On September 21, 1774, after Mass, Bishop Alphonsus Liguori sat silent and motionless in his armchair in Arienzo. The state lasted until the following day. He then called the household members and declared that he had assisted Pope Clement XIV, who had now died. Only the news from Rome made the significance of his words clear to those present. Antonio Maria Tannoia preserved the account with named participants; it was explicitly discussed in the later ecclesiastical proceedings. The episode attests to a special spiritual assistance to the dying pope and the saint's deep bond with the Church.
While Alphonsus was observed in Arienzo in an extraordinary state of repose, he assisted the dying Clement XIV according to his subsequent testimony. Tannoia explicitly calls this assistance spiritual; a bodily presence independently observed in both places is not established by the available sources.
Further original photographs from the publisher
The Silent Bishop in Arienzo
Antonio Maria Tannoia describes the incident in the third book of his early biography. On the morning of September 21, 1774, after Holy Mass, Alphonsus sat exhausted and silent in his armchair. He asked for nothing and remained in this state through the following night. The next day, he rang the bell. The worried members of the household gathered and asked him what had happened. Alphonsus declared that he had been with the pope, who had now died. His words connected the unusual state in Arienzo with the event in Rome.[1]
Tannoia names Brother Francescantonio and Agata Viscardi, a servant of the Redemptoristine nuns. Agata carried the news to Sant’Agata. Those present initially took the explanation as a dream. When news of the death arrived from Rome, they recognized the correspondence and attached particular weight to the event. The testimony thus also preserves their initial reaction and the occasion that later convinced them.[1]
Alphonsus Prays for the Embattled Pope
Alphonsus had been concerned for Clement XIV and the Church even before these days. Tannoia reports the difficult situation following the suppression of the Jesuit order and cites letters in which Alphonsus called for persistent prayer for the pope. The special assistance therefore stands in a clear spiritual context: the bishop shared the pontiff's distress in prayer. The episode continues a longer path of intercession and makes visible his bond with the suffering shepherd of the Church.[1]
Clement XIV died on September 22, 1774. This date is documented independently of the account concerning Alphonsus and agrees with the day of the reported statement. For historical investigation, it also matters when the ordinary news of the death reached Arienzo and how the memory of Alphonsus's words was recorded. The preserved account places his communication before the arrival of the news from Rome. Therein lies the extraordinary knowledge to which the participants testified.[3][5]
Intercession and Assistance at the Deathbed
The event shows Alphonsus as a shepherd whose attention is directed toward another person's suffering. His concern for the pope becomes persistent prayer and, according to his testimony, special assistance in the pope's final hour. The grace serves the dying man and the Church. It is not described as an ability Alphonsus could exercise or demonstrate at will. The spiritual center remains the love that does not forget a distressed neighbor even at a distance.[1]
Alphonsus's entire life's work points in this direction: popular missions, confession, spiritual writings, and moral theology served people's salvation. The Arienzo account stands within this recognized holy life. It illustrates the closeness that grows from prayer and concern for the Church's unity. Historical examination of its testimonies deepens this context, while veneration of the Doctor of the Church rests on his entire life and work.[4]
The Named Witnesses and Their Examination
Oreste Gregorio's historical investigation makes excerpts from the apostolic process accessible. In them, Tannoia explains that after Alphonsus's death he personally questioned Agata Viscardi. The priest Francesco Amato and the superior Maria Celestina were present. These names and the described questioning give the transmission a concrete form. The account is therefore more than an unspecified oral assertion. At the same time, the recording took place after the event; no contemporaneous transcript from September 1774 is presented here.[2]
The servant Alessio Pollio also remembered the bishop's unusual state of repose. In reproducing the subsequent words, his statement contains indirect elements going back to other reporters. Comparison shows what each witness experienced himself and what he learned from others. This attribution preserves the value of the actual observation without turning every later statement into a fully independent account of the entire sequence.[2]
What Kind of Presence the Sources Attest
Tannoia's chapter heading speaks of assistance in spirit. The Catholic Encyclopedia also uses this formulation. The usual term bilocation, by contrast, can encompass different ideas: a double bodily presence, an apparition at the distant location, or a special spiritual participation. For Alphonsus, the form designated in the early sources is initially decisive. He declared that he had assisted the dying pope. The surviving statements from Arienzo attest to his state and words; they do not measure a second body in Rome.[1][4]
In 1970, the Redemptorist Oreste Gregorio noted that no surviving witness from the papal deathbed had been questioned in the proceedings. A visible presence of Alphonsus observed there by others is therefore not established. This source situation does not refute the attested spiritual assistance. It limits the stronger claim of a bodily presence independently seen simultaneously in both places. The distinction already follows the language of the early biography.[2]
