The Pope Hits the Road

 

Pope Benedict visited the Northern Italian town of Pavia to visit San Pietro de Ciel D'Oro. The remains of St. Augustine are buried there.

In reading about the history of Saint Peter of the Golden Sun, I was interested to learn that even though everyone knew Augustine's remains were in the Church somewhere nobody could remember exactly where! No wonder - Augustine's remains were brought to Pavia in the mid 700s. Luckily, some construction workers rediscoved them in 1695. This set off a battle for ownership between two Augustinian groups, the Canon Regulars and the Hermits. The Pope at the time had to step in. The Pope? Why, Pope Benedict XIII, who should have been Pope Benedict XII since Pope Benedict X was an anti-pope and shouldn't count.