VITTORE III, POPE, blessed. — A Benedictine monk of the Dafauri (Desiderio) family, he owed his election to the Norman prince Giordano of Capua (May 1086).
He was a man of letters, author of Dialogues, an “able architect”: qualities that did not dispose him greatly to governing the Church. From the outset, he incurred the hostility of the followers of Gregory VII, who reproached him for his subservience to Emperor Henry IV during the time he was abbot of Montecassino. On the other hand, among his adversaries were the partisans of Clement III. Consecrated late (9 May 1087), he was unable to enter Rome except under the protection of Countess Matilda; the vexations and contradictions stirred up by his opponents did not break his strength and even caused his death (16 Sept. 1087). His cult was confirmed by Leo XIII on 23 Sept. 1987. Feast day: 16 Sept.