POPE GREGORY XI AND THE ESCAPE FROM AVIGNON
Pope John XVII: The 140TH Pope
The years 1002 and 1003 were very difficult for the papacy. In the previous year, the Roman nobles, under the leadership of the son of the slain Crescentius II, John Crescentius, had begun a revolt. It was a serious enough threat to the papacy that the young emperor, Otto III, had taken up residence in the city of Rome. Even with imperial protection, Pope Sylvester II and the emperor had to flee to Ravenna, where they stayed for over a year. Otto forayed out three times to regain control of the capital city. On that third foray, the emperor was killed.
Sylvester, left relatively unprotected, returned to his city. John Crescentius remained firmly in control and the poor pope died within a year, May 12, 1003. With civil authorities in firm control, there was no election for a new pope. It appears that John Sicco, a priest, was simply nominated and consecrated four days later.
John Sicco was the son of Giovanni (John) Sicco of the region of Rome named after the monastery of St. Andrew of Biveretica, not far from the still-standing Trajan’s arch. The younger John had married early in life and had three sons who, like himself, had taken Holy Orders. Son John became the bishop of Praeveste, son Peter was a deacon, son Andrew was a canon notary. Our John became a priest in his widowhood.
We know little about Pope John’s papacy, since he did not live out the year. We know that John approved of a mission by Bruno of Querfurt to East Europe. This Bruno also requested that John authorize his associate, Benedict, to evangelize the Slavs. Now, this may be a coincidence, but this is the same year that St. Stephen became the king of Hungary and vowed to make it a Christian country.
For years, no one seemed to know the date of Pope John’s demise. Eventually, at a monastery of Saints Cosmos and Damian, a document was found in which the abbot leased a homestead to a John de Iannia, “in the first year of our Lord John XVII…the 9th day of September”. So, we know he was alive on that date. This increases the likelihood that the 9th of November is more accurate.
Pope John XVII was buried in the Lateran Basilica between two of the doors of the principal façade.
In 1040, the three sons erected an epitaph at St. Prassede, indicating that they were of the family of Pope Sicco. There’s nothing better than bragging that you are a pope’s son!
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About the Author
Debra Booton McCoy is a cradle Catholic and is a native of central New York. She works in the health care field and spends her spare time writing and enjoying her family, two grown children, and husband Bob. Growing up through the Vatican II era, she remembers the traditional teaching of the Church and was witness to the changes. For many years Debra was a Catholic on the sidelines, going to Mass every week, but not living the Faith. When she decided to homeschool her son, she found that she had to teach herself what she had forgotten or never learned. That is when she realized her role.
Debra is a published author, having written a column for a women’s monthly newspaper in the mid-1990s. Debra started a Catholic publishing company in 2013, Lanternarius Press. With that, she published her first book in 2014, an edited version of a French book from the 1800s, “A Catholic Mother Speaks to Her Children” by Marie, Countess de Flavigny. This is an advice book for children. She has also edited and published an advice book for young men, "Conferences for Boys" by Fr. Reynauld Kuenhel. For those who like stories of popes, Debra is writing a series, using many of the articles on this site. The first book is History of the Popes, 34AD - 499AD.
You can visit her website at http://lanternariuspress.net or visit Lanternarius Press on Facebook.
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