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Events that happened Today in Church History
  
Today is the anniversary of the death of three Popes. 1,293 years ago in 707 Pope John VII, 86th successor of Peter died after a two and a half year pontificate in which he refused to consent to the ambiguous claims of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian II. The latter, in turn retaliated by massacring thousands, driving the wedge between East and West further apart. On this same day 710 years later in 1417 Pope Gregory XII passed on. This 205th in the line of Peter's pontificate was a sad time in Church history for there were three who laid claim to the Papal Throne - from Rome, from Avignon and Pisa. Gregory, not wanting further schism and assured that the Great Western Schism would end, renounced his right to being Pope during the 16th Ecumenical Council at Constance. Finally, 497 years ago in 1503 the 215th successor of Peter Pope Pius III died of gout. He served for less than two weeks. Coming into the Sacred Conclave all his peers knew he was deathly ill, still they elected him, realizing he deserved the honor and also it would give them more time to find a suitable replacement for the notorious and lascivious predecessor Alexander VI who had plummeted morale and morals to an all-time low and was one of the chief reasons why the Reformation took hold following his regime. Though Pius III at first declined, when pressed he reluctantly accepted, being so ill that he was allowed to be seated during his coronation Mass. For other events that happened this day in Church History,ee MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES
 Wars stem from the neglect of morality!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminary did so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".
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War is not necessary, but it does become an inseparable ailment of any world that abandons the supremacy of the spirit. Nietzche, after proclaiming the death of God in the nineteenth century, prophesied that the twentieth century would be a century of wars. There is a possible connection between the importance given to politics and the frequency of wars. In any era of history where politics is the major interest, war is the major consequence. This does not mean that one ought to subscribe to the dictum of Karl von Clausewitz that war is the prosecution of politics by other means. It does mean however, that since politics stresses expediency and pragmatism on a great scale that dedication to truth and morality are minimized. Since the latter are essential for peace, war becomes a greater possibility.
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