In Praeclara Summorum
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''In praeclara summorum'' (''Among the many celebrated'') is the eleventh
encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally fr ...
of
Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (; ; born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, ; 21 November 1854 – 22 January 1922) was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His pontificate was largely overshadowed by World War I a ...
, published on 30 April 1921, for the occasion of the sixth centenary of the death of
Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
and is dedicated to the memory of the poet.


Description

Teodolinda Barolini claims that the encyclical is part of a continuing attempt by Catholic orthodoxy to appropriate Dante and ignore Dante's heterodox opinions. 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'' of 1920, on St. Jerome; '' Principi Apostolorum Petro'' of 1920, on St. Ephrem the Syrian; '' Sacra propediem'' of 1921, on St. Francis of Assisi; and '' Fausto appetente die'' of 1921, on St. Dominic.


See also

* List of encyclicals of Pope Benedict XV


References

1921 in Christianity 1921 documents 20th-century Christian texts Holy See Latin words and phrases Documents of Pope Benedict XV Papal encyclicals April 1921 {{RC-document-stub