This week in Christian history: Chuck Colson dies, Hannibal Goodwin born, Sixtus V becomes Pope

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, April 21, 2024

Sixtus V elected pope – April 24, 1585

Pope Sixtus V (1521-1590), the head of the Roman Catholic Church who engaged in reforms during his five-year reign. | Wikimedia Commons

This week marks the anniversary of when Felice Peretti, a native of Grottammare, Italy, was elected pope, taking the name Sixtus V and ruling for five years until his death in 1590.

Sixtus V was elected days after the death of Pope Gregory XIII, and was known for his efforts to enact financial reforms and for his severe yet successful crackdown on banditry in Italy.

“At his accession the papal exchequer was empty. Acting on his favorite principle that riches as well as severity are necessary for good government, he used every available means to replenish the state treasury,” explained New Advent.

“So successful was he in the accumulation of money that, despite his enormous expenditures for public buildings, he had shortly before his death deposited in the Castello di Sant' Angelo three million scudi in gold and one million six hundred thousand in silver.”