Monthly Spiritual Message, March 2025
By Fr John Cooper OFM Cap,
POPE INNOCENT III:
An extraordinary pontiff, Pope Innocent III was acutely aware of the sad state of the world in his time. Within Christendom, Kings and Princes were constantly at war every spring and summer. [1] The Sultans of the Muslim world, having continued their aggressive military campaigns, controlled a vast area of land from the borders of India, across Arabia, Egypt, North Africa to Morocco into Spain and Portugal, almost to the borders of France. They ruled the greater part of Spain and Portugal for 800 years. [2]
POPE INNOCENT III APPROVES THE ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR:
In 1209, after a dream in which he saw Saint Francis holding up and restoring the Lateran Basilica [3] before it fell into ruins, Pope Innocent III [4] gave Saint Francis and his friars “verbal” approval for their “Way of Life.”
In 1209 Saint Francis was 27 years old.
THE DEFENCE OF EUROPE:
In 1212, the Muslim Caliph al-Nasir, crossed the Straits of Gibraltar with an enormous army[5] intent on conquering the whole of Spain. They began conquering city after city in the kingdom of Castile, in the centre of Spain. This invasion was such a threat to Christendom that Pope Innocent III called for a Crusade against this Muslim force. On the 20th of June 1212, the Crusaders at “Las Navas de Tolosa” won a battle that was a major turning point in the history of Spain. This battle would lead, as time went on, to the reconquest of the entire land of Spain as a Christian country by 1492.
THE CHILDREN’S CRUSADE:
In the same year 1212, three years before Pope Innocent III called his great Lateran Council, the Tau Cross was used as the symbol of the “Children’s Crusade.” This movement was started, it is said, by two youths, one in Germany and then one in France. It took place during the spring and summer of 1212.[6] During those five months, hundreds of children were stirred up and became enthusiastic about freeing Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Muslims, and they wanted to retrieve the relic of the True Cross[7] by faith and love instead of by force.[8] Gathering more and more young people along the way, they marched into Italy, seeking to sail across to the Holy Land. However, this crowd of youth dissipated in southern Italy. If this Crusade of faith and love did occur, Pope Innocent III would have known about it even if he had never sanctioned it. He would have been aware that they chose the Tau as their emblem of solidarity and vision. This may have influenced his choice of a symbol for his call for a spiritual renewal of Christendom.
POPE INNOCENT III CALLS FOR A SPIRITUAL CRUSADE:
On the 19th of April of 1213, Pope Innocent III sent out a letter, Vineam Domini (The Lord’s Vineyard), from Rome to all of Europe for the convocation of the Fourth Council of the Lateran. He intended first to reform the Church and second to recover the Holy Land for Christendom. It took two years before everyone arrived in Rome for Lateran IV, which began in November 1215. At this great Council, there were 412 bishops as well as over 800 abbots and priors. Added to this, there were 23 Latin-speaking prelates from the Eastern Orthodox Church and representatives of several monarchs, including Frederick II King of Germany, Otto IV, the Holy Roman Emperor, the Latin Emperor of Constantinople, King John of England, King Andrew II of Hungary, King Philip II of France, and the kings of Aragon, Cyprus, and Jerusalem. Not the least among those attending this great Council were the founders of two new religious orders – Saint Francis and Saint Dominic. The logistics of organising such a crowd of clerics and the representatives of kings with their servants, knights and soldiers in Rome must have been extremely difficult.
THE FOURTH LATERAN COUNCIL:
In his opening speech to the assembled members of this great Council, Pope Innocent III, perhaps reminded by the Children’s Crusade, looked back to the prophet Ezekiel in the Old Testament for inspiration and chose the Sign of the Tau, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet marked on the foreheads of the faithful, as the spiritual symbol or logo for the reforms he wished to bring about in the Church. In his opening address, he went so far as to say that the sign of the Tau was the sign of the Cross of Christ. With the words, “Be champions of the Tau and the Cross”, Pope Innocent III called for nothing less than a spiritual crusade throughout Christendom – a call for interior conversion and outward signs of penance, such as caring for the poor and the afflicted. This echoed the audible vision Saint Francis experienced when the Lord spoke to him from the San Damiano Cross, “Francis, go repair my Church, which you see is falling into ruins!”
To be Continued …
John Cooper OFM Cap
The gift of the Sultan of Egypt
Al-Malek al-Kamil (nephew of Saladin)
to St Francis of Assisi. It is kept in the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi.
The Ivory and Silver Trumpet
to call the people to prayer
and Two Clicking Sticks
to get them to be quiet
so, the preacher could speak.
See: Footnote 7.
[1] The most renowned example of these constant conflicts was the death of King Richard I, “Coeur de Lion” who died besieging a castle in France. He was struck in the shoulder through his amour by a crossbow bolt (arrow) fired by a young lad on the 26th of March. The boy was brought to him, and he pardoned him, giving him 100 shillings for his bravery. However, King Richard died 12 days later of gangrene on the 6th of April 1199, in the arms of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine.
[2] The name “Fatima” in Portugal is after the daughter of the Prophet.
[3] The “Basilica of St John in Laterano” as it is popularly known and misunderstood because on the façade (front) of the building at the top, there is a statue of Christ in the centre with statues of Saint John the Apostle on one side and Saint John the Baptist on the other laterally. However, the Basilica is dedicated to Our Lord Jesus Christ. It was built on land confiscated from the Noble Roman Laterani family by the Emperor Nero. The Laterani had served as administrators for several emperors.
[4] The election of Lotario dei Conti di Segni as Pope Innocent III at the age of 37, made him one of the youngest men ever to hold that office. He became one of the most important popes in the entire history of Christianity. Together with Gregory VII, he was one of the two most important popes of the Middle Ages.
[5] The Christian Army numbered from 12,000 to 14,000. The Muslim army was estimated to be between 20,00 to 30,000.
[6] From May to September. The warm weather would have allowed easier access from France to Italy.
[7] In the Third Crusade, Saladin, during the Battle of Hattin in 1187, captured the relic of the True Cross and then took Jerusalem. Later, Saladin’s nephew, Al-Malik al -Kamil, the Sultan of Egypt, promised St Francis to give The True Cross back if the Crusaders made peace, left Egypt, and went back to Europe. Unfortunately, the Crusaders fought on, and the Sultan destroyed them completely. The Sultan never returned the relic. However, he gave St Francis a precious gift that allowed Francis to visit the Christian places of the Holy Land – the gift – was an Ivory and Silver Trumpet to call the people to prayer and Two Clicking Sticks to get them to be quiet so the preacher could speak. They are today, kept in the Sacro Convento in Assisi.
[8] Historians have some difficulty with the facts of this “Children’s Crusade”. It seems that the Latin word for boy may have been mixed up with the word for homeless, poor, “street kids” orphans and runaways (young pickpockets and thieves) enthusiastically seeking the redemption promised by the crusading indulgence. None of these children reached the Holy Land. The movement dissipated in southern Italy. What happened to these children does not seem to be known or the story is simply a medieval legend. There are suggestions that many might have been sold into slavery, which would have been a very sad and tragic ending to their enthusiasm.
