Catholic church facts

Roman Catholic Church. The office of Advocatus Diaboli was formally established by Sixtus V in 1587. The devil's advocate role was to critically examine the life of and miracles attributed to an individual proposed for beatification or canonization. This included the presentation of everything unfavorable to the candidate. The office was abolished when Pope John Paul II in 1979 to speed up canonization and beatification process.

266. The chronological list of popes is published every year in the Annuario Pontificio by the Roman Curia. There are no consecutive numbers to the popes, stating that it is impossible to decide which side represented the legitimate succession among mid-11th-century popes.

Agnes of Rome (c.  291 – c.  304) is a virgin martyr, venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, and Lutheranism. She is one of seven women who, along with the Blessed Virgin, are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. Since the Middle Ages, Agnes has traditionally been depicted as a young girl in robes, with a lamb, the symbol of her virginal innocence, and often, like many other martyrs, with a palm branch.

Capuchins. Padre Pio, also known as Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, O.F.M. Cap. (1887-1968), was a friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic, now venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. Born Francesco Forgione, he was given the name of Pius (Italian: Pio) when he joined the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Padre Pio became famous for exhibiting stigmata for most of his life, thereby generating much interest and controversy. He was both beatified (1999) and canonized (2002) by Pope John Paul II.

In the 14th century. The Avignon Papacy, also known as the Babylonian Captivity in church history, was a period from 1309-1376, when the popes lived in the French town of Avignon under the authority of French monarchs, rather than reside in Rome as had been tradition.

God wills. ''Deus vult'' is a Catholic motto associated with the Crusades, more specifically with the First Crusade of 1096–1099. The phrase appears in the Vulgate translation of the Christian Bible.