PETER DAMIAN, SAINT

born 1007, Ravenna died Feb. 22, 1072, Faenza; feast day February 21 Italian San Pier Damiani cardinal and doctor of the church, an original leader and a forceful figure in the 11th-century reform movement. Educated at Ravenna, Faenza, and Parma, he abandoned his teaching career (1035) to enter the hermitage of Fonte Avellana in the Apennines, where he was chosen prior in 1043. Peter's zeal for reform, particularly his advocacy of clerical celibacy and his attacks on simony (the buying or selling of church office), attracted attention. Created cardinal in 1057, he served Popes Stephen IX (X), Nicholas II, and Alexander II, whom he defended during the schism of the antipope Honorius II. Even in semiretirement at Fonte Avellana (after 1067), he was active in the cause of reform. He died after reconciling Ravenna with Alexander, who had excommunicated Henry, archbishop of Ravenna. Peter was declared a doctor of the church in 1828. A conservative in political and theological controversies, he often used strong language, thus reminding his contemporaries of St. Jerome. As an apostle of voluntary poverty, he may be considered a forerunner of St. Francis of Assisi. His prolific works are collected in J.P. Migne's Patrologia Latina (vol. 144-145, 1853). Selected Writings on the Spiritual Life, translated and with an introduction by P. McNulty, was published in 1959.