Setting the World on Fire by Shelley Emling

Author:Shelley Emling
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781466879195
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Published: 2016-02-17T16:00:00+00:00

Eight

The Move to Rome

Convinced that Catherine was God’s true agent on earth, the pope behaved as putty in her hands on that visit in 1376. She spoke sternly to Gregory as a parent might to an insubordinate child, denouncing the abuses practiced by priests and legates in the field that she claimed were corroding the very soul of the institution. She didn’t hold her tongue either when talking about the papal court, railing against the corruption and immorality that were burgeoning under Gregory’s own nose. At one point, the flustered pontiff interrupted her: “How have you, who have been here such a short time, got such knowledge of all that goes on here?”

Catherine looked straight into his eyes and said, “To the glory of Almighty God I am bound to say that I smelled the stink of the sins which flourish in the papal court while I was still at home in my own town more sharply than those who have practiced them, and do practice them, every day here.”

As noted, Catherine was said to have had the gift—as did some other saints—of seeing and even smelling the beauty or the ugliness of a soul, meaning she was able to discern the state of a person’s spirit as soon as she was in their company. Once, back in Siena, a revered lady, one seemingly full of virtue who was highly respected, dropped by for a visit. Catherine wouldn’t so much as look at her, turning her back any time she came near. Raymond admonished her for her rudeness, but Catherine replied: “If you had smelled the stink of her sins you would have done the same.” Some time later Raymond learned that Catherine was right: this woman was living as a priest’s mistress.

Gregory was so impressed by the deep spiritual insight of Catherine, who had sent him at least six very candid letters before they had even met, that he granted her free rein to handle any and all papal negotiations with the Florentines. She was honored. But the ambassadors from Florence, who were supposed to follow on her heels, never showed up. On July 26 she wrote to those who had previously expressed regret for having gone against the church, asking them to prove their sincerity. By this time, she had gotten wind of a new tax placed by the Florentines on the clergy, leading her to believe the Florentines had changed their minds about wanting peace. “I have spoken with the Holy Father, and he has listened to me with great mildness . . . He has shown that he truly loves peace and that as a good father he is willing to overlook the offences which his sons have committed against him, but it is necessary for the sons to humiliate themselves so that the father can forgive them completely. I cannot tell you how happy I was when after a long conversation with me he said that he was willing to receive his children and to do what I thought best,” she wrote.

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