| In praeclara summorum Latin for 'Among the many celebrated' Encyclical of Pope Benedict XV | |
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| Signature date | 30 April 1921 |
| Subject | Dante is one of the greatest literary treasures produced by the Catholic faith |
| Number | 11 of 12 of the pontificate |
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In praeclara summorum (Among the many celebrated) is the eleventh encyclical of Pope Benedict XV, published on 30 April 1921, for the occasion of the sixth centenary of the death of Dante and is dedicated to the memory of the poet.
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: Spiritus paraclitus of 1920, on St. Jerome; Principi Apostolorum Petro of 1920, on St. Ephrem the Syrian; Sacra propediem of 1921, on St. Francis of Assisi; and Fausto appetente die of 1921, on St. Dominic.
Dante Alighieri, most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante, was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedìa and later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio, is widely considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.
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Generations of Italians do not know that Dante is profoundly heterodox in his religious opinions! In his papal encyclical In praeclara summorum of 30 April 1921, published for the sixth centenary of Dante's death, Pope Benedict XV praises Dante for accepting "Sacred Scripture with perfect docility" and urges that he "may be for the pupils the teacher of Christian doctrine". It can hardly be surprising that under these circumstances Italy's youth do not love their greatest poet. They revere him, but they do not love him.
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