This pope gave up his robes

	St. Celestine V When: 1210-1296 Where: Italy What: Founder of an order of monks and pope Canonized: 1313 Feast: May 19

An old saying warns: Be careful what you ask for, you might get it. St. Celestine V may have wished he had heeded that warning.

As the abbot of an order of monks, he told the College of Cardinals to stop their fighting, which had gone on for two years, and elect a new pope. If they didn't, he warned, he would call the wrath of God down upon them. So on July 5, 1294, the cardinals elected the 84-year-old abbot as the new pope.

Thus began one of the stranger episodes in papal history.

The new pope was less than thrilled by the honor, but he was installed on Aug. 29. Immediately, the struggles began. King Charles of Naples tried to influence him and many cardinals were upset because he turned to outsiders to run the church, rather than relying on them. Plus, he knew little about canon law.

Nor did the cardinals like the idea that the new pope insisted on living the austere life of a monk, going so far as using old boards to build his own cell within the papal palace.

Finally, he consulted Card. Benedict Cajetan, the leading canon lawyer, who told him he could resign. Less than five months after his installation as pope, he called a consistory of cardinals.

On Dec. 13, 1294, he read a letter of abdication, took off his papal vestments, put on his monk's habit, threw himself to the floor and begged forgiveness for all he had done wrong and asked the cardinals to elect a pope worthy of the office. That done, he returned to his monastery.

The cardinals responded by choosing Card. Gaetani, who chose the name Pope Boniface VIII.

Alas, Celestine was not allowed to live his last years in peace. Instead, the new pope, who feared a plot to put Celestine back on the throne, had him arrested and imprisoned in the castle of Fumone, near Anagni.

When asked how he was doing in captivity, Celestine said, "I desired nothing in the world but a cell; and a cell they have given me." He died 10 months later.

Celestine (Peter di Morone) was the 11th of 12 children born into a peasant family at Isernia in Abruzzi in central Italy.

At the age of 20, he became a hermit, then later studied for the priesthood. After his ordination, he became a Benedictine, but eventually was allowed to become a hermit again. He soon began attracting other men and started a community with a strict rule that in 1274 the Vatican recognized as the Celestines. Before his death, there were 600 Celestine monks and nuns in 36 communities.

He was the successor of Pope Nicholas IV.