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| St. Vincent Ferrer by Joan de Joanes |
History
Vincent Ferrer was a Dominican priest. At one point, there were
two men who both claimed to be pope, Urban VI in Rome and Clement VII in
Avignon, France. Vincent was mistakenly convinced that Clement VII was the true
successor of Peter. When Clement died, and Benedict XIII took his place,
Vincent worked for him, too, because they were old friends. But in time, Vincent
had realized his mistake. He understood that the only way the Church could be
healed was if there was repentance, so he went all over Europe preaching about
this, and he was welcomed by the followers of Urban VI as well as those of
Benedict XIII. Vincent tried to convince Benedict to resign, but it didn’t
work. Finally, he stood before a whole assembly- including Benedict – and told
everybody that Benedict was not the true pope. Even though Benedict left the
country in shame, Vincent was happy to see the Church healed before he died.
Activity
Saint Vincent Ferrer was not afraid to admit he was wrong and to try to fix his mistakes. This is something we should all do. Make up your mind to freely admit when you are wrong and then to work to make things right again.
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