Catherine of Siena

Life

Her birth name was Caterina Benincasa. In Korean Catholic usage she is called "Saint Catherine of Siena" (시에나의 성녀 가타리나). She was born on March 25, 1347, in Siena, in the Tuscany region of Italy, the daughter of a dyer. Her family is said to have been a large one, with as many as twenty-five children. In her teens she joined the Third Order of the Dominican Order. The Third Order is an association of members who follow a religious rule while living in the world rather than entering a religious house. Thereafter she devoted herself to prayer and a life of strict asceticism. She received no formal education and is reported to have taught herself to read and write only as an adult. In Siena, ravaged by the Black Death, she cared for the sick and for condemned prisoners, and she became known as a mediator in various disputes. She died in Rome on April 29, 1380, at the age of thirty-three.

Ministry and Achievements

At the time, the pope resided in Avignon, France (the Avignon Papacy). In 1376 Florence, then in conflict with Pope Gregory XI, chose Catherine as its mediator, and she traveled to Avignon, where she urged the pope to return to Rome. She did not succeed in reconciling Florence and the pope. Nevertheless, Gregory XI left Avignon that year and returned to Rome in 1377. When the Western Schism, in which the papacy was divided between two claimants, began in 1378, Catherine supported Urban VI in Rome.

At least 378 of her letters to popes, cardinals, rulers, and ordinary people survive. She did not hesitate to demand reform and peace even from the pope. One well-known letter urges Urban VI to restrain his hot temper. In the Dialogue, written in the form of a conversation between God and the soul, she portrayed Christ as the "bridge" connecting God and the soul.

The Catholic Church canonized her in 1461. In 1939 she was declared a patron saint of Italy. In 1970 she was proclaimed the second woman Doctor of the Church, following Teresa of Ávila earlier that same year. Doctor of the Church is a title given to those whose teaching has been officially recognized as outstanding. In 1999 John Paul II named her a co-patron saint of Europe.

Influence on the Korean Church

In Korea she is remembered chiefly in the Catholic Church. She is listed in the Catholic calendar of saints and commemorated on her feast day, April 29, and some believers take her name as their baptismal name. Korean Protestant denominations do not observe saints' days and therefore do not commemorate her specifically. She is, however, discussed in introductions to the history of the medieval church or to Christian spirituality. Outside Korea, some Protestant denominations, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), are reported to commemorate her.

Assessment

The Catholic Church holds her in high regard as a mystic who gave her life for the unity and peace of the church. Others, however, take a more modest view of her role. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the idea that the pope should return to Rome did not originate with her, and her mediating mission in Avignon was unsuccessful. It is also recorded that she called for a crusade against Islamic powers. In addition, she is said to have practiced extreme fasting and penance and to have claimed an experience in which the wounds of Christ appeared on her body.

Protestantism does not accept the veneration of saints or papal primacy (the claim that the pope is the supreme authority in the church). Consequently, her career, with its emphasis on loyalty to the pope, is interpreted differently by Protestants than by Catholics. Assessments also differ by denomination and theological position on how Protestant faith should receive a tradition that places great weight on mystical experiences such as visions, as the debate over contemplative prayer illustrates.