The History of the Church through 100 Masterpieces

The First Great Pope

The History of the Church 66 The First Great Pope The definitive reconciliation of the church with civil society can be dated to the rise of Gregory I to the papal throne. Until then, the young religion was still imbued with the nonconformist spirit typical of those who oppose themselves to the establishment—political, economic, and cultural. A scion of the high Roman aristocracy, Gregory first pursued a political career that could be described as classic, except that he was as honest as he was efficient A fervent Christian, he placed his fortune and his spirit of initiative at the service of the faith. One day, passing by the slave market, he noted some blonde children and asked who they might be. At the reply “Angles,” he remarked, “They aren’t angles, but angels” [Non sunt angli, sed angeli]. Once he had become pope, he himself organized a missionary expedition to distant England, in French, Angleterre. The people of Rome elected him to the throne of Peter in 590, against his will and despite his fortune. (As The Golden Legend points out, “It isn’t wealth, but covetousness, that makes a man rich.”) Just as he had formerly brought order to the administration of the city, he launched a reform of the church, exacting strict discipline from the clergy, regularizing the liturgy (the Gregorian Rite), and founding a school of music that promoted Gregorian chant, which no doubt had its origin in the hymns of Greek mystery plays. TheGregorian calendar came much later, the work of Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. Carlo Saraceni (1579–1620) Saint Gregory the Great Palazzo Barberini, Rome ...