Ten Bad Popes
79Bad Apples. Every family has some. Every town, every country, every faith, every bloodline. It happens. But what happens when a Bad Apple is able to ascend to one of the most powerful seats of power in the world? Here's a list of the ten biggest Bad Apples to ever lead the Holy Roman Church.
Stephen VII(Pope from 896 - 897)
Stephen's sworn enemy was his predecessor to the Fisherman's Ring, Formosus. Whatever Formosus had done to so enrage his successor isn't completely clear, but dear Pope Stephen had his dead body dug up and put on trial for "coveting the papal throne." Being found guilty (of course), the deceased was stripped, had its 3 fingers, used for bestowing blessings, cut off, and the body dumped in the Tiber River. Stephen got his, though. He was later imprisoned and strangled to death.
Urban II(Pope from 1088 - 1099)
At the time of his papacy, many Catholic priests were married (even though they weren't supposed to be). Urban was so outraged that he made a decree that all priests who were married or found to not be celibate be imprisoned forever (for the good of their eternal souls). That wasn't enough to satisfy Urban though. After imprisoning the defrocked clergymen he had their wives and children sold in to slavery! I guess he needed to find a way to finance all of those prisons holding the lustful priests to save their poor, sinful, souls. Fortunately he wasn't too busy with horny priests to ignore politics, though. Pope Urban II also took the time to start the First Crusade in 1095.
Gregory IX(Pope from 1227 - 1241)
This guy apparently loved bonfires. He started the inquisition of heretics (anyone not a strict and observant Catholic who could prove it) in 1231.
Sixtus IV(Pope from 1471 - 1484)
Sixtus didn't waste any time taking advantage of his new position. I'll bet the word "nepotism" was invented just for him. Before the white smoke even had time to clear he made two of his nephews Cardinals and spent the rest of his reign throwing money and titles at pretty much everyone else he happened to be related to. To finance his whale status he brilliantly sold licenses for brothels in Rome, instituted a tax on priests who kept mistresses, and came up with the best scam ever in history - selling indulgences for the dead to their grieving loved ones.
Innocent VIII(Pope from 1484 - 1492)
Kind of cool, in a way. Innocent VIII was the first pope ever to openly acknowledge his mistress and illegitimate children. He spent his days building a dynasty by marrying his kiddos off to wealthy families and using the throne of St. Peter to bestow upon them money, titles, and land. Family man that he was, he even made his 13-year-old grandson a cardinal. His papal bull Summis desiderantes of 1484 allowed him to indulge his pyromaniac and torture fantasies by starting the Inquisition against witches.
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Alexander VI(Pope from 1492 - 1503)
The infamous Mr. Borgia was possibly the most wicked and corrupt pope in history. Or maybe he was just misunderstood. He was trained in the ways of the family business from a young age. His uncle Alfonso (Pope Calixtus III) bestowed powerful church positions upon him while he was still in his teens and then a cardinal at 25. Building upon his cardinalship he worked his way up to the office of vice chancellor of the Roman Church and amassing a great personal fortune in the process. He bribed his way to St. Peter's - appointing anyone he could get in his pocket to cardinal to vote for him. Continuing on the family tradition, he also appointed his son and the teenage brother of his mistress as cardinals (strength in numbers you know). While enjoying the office of pope he also enjoyed an active sex life, was suspected of arranging murders of his rivals and indulging in orgies (hey, when in Rome...) and managed to father seven children. Being a model father of the times, his poor daughter, Lucrezia, got married off three times to help build alliances and when one of those marriage alliances went sour (to a guy she really liked), the pope/daddy/evil father-in-law had him stabbed to death.
Leo X (Pope from 1513 - 1521)
Louis XIV had nothing on this man. Extravagant to the max, his lavish spending managed to bankrupt the papacy in just two short years. Once he realized that he was broke, he spent the rest of his time at St. Peter's pawning off palace furnishings and licensing more brothel's to keep the party going. Fat, sweaty, and effeminate, on the plus side he was known to be very kind, jolly, and a big supporter of charities and the arts. Even so, it was Leo's lifestyle that encouraged an obscure man named Marin Luther to write 95 Thesis and nail them up on a church door in Wittenburg. Oops, glad you had fun, Leo. Sorry about the whole "starting of the reformation" thing.
Paul III (Pope from 1534 - 1549)
Remember our pal Alexander VI? He had a lovely mistress named Guilia who repaid her favors by making her brother, Paul, a cardinal. One thing led to another and before long, Paul himself got to be pope too. The first order of business for the new pope was to make his 14 and 16 year old grandsons cardinals too - why mess with tradition? Basically a good guy who enjoyed the occasional romp with a saucy lass, he became famous for just one thing - excommunicating Henry VIII of England after he divorced Catherine of Aragon in order to shack up with his own saucy lass, Anne Boleyn.
