When Pope Francis meets Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in a cliff-top castle
outside Rome on Saturday, it will be the first such encounter for nearly 720
years.
The Argentine Pope
will fly be helicopter from the Vatican to Castel Gandolfo, where his German
predecessor is enjoying the first few weeks of his retirement following his
shock decision to resign last month.
After Francis's 15 minute helicopter ride, the two Popes – both dressed in
white vestments – will sit down for a meeting before having lunch together
in the magnificent castle, which is perched on the edge of an escarpment
that plunges down to a cobalt blue volcanic lake.
Popes traditionally serve until death and only a handful have resigned in the
Church's 2,000 year history, many of them under duress as a result of
schisms and factional feuds.
Not since the 13th century has a Pope had the chance to meet – much less have lunch with – his living predecessor.
In 1294, Pope Celestine V became one of the very few Popes to resign, complaining that he had never wanted the role in the first place.
He had accepted the office with the greatest reluctance five months before –
he had been living as a bearded hermit in the wilds of the Apennines when a
group of cardinals insisted that he was the man for the job.
Celestine V held discussions about his decision to quit with Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani, who succeeded him and took the name Boniface VIII.
The ex-Pope then fled Rome as quick as he could, anxious to resume his life as a cave-dwelling ascetic in the Abruzzo region of central Italy.
Unfortunately for him, Boniface VIII saw him as a threat, fearing that enduring loyalties to the former pontiff could provoke a schism.
He had Celestine arrested, hauled him back to Rome and imprisoned him in a castle at Ferentino, about 40 miles south-east of the city. Celestine died there ten months later, in May 1296.
His cell was so cramped that, according to one contemporary account, "the spot whereon the saint stood when saying Mass was the same as that whereon his head lay when he reclined".
"Boniface kept him in miserable conditions until his death. There's no evidence that he deliberately had him bumped off but he certainly kept him in terrible conditions," said Rebecca Rist, a Church historian from the University of Reading.
It has been suggested that the lingering presence of the 85-year-old Benedict could encourage divisions within the Church, with a "shadow Pope" becoming a focus for dissatisfaction with the new pontiff.
Dr Rist thinks that is unlikely. "Benedict is a very shy, retiring and studious type. I think he genuinely wants to get out of the limelight. He saw what happened in the last years of John Paul II's papacy, when things got out of control because of his illness. He didn't want the same thing to happen. I think Francis very much has Benedict's blessing."
Celestine V held discussions about his decision to quit with Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani, who succeeded him and took the name Boniface VIII.
The ex-Pope then fled Rome as quick as he could, anxious to resume his life as a cave-dwelling ascetic in the Abruzzo region of central Italy.
Unfortunately for him, Boniface VIII saw him as a threat, fearing that enduring loyalties to the former pontiff could provoke a schism.
He had Celestine arrested, hauled him back to Rome and imprisoned him in a castle at Ferentino, about 40 miles south-east of the city. Celestine died there ten months later, in May 1296.
His cell was so cramped that, according to one contemporary account, "the spot whereon the saint stood when saying Mass was the same as that whereon his head lay when he reclined".
"Boniface kept him in miserable conditions until his death. There's no evidence that he deliberately had him bumped off but he certainly kept him in terrible conditions," said Rebecca Rist, a Church historian from the University of Reading.
It has been suggested that the lingering presence of the 85-year-old Benedict could encourage divisions within the Church, with a "shadow Pope" becoming a focus for dissatisfaction with the new pontiff.
Dr Rist thinks that is unlikely. "Benedict is a very shy, retiring and studious type. I think he genuinely wants to get out of the limelight. He saw what happened in the last years of John Paul II's papacy, when things got out of control because of his illness. He didn't want the same thing to happen. I think Francis very much has Benedict's blessing."