Gregory XI
Pierre Roger de Beaufort · 1370 – 1378
The last French pope of the Avignon period, he returned the papacy to Rome in 1377 at the urging of St. Catherine of Siena.
Pierre Roger was a nephew of Clement VI and became pope at age forty in 1370. He spent his pontificate agonizing over whether to leave Avignon and return to Rome. St. Catherine of Siena wrote him passionate letters urging the move, and in January 1377 he finally entered Rome. He died a year later, and the disastrous Western Schism followed. But his return to Rome, however belated, was the essential first step toward ending the Avignon captivity.
Why He Matters
Gregory XI did the right thing — eventually. It took the blunt encouragement of Catherine of Siena to move him, but he did return the papacy to Rome. That decision, imperfect as its aftermath was, ended the Avignon exile.