By Randall Smith, The Catholic Thing - We recently celebrated the 700th anniversary of Thomas Aquinas’s canonization, which took place on 14 July 1323 in the “Palace of the Popes” in Avignon. This was during what has sometimes been called “The Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy,” when seven successive popes resided in Avignon, France, rather than in Rome. Later, sadly, there would be a schism, leading to a period where there were multiple claimants to the papal office.