Of Popes, Plagues & Pestilence ...

The U.S. stands at a pivotal moment with several emerging microbial threats.

I. The most likely danger is from antibiotic-resistant bacteria, especially rapidly rising NDM-CRE strains that are difficult to treat. Today, these are found in hospitals and long-term care facilities.

II. The most disruptive threat may be measles, because of its explosive contagion. This one is preventable, yet tiny exposures can ignite widespread outbreaks.

III. Beyond domestic borders, the lowest but deadliest risk—if it arrives on U.S. soil—is Ebola Bundibugyo, a high-mortality strain capable of overwhelming health systems, if imported. The good news is that it isn't airborne. It is transferred via contact, through bodily fluids only, hence the low risk.

IV. The most unpredictable is novel recombinant viruses emerging globally, shaped by ecological shifts, animal-human spillover, and viral mutation.

These 4 forces sketch a sobering but actionable landscape in the U.S. Meanwhile, these top 2 lessons among others, were learned during SARs/Covid-19.

• As with honeybees, only the sick are quarantined. Healthy workers and drones must keep the hive going.
• The Church stumbled, but eventually learned to trust God. Sacraments are needed--the most--during turbulent times.

The purpose of this post is to share an uplifting example from the past on how to navigate our next plague.

St Gregory the Great: Courage, Contagion & a Call for our age

Pope St Gregory the Great rose to leadership in 590 A.D. as Rome was staggering under the bubonic “Plague of Justinian.” The city was a shadow of its former glory. Floods from the Tiber drowned crops and spewed sewage into streets. Famine destroyed the poor, carving through neighborhoods with merciless momentum. Every casa cried then homes went silent. Streets were lined with abandoned carts. Into this world of rampant rot, stepped a pope with a rare blend of steadiness and strength.

Deacon Gregory did not seek power. As former Roman prefect, he abandoned politics to become a monk and turned his family estate into a Benedictine monastery. When Pope Pelagius II died of the plague, the people clamored for Gregory. He resisted, longing for the contemplative life, but the crisis left no room for retreat. Rome needed a shepherd who could unite prudence, with prayer and perseverance. Once elected, Pope Gregory confronted the crisis with realism, compassion and courage.

• He coordinated food distribution, by using Church estates to feed the starving.
• He converted properties into hospice houses, early forms of quarantine centers that offered both care and containment.
• He tracked mortality patterns and noted how the disease “moved in waves,” a primitive but genuine epidemiological insight into patterns and predictability.
• Though he lacked modern science, he possessed an observational mind and a willingness to act.
• St Gregory also understood the psychological plague of fear. His homilies spoke of calm with clarity. Suffering was not a sign of divine abandonment.

“In the midst of scourges, God is not absent; He is calling us back to Himself.”

His strategy was anchored in repentance, charity and hope. He believed plagues revealed the heart; they were not condemnation but purification. One of the most dramatic moments of his leadership came during the Letania Septiformis, a 7-fold procession through Rome. Clergy, monks, nuns and laity walked separate routes; chanting “Kyrie eleison” as they begged for mercy. Tradition held that as the procession neared Hadrian’s Mausoleum, St Gregory saw the Archangel Michael sheath his sword, signaling the plague’s end. The mausoleum has been known as Castel Sant’Angelo ever since.

St Gregory’s courage was not reckless. He believed faith and reason were not rivals but partners. He believed the world was intelligible because it was created, and healable because it was loved. His leadership fused rational responses with reverence and reliance upon God. He neither dismissed natural causes nor denied supernatural meaning. Publicly, he held everything in balance.

His example speaks to our own age of plagues. Today we face outbreaks, mental-health epidemics, screen addictions, social fragmentation, loneliness and despair. Like St Gregory, we are tempted toward panic or numbness. But his life offers a third way: to face facts without fear, to use science without cynicism and to anchor all actions in compassion. St Gregory teaches us that courage is not the absence of danger but the presence of purpose. It includes a willingness to serve, to think, to pray, and to hope.

In every age, God raises up souls of holy courage. St Gregory the Great stands as a leader where the plague required discipline, discernment, devotion and dependence—on God and the Sacraments. His legacy invites us to meet all crises with his same blend of hope and humility.

When the plague took Rome via flood,
Few others stood as Gregory the Good.
He studied each sign,
Sought wisdom Divine,
And proved faith and science both good.

He walked through the city he fed,
Blessing all sick, worried, tired and dead.
With courage and care,
He refused to despair,
Taking to streets, where the Spirit led.

Sources:

Catholic Encyclopedia. St Gregory the Great. New Advent.

Coming Home Network. Pope Gregory the Great in the time of plague. Historian’s Hut. The deadly plague procession of Pope Gregory the Great.

Latham, J. Inventing Gregory the Great: Memory, authority, and the afterlives of the Letania Septiformis. American Society of Church History.

O’Donnell, J. Gregory the Great: His place in history and thought. Routledge.

Rosen, W. Justinian’s flea: Plague, empire, and the birth of Europe. Viking.

World History Edu. Pope Gregory I: Life and major accomplishments.