Pope Gregory VII (c. 1015/1020/1028 – May 25, 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (Italian: Ildebrando da Soana), was Pope from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal authority and the new canon law governing the election of the pope by the College of Cardinals. He was at the forefront of both evolutionary developments in the relationship between the emperor and the papacy during the years before becoming pope. He was beatified by Pope Gregory XIII in 1584, and canonized in 1728 by Pope Benedict XIII as Pope St. Gregory VII.

Quotes

• That it has pleased God to make Holy Scripture obscure in certain places lest, if it were perfectly clear to all, it might be vulgarized and subjected to disrespect or be so misunderstood by people of limited intelligence as to lead them into error.
  • In response to the request made in 1079 by Vratislaus, duke of Bohemia, seeking permission to use Slavonic in local church services.
  • Awake! magazine December 2011, page 7; They Tried to Keep God’s Word From the Masses.

• Dilexi iustitiam et odi iniquitatem; propterea morior in exilio.
  • I have loved righteousness and hated iniquity, and therefore I die in exile.
  • Last words, as quoted in Joseph Priestley A General History of the Christian Church Vol. 1 (1802), p. 361.

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