With the surprise resignation of Pope Benedict VI one has to go back to 1294 to find another case of a Papal abdication. Here is the story of Pope Celine’s successor whose actions probably tipped the scale and caused the Papacy to quit Rome and relocate in Avignon, France.

Pope Boniface VIII 1294-1303

It will be recalled ex-Pope Celestine was kept in confinement by new Pope Boniface but escaped and was recaptured only to die shortly afterwards. One of Boniface’s first acts was to reverse most of what Celestine had done.

Appointments and gifts of land were taken back creating him many enemies. Though as Pope he did not have children he had plenty of nephews and was soon guilty of nepotism. He used the funds of the Holy See to purchase cities and land in the States the Church owned adjacent to Rome. Sometimes the owners were well recompensed, sometimes the land was virtually stolen. And old rivalries began to surface. The Colonna, an important Roman family, offered opposition to the Pope and had to be crushed.

Another source of opposition came from religious zealots including a young Milanese girl called Maifreda who was burned at the stake for offering opposition to Pope Boniface. Meanwhile the rump of the followers of Celestine also offered opposition which took on the form of satire. Jacopone da Todi penned the sentiment that Boniface was like ‘an angel from the abyss, supported by evil spirits’ listing his faults as simony, avarice and nepotism.

With the surprise resignation of Pope Benedict VI one has to go back to 1294 AD to find another similar case of a Papal abdication. Here is the story of holy hermit Peter of Morone who was the last pope to abdicate from the papacy.

THE LAST POPE TO ABDICATE

When Pope Nicholas IV died in April of 1292 a conclave was called to appoint a new pope. Two important Roman families, the Colonna and the Orsini, fought for the Office for over two years without effect until a two thirds majority settled on the appointment of a complete outsider. He was an octogenarian hermit known as Peter of Morone who lived in the mountains of southern Italy. The hermit was revered as a holy man and had founded an Order dedicated to the Holy Ghost.

It must have been a bizarre sight to see the procession of cardinals in their finery trekking through the mountains looking for the cave of the illusive hermit to tell him he had been appointed Pope. At their meeting the recluse was at first confused and then bewildered at the honour, but reluctantly accepted when it was pointed out it was the Will of God. He chose the name Pope Celestine V and once he realized he had the power to make important decisions he stubbornly refused to return with the cardinals to Rome and chose instead Naples as the new seat of the Papacy.

Unhappily the old hermit was unable to carry out the duties of Pope that by this time were more bureaucratic than spiritual and, in his simplicity and naiveté, he made many elementary blunders. He did however appoint, for the first time, many French cardinals that upset the balance in the usual Italian-majority conclave of cardinals. Needless to say he did not last long as Pope and sought to abdicate after just 161 days after being appointed Supreme Pontiff. An astute and self-seeking lawyer by the name of Benedetto Gaetano probably directed Celestine through the legal machinations of abdication. Ten days after the abdication was finalized it was Gaetano who was elected pope under the name of Boniface VIII.

It is the duty – no, the imperative – of any country to know what persons are living within its borders. This applies to all nations including the United States, Europe and the Bahamas.

So, here’s a suggestion.

Set up a voluntary programme for all illegal non-documented persons living in the country to register giving their names, fingerprints and other identification, mailing/contact addresses (this can be c/o a lawyer or a community organization), also they could be given an opportunity to state briefly why they should be allowed to stay (length of time spent here, children born here, skills, contributing to society, etc).

All respondents will be given a case number. This information will then be sealed and can only be accessed with a Court order in exceptional cases such as those involving major crimes, terrorist-related enquiries and the like.

A points incentive will be given to persons registering in the first few months of the programme. Illegal persons applying after the one year limit may be considered but their application will take a much lower priority.

After three natural disasters and an unfortunate business downturn it is indisputable that Freeport has fallen into the worst recession it has suffered in its 67 year history. But, if we look to our history, it can be seen we already have a business model as to how to get development moving again. The early days of Freeport 1963—1970 demonstrated very clearly that a fairly open policy regarding the immigration of foreign entrepreneurs provided a dynamic ‘mix’ of commercial and professional businesses that, in their train, brought capital, expertise and jobs.

Incidentally an important element of the original business model was that licensees in new fields were given (undocumented) assurance that their ventures would remain exclusive until their businesses were established. The introduction of opening up Freeport to entrepreneurs worldwide was a seminal example of the working of the Adam Smith’s concept of the ‘invisible hand’ subtly providing the needed diversity to the industrial base.

The downside to this was of course, the feeling that local people were being pushed out by foreigners. But in fact, with the benefit of hindsight, it must surely be agreed, it happened less frequently than we imagined. If the concept were to be adopted again, because there are now more qualified Bahamians, fewer foreign entrepreneurs would be needed. But, in certain industrial and commercial categories, there is still a crying need for immigrants and the capital they bring.