Urban IV
Jacques Pantaleon · 1261 – 1264
Instituted the feast of Corpus Christi for the universal Church, celebrating the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Jacques Pantaleon was the son of a French cobbler who rose through the Church ranks to become Patriarch of Jerusalem and then pope in 1261. He never set foot in Rome during his pontificate. His most lasting act was instituting the feast of Corpus Christi in 1264, commissioning St. Thomas Aquinas to compose the liturgical texts. He also worked to organize a crusade to recover Constantinople from the Latin Empire's collapse.
Why He Matters
Urban IV gave the Church the feast of Corpus Christi, one of the most beautiful celebrations in the liturgical year. The hymns Thomas Aquinas wrote for this feast — Pange Lingua, Tantum Ergo — are still sung at Benediction today.