Blessed Innocent XI
1611 - 1689
FEAST AUGUST 12
Benedetto Odescalchi was born to a wealthy merchant in Como, Italy. After serving as a cardinal and bishop of Novara, he was elected pope in 1676. He inherited an ongoing conflict with French King Louis XIV over royal interference in church affairs.
He worked against Jansenism, Quietism and heresies. The pontiff also had high expectations about education in the seminaries. He lived a simple and pious life. Blessed Innocent XI died Aug. 12, 1689, of natural causes. He was beatified in 1956.