The announcement that Pope Francis will visit the Italian city of L'Aquila on August 28 seems unexpected. The trip, though, had been discussed since February.The Celestinian Forgiveness is an annual event held in the city of Celestia in central Italy around the end of August. The Pope just stated that he would ordain new cardinals on Aug. 27, the day before his trip. As a result, it appears like he organized the consistory around his trip to L'Aquila rather than the other way around.

Pope Celestine V left the Church a tremendous legacy, the Celestinian Forgiveness (Perdonanza Celestiniana in Italian). He served as Pope from July 5, 1294, to December 13, 1294, when he resigned.The controversial 13th-century pope, sometimes known as Peter of Morrone, is a controversial character. Many people have compared him to the sick man from Dante's Divine Comedy, who is described as 'the one who made the big refusal out of cowardice.'

Nonetheless, he was a revolutionary pope in his own right. He was based in L'Aquila (which translates to 'the Eagle'), a young city that had welcomed him back after a stint as a recluse. He was the first pope to carry out his duties outside of Rome.

After two years of internal turmoil, the cardinals elected Celestine V, believing that his age and demeanor would make him a flexible pope. They were mistaken. And in the middle of the circumstances that eventually led to his resignation, he formed the Celestinian Forgiveness within those few months of his pontificate.

In the year 2020, Santa Maria di Collemaggio in L'Aquila, Italy, was photographed. Wikimedia Commons/RenanGreca (CC BY-SA 4.0).Celestine V's bull of pardon grants a plenary indulgence to everyone who confesses and repents their sins and visits the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio between Vespers on August 28 and sunset on August 29. It was an utterly unrestricted indulgence, bound only by personal repentance. As a result, it was open first and only to the impoverished and destitute.

In 1296, Celestine abdicated the papal crown and died as a prisoner. In 1313, he was canonized under the name Peter the Confessor, demonstrating that his piety was unaffected by the circumstances of his death.Every year, for the Celestinian Forgiveness, a visiting cardinal opens the sacred entrance of Santa Maria di Collemaggio after the local mayor reads the bull of forgiveness. The bull was given to L'Aquila by Celestine and is placed in an armoured chapel in the town hall tower.

As a result, Pope Francis will be the one to open the hallowed door this year. As previously stated, Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi of L'Aquila delivered the invitation in February. Inspections by Vatican authorities who arrange papal visits followed.

Pope Francis structured a consistory around this brief trip. He will ordain 21 new cardinals on Aug. 27, 16 of whom will be eligible to vote in a future conclave. On August 28, he will fly to L'Aquila instead of celebrating Mass with the newly appointed cardinals, as is customary. For the first time in seven years, an extraordinary consistory of the world's cardinals will meet on Aug. 29-30 to consider the new Vatican constitution.

The fact that the consistory was built around this event has fueled conjecture that Pope Francis, who is currently making public appearances in a wheelchair, is about to quit.There has been precedent: Benedict XVI visited L'Aquila on April 28, 2009, to console a population shaken by the city's recent earthquake. He stopped at Santa Maria di Collemaggio, despite the earthquake having damaged the structure.

Benedict XVI removed his pallium and laid it on the glass in front of the crystal coffin carrying Celestine V's body. In retrospect, the gesture was regarded as an indication that Benedict XVI would resign at some point — or that he had already considered it.Pope Celestine V's mausoleum in L'Aquila, Italy (1215-1296). Wikimedia Commons/Ruggerofilippo (CC BY-SA 3.0).

However, it's possible that Pope Francis will not travel to L'Aquila to signify the end of his pontificate. The visit could be linked to previously rumoured plans that he is working on new rules for papal emeritus status. Other options are available.Given that the status of the pope emeritus has never been established in law since Benedict XVI's departure in 2013, this is a viable argument. After all, the few past popes emeritus either did not live long or died as prisoners (like Celestine V).

Another option is that the Pope would propose a reform of conclave regulations, maybe raising the number of cardinal electors and possibly including non-cardinals, in the vein of Paul VI. The latter explored allowing presidents of episcopal conferences to attend conclaves.At the introduction of his new book in Rome on May 5, Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodriguez Maradiaga, president of the Council of Cardinals, mentioned the prospect of contemporary standards regarding the Sede Vacante time.

Given Pope Francis's resolute mentality, it appears doubtful that he will use his visit to L'Aquila to announce his resignation. At the same time, he didn't want his reforms to go unnoticed, so a resignation, coupled with new rules on the pope emeritus and the Sede Vacante period, might conceivably give him some power over the papal succession. But that is only a guess.

What is apparent is that the Church today needs a well-defined legal framework, particularly when the new Vatican constitution is implemented and harmonized with existing practices and laws.The visit of Pope Francis to L'Aquila will undoubtedly take on symbolic significance. But it's still unclear which one he'll give it.