Saint Vincent Ferrer’s Story The polarization in the Church
today is a mild breeze compared with the tornado that
ripped the Church apart during the lifetime of this saint. If
any saint is a patron of reconciliation, Vincent Ferrer is.
Despite parental opposition, he entered the Dominican Order in his native Spain at 19. After brilliant studies,
he was ordained a priest by Cardinal Peter de Luna who
would figure tragically in his life.
Of a very ardent nature, Vincent practiced the austerities of
his Order with great energy. He was chosen prior of the
Dominican house in Valencia shortly after his ordination.
The Western schism divided Christianity first between two, then three, popes. Clement VII lived at Avignon
in France, Urban VI in Rome. Vincent was convinced the
election of Urban was invalid, though Catherine of Siena
was just as devoted a supporter of the Roman pope. In the
service of Cardinal de Luna, Vincent worked to persuade
Spaniards to follow Clement. When Clement died, Cardinal
de Luna was elected at Avignon and became Benedict XIII.
Vincent worked for him as apostolic penitentiary
and Master of the Sacred Palace. But the new pope did not
resign as all candidates in the conclave had sworn to do.
He remained stubborn, despite being deserted by the
French king and nearly all of the cardinals.
Vincent became disillusioned and very ill, but finally
took up the work of simply “going through the world
preaching Christ,” though he felt that any renewal in the
Church depended on healing the schism. An eloquent and
fiery preacher, he spent the last 20 years of his life spreading the Good News in Spain, France, Switzerland, the Low
Countries and Lombardy, stressing the need of repentance
and the fear of coming judgment. He became known as
the “Angel of the Judgment.”
Vincent tried unsuccessfully, in 1408 and 1415, to
persuade his former friend to resign. He finally concluded
that Benedict was not the true pope. Though very ill, he
mounted the pulpit before an assembly over which Benedict himself was presiding, and thundered his denunciation
of the man who had ordained him a priest. Benedict fled
for his life, abandoned by those who had formerly supported him. Strangely, Vincent had no part in the Council of
Constance, which ended the schism.
Reflection:
The split in the Church at the time of Vincent Ferrer should
have been fatal 36 long years of having two “heads.” We
cannot imagine what condition the Church today would be
in if, for that length of time, half the world had followed a
succession of popes in Rome, and half an equally “official”
number of popes in say, Rio de Janeiro. It is an ongoing
miracle that the Church has not long since been shipwrecked on the rocks of pride and ignorance, greed and
ambition. Contrary to Lowell’s words, “Truth forever on the
scaffold, wrong forever on the throne,” we believe that
“truth is mighty, and it shall prevail” but it sometimes
takes a long time.