Reformer
Although living in the seclusion of the cloister, Peter Damian closely watched the fortunes of the Church, and like his friend Hildebrand, the future Pope Gregory VII, he strove for reforms in a deplorable time. When Benedict IX resigned the pontificate into the hands of the archpriest John Gratian (Gregory VI) in 1045, Peter hailed the change with joy and wrote to the new pope, urging him to deal with the scandals of the church in Italy, singling out the wicked bishops of Pesaro, of Città di Castello and of Fano.
Extending the area of his activities, he entered into communication with the Emperor Henry III. He was present in Rome when Clement II crowned Henry III and his consort Agnes, and he also attended a synod held at the Lateran in the first days of 1047, in which decrees were passed against simony.
Read more about this topic: Peter Damian
Famous quotes containing the word reformer:
“A reformer knows neither how to do nor to undo.”
—José Bergamín (1895–1983)
“It may be worth the while to state that he is not a Reformer in our sense of the term.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Unless the reformer can invent something which substitutes attractive virtues for attractive vices, he will fail.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)