But when the cardinals assembled at Perugia two years after the death of Pope Nicholas IV in 1292 to elect a new pope, they reached an impasse. Someone suggested: Why not elect Peter the hermit?
And so they did. For "the good of the Church," Peter reluctantly accepted and took the name of Celestine V.
But Celestine found himself in over his head. naive in administrative issues, slow to make decisions, it soon became clear that Celestine was not cut out to be a pope.
On December 13, 1294, Celestine V resigned as pope after three months in that position. His successor, fearful that Celestine would be a rallying point for dissidents, jailed him and destroyed most of his records.
Today is the feast of St. Celestine, who died on this day in 1296.
- Little White Book, Diocese of Saginaw