Blessed Blessed may refer to: * The state of having received a blessing * Blessed, a title assigned by the Roman Catholic Church to someone who has been beatified Film and television * ''Blessed'' (2004 film), a 2004 motion picture about a supernatural ...

Hemming of Turku was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

and served as the Bishop of Turku from 1338 until 1366. He was born in Sweden though relocated to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

following his appointment as bishop. He became a popular figure in the diocese for his staunch dedication to the educational and spiritual needs of the faithful. He was also a close friend of

Saint Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden (c. 1303 – 23 July 1373) born as Birgitta Birgersdotter, also Birgitta of Vadstena, or Saint Birgitta ( sv, heliga Birgitta), was a mystic and a saint, and she was also the founder of the Bridgettines nuns and monks after t ...

. During his studies he knew the future

Pope Clement VI Pope Clement VI ( la, Clemens VI; 1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Bl ...

as one of his classmates. The cause of sainthood opened under Pope Alexander VI in 1497 which later resulted in his beatification by

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

in 1514.

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

was to preside over his canonization as a saint in 1530 but the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

halted all plans to do so.

Life

Hemming was born in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the c ...

in 1290 to middle-class parents who had connections to the nobles of Sweden. He studied in Uppsala and later relocated to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

where he studied in the capital of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

around the 1320s. One of his classmates at the time in France was in fact the future

. He studied for a degree in the arts and later in both theological and legal studies. The completion of his studies allowed for him to be

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood and later appointed as the canon of the

Turku Cathedral Turku Cathedral ( fi, Turun tuomiokirkko, sv, Åbo domkyrka) is the only medieval basilica in Finland and the Mother Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. It is the central church of the Lutheran Archdiocese of Turku and the seat ...

in 1329. Hemming was appointed as the Bishop of Turku – as the successor of Bengt – in November 1338 and would remain in that position until his death; Pope Benedict XII confirmed the appointment. Hemming received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in Stockholm in November 1339. He improved the educational resources of the diocese and reformed the training and discipline of priests. He also improved the liturgical furnishings and diocesan finances. Hemming also dedicated himself to attending to the needs of

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

and in providing theological resources to the priests and seminarians; he donated around 40 books to the cathedral and founded both a school and a hospital. The Turku Cathedral was damaged due to a fire in 1318 and so Hemming helped to finance the repairs after acquiring letters of indulgence from Pope John XXII. In 1353 he had permission to transfer a third of the tithes the parish gathered as funds for the repairs while in 1354 he added books on the Church Fathers and works on

Canon Law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

to the cathedral's collection. In 1346 a dispute between him and the Archbishop of Uppsala regarding parish territories of

Tornio Tornio (; sv, Torneå; sme, Duortnus ; smn, Tuárnus) is a city and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The city forms a cross-border twin city together with Haparanda on the Swedish side. The municipality covers an area of , of which is ...

and Kemi saw him travel to the former to meet Archbishop Hemming – also of his name – in which the two negotiated and succeeded in achieving a resolution. The bishop later became a close friend of

. The saint once said that he was "contemplative but at the same time an active and hardworking man". He travelled for the saint between 1347 until 1349. In 1347 he travelled to the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...

for her with her Cistercian confessor Peter of Alvastra to visit Pope Clement VI in Avignon in order to convince him to go back to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and reform the Roman Curia. He also went in her name to visit the King of England Edward III and the King of France Philip IV to achieve peace between the two but this never materialized. In 1352 he completed his work "Statua" with rules for the responsibilities of priests. Hemming died in mid 1366. Miracles were reported at his tomb and pilgrimages there began until such instances were recorded in 1400 when popular devotion reached an all-time high. His remains are now in the Turku Cathedral and have been there since the time of his beatification.

Beatification

Hemming became titled as Servant of God after Pope Alexander VI – on 16 July 1497 – granted his approval to the commencement of the cause for beatification.

beatified Hemming in Rome at

Old Saint Peter's Basilica Old St. Peter's Basilica was the building that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, where the new St. Peter's Basilica stands today in Vatican City. Construction of the basilica, built over the historical site of the Circus of Nero, began dur ...

in 1514. The canonization for the late bishop had been scheduled for 1530 but

had to cancel it due to the

. The canonization movement has gained momentum in modern times. The documents about it have been lost but Finnish catholics have petitioned

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

to canonize Hemming using equipollent canonization. Hemming remains the patron of Turku and is the patron against both danger and illness.

References

External links

Saints SQPN

Finnish Literature Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemming 1290 births 1366 deaths 14th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Sweden 14th-century venerated Christians 14th-century Finnish people Swedish beatified people Roman Catholic bishops of Turku Venerated Catholics

Life

Beatification

References

Further reading

External links