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polarization in the Church today is a mild breeze compared with the tornado
that ripped the Church apart during the lifetime of this saint. If any saint
is a patron of reconciliation, Vincent Ferrer is.
Despite parental opposition, he entered the Dominican Order in his native
Spain at 19. After brilliant studies, he was ordained a priest by Cardinal
Peter de Lunawho would figure tragically in his life.
Of a very ardent nature, Vincent practiced the austerities of his Order with
great energy. He was chosen prior of the Dominican house in Valencia shortly
after his ordination.
The Western Schism divided Christianity first between two, then three,
popes. Clement VII lived at Avignon in France, Urban VI in Rome. Vincent was
convinced the election of Urban was invalid (though Catherine of Siena was
just as devoted a supporter of the Roman pope). In the service of Cardinal
de Luna, he worked to persuade Spaniards to follow Clement. When Clement
died, Cardinal de Luna was elected at Avignon and became Benedict XIII.
Vincent worked for him as apostolic penitentiary and Master of the Sacred
Palace. But the new pope did not resign as all candidates in the conclave
had sworn to do. He remained stubborn despite being deserted by the French
king and nearly all of the cardinals.
Vincent became disillusioned and very ill, but finally took up the work of
simply "going through the world preaching Christ," though he felt that any
renewal in the Church depended on healing the schism. An eloquent and fiery
preacher, he spent the last 20 years of his life spreading the Good News in
Spain, France, Switzerland, the Low Countries and Lombardy, stressing the
need of repentance and the fear of coming judgment. (He became known as the
"Angel of the Judgment.")
He tried, unsuccessfully, in 1408 and 1415, to persuade his former friend to
resign. He finally concluded that Benedict was not the true pope. Though
very ill, he mounted the pulpit before an assembly over which Benedict
himself was presiding and thundered his denunciation of the man who had
ordained him a priest. Benedict fled for his life, abandoned by those who
had formerly supported him. Strangely, Vincent had no part in the Council of
Constance, which ended the schism.
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