Dante damned him to the Inferno…but the Pope canonized him (Saint Celestine V)

On the traditional calendar, today is the feast of Saint Celestine V, a holy hermit who is remembered as the Pope who abdicated Saint Peter’s throne in AD 1294. The reason? He felt unworthy.

Today, Father Gary Selin told me that Dante placed Celestine hell:

A persistent tradition identifies Celestine V as the nameless figure Dante sees among those in the antechamber of Hell, in the enigmatical verses: “I saw and recognized the shade of him Who by his cowardice made the great refusal” (Inferno, III, 59–60)

Here, the “great refusal” would be Celestine’s abidication. Despite Dante’s bold claim, the Church has confirmed and canonized Pope Celestine V as a holy saint of God in Heaven.

St Celestine, pray for us!