This week in Christian history: Pope elected, Isaac Backus dies, Baptist Convention formed

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, November 19, 2023

Pope Clement XI elected – Nov. 23, 1700

Giovanni Francesco Albani (1649-1721), an Italian nobleman who served as pope under the name Clement XI and was also ruler of the Papal States from 1700 until his death. | Wikimedia Commons

This week marks the anniversary of when Giovanni Francesco Albani was elected head of the Roman Catholic Church, taking the papal name of Clement XI and ruling for 21 years.

A native of Urbano and born from nobility, Clement XI was known for expanding the Vatican Library and elevating 70 men to the rank of cardinal, including the future Pope Innocent XIII.

Clement XI was also critical of a popular Catholic dissident sect known as the Jansenists, which were especially popular in France and included among their number notable mathematician and thinker Blaise Pascal.

“He had the ‘Illyricum Sacrum’ commissioned. This is one of the preeminent works on Albanian culture. In total it is over 5,000 pages across multiple volumes,” noted Pope History.

“He was the first pope to patronize excavating the Roman catacombs. Notably, there are 14 different major sections of these catacombs, including one section that was just for people of the Jewish faith.”