BENEDICT V., POPE - 4 JULY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY

Saints celebrated on the 4th of July

BENEDICT V., POPE 

⬅️ Saintly Popes - Index

His date of birth is unknown; he died July 4, 965.

Benedict V was elected pope (May, 964) in very critical circumstances. The powerful emperor, Otho I, had forcibly deposed the unworthy John XII, and had replaced him by a nominee of his own who took the title of Leo VIII. 

But at the first opportunity the Romans expelled Leo, and on the death (May 14, 964) of the lawful pope, John XII, elected the Cardinal-Deacon Benedict.

Otho was furious, marched on Rome, seized Benedict, and put an end to his pontificate (June 23, 964). It is more probable that Benedict was degraded by force than that he voluntarily declared himself an intruder. After reinstating Leo, Otho left Rome and carried Benedict with him to Germany. Placed under the care of Adaldag, Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, who treated him with great consideration, he was even then acknowledged as pope by some of the German clergy. His remains, first laid to rest in the cathedral at Hamburg, were afterwards translated to Rome.

From Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913