Blessed Innocent V
Pierre de Tarentaise · 1276 – 1276
The first Dominican pope, a noted theologian and peacemaker who died after only five months in office.
Pierre was from Tarentaise in Savoy and entered the Dominican Order as a young man. He became a distinguished theologian at the University of Paris, where he studied alongside Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure. He served as archbishop of Lyon and helped organize the Second Council of Lyon in 1274. Elected pope in January 1276, he immediately worked to unite the Greek and Latin churches and to broker peace among warring Italian cities. He died in June 1276 after only five months. He was beatified in 1898.
A Scholar in Peter's Chair
Innocent V had studied alongside two of the greatest minds in Church history: Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure. He brought that intellectual formation to the papacy, along with a Dominican's zeal for preaching and teaching. Five months was not enough time to accomplish his goals, but his election showed that the Church valued theological depth in its leaders.