''In praeclara summorum'' (''Among the many celebrated geniuses'') is the eleventh encyclical of
Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV (Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His ...
, published on 30 April 1921, for the occasion of the sixth centenary of the death of
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...
. It is dedicated to the memory of the poet.
Description
Natalia Z. Zazulina argues that "Benedict XV knew classical literature very well", and views this encyclical as an expression of his love for it. She states that "experts on Dante’s works compared the encyclical ''In praeclara'' with a full doctorate, where in addition to in-depth analysis of Dante’s religious poetry the author showed himself as a serious connoisseur of his work, history and Italian language".
It is one of a series of five encyclicals of Benedict XV, each constituting a kind of monograph on important characters in the history of the Church; along with this encyclical, the others are:
Spiritus paraclitus, 1920, on
St. Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is com ...
;
Principi Apostolorum Petro, 1920, on
St. Ephrem the Syrian;
Sacra propediem, 1921, on
St. Francis of Assisi
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...
, and
Fausto appetente die, 1921, on
St. Dominic.
See also
*
List of encyclicals of Pope Benedict XV
References
Documents of Pope Benedict XV
1921 in Christianity
1921 documents
20th-century Christian texts
Holy See
Latin words and phrases
Motu proprio
Papal encyclicals
April 1921 events
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