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Bible Dictionaries
Schism, Western
1910 New Catholic Dictionary
or
The cause of the so-called Western Schism was the temporary residence of the popes at Avignon, France, which began in 1309 under Pope Clement V. This exile from the Eternal City met with opposition, especially in Italy where the people clamored for the return of the sovereign pontiff. Finally in 1376 Pope Gregory XI re-established his see in Rome, and on his death in 1378 the future residence of the vicars of Christ was the main issue in the subsequent conclave. The cardinals meeting in the Holy City duly elected Urban VI, an Italian. General dissatisfaction, especially on the part of the French members of the Sacred College, and disagreement concerning the validity or the choice led to a second conclave at Fondi (September 20,) and the election of another pope, a Frenchman, as Clement VII, who immediately took up his residence in Avignon. As both claimed to be legitimate successors, the Western Church quickly divided into two camps, each supporting one or the other.
There was really no schism, for the majority of the people desired unity under one head and intended no revolt against papal authority. Everywhere the faithful faced the anxious problem: where is the true pope. Even saints and theologians were divided on the question. Unfortunately, led by politics and human desires, the papal claimants launched excommunications against each other, and deposed secular rulers who in turn forbade their subjects to submit to them. This misunderstanding lasted forty years (1378-1417).
An attempt to mend the breach in the Council of Pisa in 1409 produced a third claimant, and the schism was not terminated until the Council of Constance (1414 to 1418), which deposed the Pisan, John XXIII, received the abdication of the Roman, Gregory XII, dismissed the Avignon Benedict XIII, and finally elected an undisputed pope, Martin V, on November 11, 1411.
The list of Roman, Avignon, and Pisan popes is as follows:
- at Rome
- Urban VI (1378 to 1389)
- Boniface IX (1389 to 1404)
- Innocent VII (1404 to 1406)
- Gregory XII (1406 to 1415)
- at Avignon
- Clement V1I (1378 to 1394)
- Benedict XIII (1394 to 1411)
- so-called popes of Pisa
- Alexander V (1409 to 1410)
- John XXIII (1410 to 1415)
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Entry for 'Schism, Western'. 1910 New Catholic Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ncd/s/schism-western.html. 1910.
