A Pope’s Lament - 1075
Pope Gregory VII
Introduction
Hildebrand had worked with popes about twenty years before he became pope himself in 1073, taking the name Gregory VII. His policies brought him into sharp conflict with the German emperor, Frederic IV. The times were difficult and the job of pope stressful. On January 22, 1075 he wrote to Hugo of Cluny that he often prayed God either to release him from life, or to use him for the good of “mother church.”
Quote
“The Eastern Church fallen from the faith, and attacked by the infidels from without. In the West, South, or North, scarcely any bishops who have obtained their office regularly, or whose life and conduct correspond to their calling, and who are actuated by the love of Christ instead of worldly ambition. Nowhere princes who prefer God’s honor to their own, and justice to gain. The Romans, Longobards, and Normans among whom I live, as I often told them, are worse than Jews and heathens. And when I look to myself, I feel oppressed by such a burden of sin that no other hope of salvation is left me but in the mercy of Christ alone.”
Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church, Volume V: The Middle Ages. A.D. 1049-1294.