Caritas ou paupertas. Jean XXII et la sainteté du frère Martin Donadieu

Abstract

At the beginning of his papacy, John XXII proposed the canonization of Martin Donadieu of Carcassonne. He had known personally and admired this obscure individual, a simple friar of the dominican order. He upheld fr. Martin’s virtues as a model for the conduct of a holy life. Yet that model seems incongruously at odds with the principles that motivated the pope’s policies, especially his attitude toward the mendicant orders. Fr. Martin presented himself particularly as an adept of apostolic poverty. His virtues appear precisely those John denounced as vice. Is it necessary perhaps to rethink the ideals of John XXII ? Rather, the virtues he found in the life of Martin Donadieu did profoundly reflect a model he wished to promote for the life of Christian sanctity. Two overarching themes dominate Martin’s biography, as written by Bernard Gui : order, and benevolence (caritas). This latter ideal has not been noted as a guiding precept in the acts of John XXII. It appears, nevertheless, even in his strictest commandments. He exalted it in his bulls. He proclaimed it in his advocacy of the sainthood of Louis of Toulouse. Above and beyond the sacramentum paupertatis, he upheld the sacramentum caritatis. He observed this living virtue displayed by Martin Donadieu. In his promotion of Martin’s sanctity, John XXII, perhaps, revealed an essential vision that animated his thought at a critical moment in Church history.