To restrain the Venetians the union of all the others was necessary, as it was for the defence of Ferrara; and to keep down the Pope they made use of the barons of Rome, who, being divided into two factions, Orsini and Colonnesi, had always a pretext for disorder, and, standing with arms in their hands under the eyes of the Pontiff, kept the pontificate weak and powerless. For these reasons his Holiness Pope Leo[*] found the pontificate most powerful, and it is to be hoped that, if others made it great in arms, he will make it still greater and more venerated by his goodness and infinite other virtues.

One Pope afterward spent his entire pontificate in the catacombs--eight years.

"AEneas Sylvius," say they, "after giving a very circumstantial account of one contested with great obstinacy by a great and small species on the trunk of a pear tree," adds that "this action was fought in the pontificate of Eugenius the Fourth, in the presence of Nicholas Pistoriensis, an eminent lawyer, who related the whole, history of the battle with the greatest fidelity." A similar engagement between great and small ants is recorded by Olaus Magnus, in which the small ones, being victorious, are said to have buried the bodies of their own soldiers, but left those of their giant enemies a prey to the birds.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis announced in March that Vatican archival materials pertaining to the pontificate of Pius XII will be accessible to scholars beginning March 2, 2020.

He was elected pope in 1963, and served a 15-year pontificate before his death on Aug.

URBI ET ORBI TODAY, BBC1, 11AM On this, the sixth Easter of his pontificate , Pope Francis gives his Easter message and blessing, Urbi et Orbi - to the City and to the World.

Fr James Bretzke, a professor of theology at Boston College, said: "It's very significant in the context of Francis' theme of his pontificate , which is going to go down as the pontificate of mercy."

Almost three years after the election of Pope Francis and the new theological horizons that his pontificate has opened, one wonders if another book on the hermeneutics of Vatican II is really necessary.

Paul, Minnesota) who offers his unique insight into the pontificate of Pope Francis.

By exploring the institutional and social position of humanists at the curia and comparing humanist texts McCahill reveals how humanist agendas could be critical of individual actions while remaining loyal to the pontificate . Moreover, she successfully illustrates how the humanist vision of reform depended on public charity and good works, whereas Eugenius worked to establish observant monastic communities and considered the reform of institutions to be most beneficial to society.