Witnesses & Investigators
Agata Viscardi
Named witness from Arienzo
According to the transmitted account, heard Alphonsus's words and passed them on; Tannoia recorded her later personal questioning.[1][2]
Alessio Pollio
Servant, later a Redemptorist brother
Remembers the state of repose; the transmission of the precise words contains indirect elements.[2]
Antonio Maria Tannoia
Early biographer and member of the order
Preserves the early account and describes the personal questioning of Agata Viscardi with others present.[1][2]
Oreste Gregorio
Historical investigator
Presents excerpts from the proceedings and the limits of corroborating Roman testimony in 1970.[2]
The unfolding story
- Episcopal Office
Alphonsus takes charge of the Diocese of Sant’Agata dei Goti.[4]
- Concern for the Church
Tannoia transmits letters and calls to prayer for Clement XIV.[1]
- Event in Arienzo
Alphonsus remains in an extraordinary state of repose and afterward reports assisting the deceased pope.[1]
- Death of Clement XIV
Independently documented date of the pope's death.[5]
- Questioning and Transmission
Tannoia describes questioning Agata Viscardi after Alphonsus's death; the case is later discussed in the proceedings.[2]
- Canonization
Gregory XVI canonizes Alphonsus.[4]
Ecclesiastical assessment
Alphonsus is a canonized saint and Doctor of the Church. The episode was discussed in his cause; this officially confirms neither a physical theory of bilocation nor every later embellishment.
The Promoter of the Faith's Questions
In the ecclesiastical proceedings, the promoter of the faith asked about natural explanations: could the state have been sleep or illness? Could concern for the embattled pope have triggered a dream? Was his death already expected? The advocate for the cause answered with the interpretation of ecstasy. The sources thus preserve a real examination of objection and response. The special knowledge of the death before the ordinary news is central to the positive assessment. The word dream alone does not settle this question.[2]
The named participants, the specific timing, and the transmitted agreement between Alphonsus's words and the pope's death support the testimony. Historical assessment must also consider the interval before the questioning, the accounts' relationships to one another, and the absence of corroborating testimony from Rome. The account can therefore be taken seriously as a special spiritual event without attributing to it a form of proof its sources do not possess.[1][2]
Objections & Answers
Was the state merely a dream about the sick pope?
The promoter of the faith already raised this question in the ecclesiastical proceedings. Alphonsus's letters document his concern for Clement XIV; corresponding dream content would therefore be conceivable in principle. The account's particular weight, however, lies in the communication of the death that had already occurred before the ordinary news arrived from Rome. Precisely this temporal connection must be examined through the witnesses. Tannoia preserves it with named participants; the questioning, however, took place later. The word dream does not refute this statement. At the same time, the interval of recollection limits the degree to which the exact timing can now be independently established.[1][2]
Is a simultaneous visible presence in Rome documented?
The sources evaluated here primarily establish Alphonsus's state and words in Arienzo. Tannoia speaks of spiritual assistance. Gregorio explicitly notes that no surviving witness from the pope's deathbed was questioned in the proceedings. A double bodily presence independently observed in both places is therefore not demonstrated. This stronger formulation is not required for the original incident either. The distinctive attested element is assistance to the dying man and knowledge of his death. The precise source situation permits appreciation of this core without inventing additional Roman eyewitnesses.[1][2][4]
Meaning for faith
The Arienzo account is concretely transmitted through named participants, an early biography, and discussion in ecclesiastical proceedings. It attests to Alphonsus's special assistance to the dying pope and leads to the power of intercession. The sources speak of spiritual presence; the stronger claim of a double bodily presence observed in both places is not documented.[1][2]
How Miracles in the Lives of the Saints Are Examined
Stigmata, bilocation, and material changes require different examinations.
Methods of examination and ecclesiastical procedure →Sources & Evidence
Information on accessibility and scope helps you assess the evidence for yourself.
- [1] Della Vita ed Istituto del venerabile servo di Dio Alfonso M. Liguori
Early biography with excerpts from letters and an account of the event; public-domain original text.
Open source · intratext.com ↗ - [2] La bilocazione nella vita di S. Alfonso de Liguori
Scholarly source investigation with verbatim reproductions of older testimony from the proceedings; not a new observation of the phenomenon.
Open source · santalfonsoedintorni.it ↗ - [3] Pope Clement XIV
Older Catholic historical account; not counted as additional Roman eyewitness testimony.
Open source · newadvent.org ↗ - [4] St. Alphonsus Liguori
Public-domain overview; explicitly describes the assistance as presence in spirit.
Open source · newadvent.org ↗ - [5] Clemente XIV
Official biographical date; not evidence of bilocation.
Open source · vatican.va ↗
