXII involved himself in the politics and religious movements of many European countries in order to advance the interests of the Church. This made him a very controversial pope at the time. Also his close links with the French crown created widespread distrust of the papacy.^[2]

Before John XXII's election a contest had begun for the imperial crown between Louis IV of Bavaria and his opponent, Frederick I of Austria. John XXII was neutral at first, but in 1323, when Louis IV had won and became Holy Roman Emperor, the Guelph (papal) party and the Ghibelline (imperial) party began a serious quarrel. This was partly provoked by John XXII's extreme claims of authority over the empire and also partly by Louis IV's support of the spiritual Franciscans, whom John XXII condemned in the Papal bull Quorumdam exigit for their insistence on evangelical poverty and their belief that mendicant friars would replace the priesthood and sacraments of the Church.^[3] Louis IV was assisted in his doctrinal dispute with the papacy by Marsilius of Padua and later by the English Franciscan friar and scholar William of Ockham. Louis IV invaded Italy, entered Rome and set up Pietro Rainalducci as Antipope Nicholas V in 1328. The project was a fiasco. Guelphic predominance at Rome was later restored, and Pope John excommunicated William of Ockham. However, Louis IV had silenced the papal claims and John XXII stayed the rest of his life in Avignon.

Pope John XXII was involved in a major theological controversy concerning the Beatific Vision. Even before he was pope, John XXII argued that those who died in the faith did not see the presence of God until the Last Judgment. The point is important to Catholics, since if the dead are not in the presence of God, then the whole idea of prayers to the saints would seem to be undermined. The idea is also important to Protestants who believe that, as soon as one dies, one goes to heaven; otherwise, they would need to believe in a Purgatory that lasted until the end of time. Whereas most Protestants do not believe in Purgatory, John's idea would be difficult to say the least had it stood the test of time. John XXII continued this argument for a time in sermons while he was pope, although he never taught it in official documents. He eventually backed down from his position, and agreed that those who died in grace do indeed immediately enjoy the Beatific Vision.

Despite holding for many years a view widely held to be heretical, John XXII is not considered a heretic because in his day the doctrine he had contradicted had not been formally defined by the Church, a lacuna that his successor Benedict XII immediately filled by the encyclical Benedictus Deus,^[4] which formally defined this doctrine as part of Church teaching.

Pope John XXII was an excellent administrator and did much efficient reorganizing. He had sent a letter of thanks to the Muslim ruler Uzbeg Khan, who was very tolerant of Christians and treated Christians kindly.^[5]

John XXII has traditionally been credited with having composed the prayer "Anima Christi, sanctifica me ...", which has come down to us in English as "Soul of Christ, sanctify me ..." and as the hymn, "Soul of my Saviour, sanctify my breast".

On 27 March 1329 John XXII condemned many writings of Meister Eckhart as heretical in his papal bull In Agro Dominico.^[6]

  Notes

  References

• James Heft, John XXII and Papal Teaching Authority (Lewiston, 1986) (Texts and Studies in Religion, 27).
• Patrick Nold, Pope John XXII and his Franciscan Cardinal: Bertrand de la Tour and the Apostolic Poverty Controversy (Oxford, 2003)
• Guillaume Mollat, The Popes at Avignon (London, 1963), 9–25.

  External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pope John XXII

• Catholic encyclopedia entry

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