In praeclara summorum

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In praeclara summorum
Latin
for 'Among the many celebrated'

Encyclical of Pope Benedict XV
Coat of arms of Pope Benedict XV
Signature date 30 April 1921
SubjectDante is one of the greatest literary treasures produced by the Catholic faith
Number11 of 12 of the pontificate
Text
 →

In praeclara summorum (Among the many celebrated) is the eleventh

Dante
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.[1]

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".[2]

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:

St. Dominic
.

See also

References