Feast Day Pope Urban V

As pope he continued to live by the Benedictine Rule, which led to opposition from those who preferred a more regal life in court. He cut tithes in half, supported students, clerical training, seminaries and colleges, worked to re-unite Latin and Greek Christians, fought the heresies of the day, built churches and monasteries, restored many that had fallen on hard times or fallen away from discipline.

At the time, the Popes were living at the Palace of the Popes in Avignon, France.  Urged by Saint Bridget of Sweden and by Saint Catherine of Siena to return the papacy to Rome, he moved his court from Avignon back to Rome, entering the city on 16 October 1367.

He re-discovered relics of Saint Peter and Saint Paul the Apostle in the papal chapel of the Lateran basilica when he prepared to say Mass there on 1 March 1368; they were later placed and new reliquaries and enshrined.

Outbreaks of plague and violence in the city led him to return to France, arriving there on September 24, 1370. He fell ill soon after and died December 19, 1370.

Urban V beatified on March 10, 1870, by Pope Pius IX. He is a patron of the Benedictines and a patron saint of missionaries and educators.

His Feast is celebrated on December 19.