Blessed Innocent V — Scholar, Friar, and Pope
What a magnificent figure to contemplate. Blessed Innocent V stands as one of the most intellectually brilliant and spiritually humble men ever to ascend to the Chair of Peter — a true son of St. Dominic, formed in the school of the greatest theological minds of the 13th century.
Who Was He?
The first Dominican to be elected pope, Blessed Innocent V was born Peter of Tarentaise around 1224. At the age of sixteen, he joined the Dominican Order. After completing his education at the University of Paris, where he graduated as master in sacred theology in 1259, he won distinction as a professor in that institution and is known as “the most famous doctor” — Doctor famosissimus.
A Giant Among Giants
What sets Blessed Innocent V apart is the company he kept. He collaborated with Thomas Aquinas and Albertus Magnus to develop a rule of study for the Dominicans. This is nothing short of extraordinary — the 13th century was the golden age of scholastic theology, and Peter of Tarentaise was working shoulder-to-shoulder with its greatest luminaries.
He held one of the two “Dominican Chairs” at the University of Paris, the other being held by St. Albert the Great, and was instrumental in helping with the compilation of the “program of studies” for the Order.
Path to the Papacy
Twice provincial of France (1264–67, 1269–72), he became Archbishop of Lyons in 1272 and Cardinal Bishop of Ostia in 1273. He played a prominent part at the Second Ecumenical Council of Lyons (1274), in which he delivered two discourses to the assembled fathers and also pronounced the funeral oration on St. Bonaventure.
On the morning of January 21, 1276, Cardinal Petrus was the unanimous choice of the electors, on the first ballot. Elected as successor to Gregory X, whose intimate adviser he was, he assumed the name of Innocent V and was the first Dominican pope.
His Pontificate
His policy was peaceable. He sought to reconcile Guelphs and Ghibellines in Italy, restored peace between Pisa and Lucca, and mediated between Rudolph of Hapsburg and Charles of Anjou. He likewise endeavored to consolidate the union of the Greeks with Rome concluded at the Council of Lyons.
As pope, Innocent planned to crusade, to continue plans to unite Christendom, and to settle the wars in Italy. However, he died in June 1276 — reigning only five months.
His Holiness and Legacy
Like his friends Saint Thomas and Saint Bonaventure, he was untouched by the honors and dignity with which he had been favored, and death found him exactly what he had been for more than 40 years — a simple, humble friar.
He is the author of several works dealing with philosophy, theology, and canon law. The principal among them is his Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard.
He was beatified on March 13, 1898, with his feast day celebrated on June 22.
Blessed Innocent V is a reminder that holiness and intellectual greatness are not enemies — they are companions. The Church has never been afraid of rigorous thought, because truth, wherever it is found, leads to God.
Blessed Innocent V pray for us.