Julius III (Pope from 1550 - 1555)
A perfectly well-behaved pope as compared to the company he's in on this list, Julius was a pretty cool guy. He kept up the grand old tradition of nepotism, loved a good (and big) meal, enjoyed gambling a bit too much, and generally just liked having a good time. Unfortunately for this frat rat, he's gone down in history for cruising the gay scene in Parma where he fell in love with a stunningly attractive 17-year-old boy. And made him a cardinal. Of course.
Pious XII (Pope from 1939 - 1958)
Favorite drinking buddy of fascist leaders everywhere, Eugenio Pacelli was nicknamed "Hitler's Pope." In his quest to insure papal absolutism in Italy he buddied up to Hitler and Mussolini. Pious was a noted anti-Semite and racist, which is sad because he was one of the few people with enough political power at the time to have possibly changed the course of history.
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Hi ProMom
Please check out my post regarding Pope Pius XII below. In brief:
Pinchas Lapide, the Israeli historian and diplomat to Milan in his book "Three Popes and the Jews" claimed that Pius XII was instrumental in saving at least 700,000 Jews. But the fact that such a leader of the Church helped saved Jews does not stop there. The actions of the other leaders of the Church must not be discounted. Rabbi David Dalin, a Jewish scholar uncovered fascinating truths regarding the actions of the Church during the merciless mass slaughter by the Nazis. While the Italian Jews were not deported until 1943 Rabbi Dalin reveals that Cardinals, Bishops, and the laity sheltered Jews after this time. As for the Pope, he opened the doors of the Vatican to hundreds and 3,000 were sheltered at the Pope's summer residence, Castel Gandolfo.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Was-The-Wartime-Catholic-C
God bless
Brendan
www.godfact.com
Questioning the role of the Catholic Church during the time of the Second World War is a liberty everybody should be able to enjoy. However, calling Pope Pius XII a "famous drinking buddy of fascist leaders everywhere" merely weeakens your position, not the Church's, because it is simply a statement that is utterly wrong. The fact that Pius XII was nicknamed "Hitler's Pope" also doesn't add to the equation because while on the one hand we are missing the phenomenological evidence, there are, on the other hand, enough people who know that there's lots of dough to be made with a catchy title and a bit of anti-Catholic or anti-clerical bias. Claiming that Pope Pius XII was a "noted anti-semite and racist" finally puts you in the corner of the "I write history the way it serves my needs"-gang. Also: His name was Pius, not Pious. I would let you get away with that but against the background of your lack of historical accuracy, it is too interesting to neglect.
wtFFFF!!!
wtFFFF!!!
I cannot believe that Pius XII is even on a list of "bad popes." I hope there is more basis for the others on the list. Certainly, Pius XII does not belong on the list. He will soon be Sainted.
I cannot believe the kind of anti-catholic rubbish like the above about pius xii is allowed to be so freely published. Most recent scholarship on the matter puts him clearly in a courageous light. Do not forget that some 3 million catholics were killed in concentrations camps, many of them Catholic clergy who had spoken in defence of the Jews. The Dutch clergy in particular were imprisioned and killed en masse for protesting the treatment of the Jews. How come anti-catholic sentiment and bigotry is not as villified as anti-semitism?
You all miss the point. To think that the authority of Lord Jesus, could devolve through such corrupt leadership, and sustain any man or organization claiming to be God's representative, is ludicrous.
How can anyone give credence to and sustain the doctrine and dogma dictated by such debauched men? By being ignorant of the truth and emotionally supporting their faith.
I respect their vehement defense of their faith, and I believe the Lord will bless them for it, but I believe He has long ago walked away from the carcass of their religion.
I should add, how could the Lord stand behind a church, who's early "missionary outreach" led to the wholesale slaughter of tens of thousands who did not follow it's doctrine. The same spirit that drives today's radical Islamist infected the church for centuries.
Do you really think the Lord would continue to support such an organization? Only the faith of it's members has maintained it. As the Lord said would happen, there has been a falling away from the truth, and we are experiencing a spiritual famine.
all of this sounds like the 10 bucnh of Anti-Christ! isn't it?
I think most of this is based on exaggerations rather than on facts. Of course there were Popes who had succumed to temptations and were not saintly, but the role of freemasons cannot be ignored in felicitating this bad phase
I now belive the 3rd wizard rule whice says that the greatest harm arises from the best intention. Many think that they are following christ without knowing that they are right behind satan. The you truth is that roman catholics are not christians. Their doctrine opposes what the bible says. In the bible jesus says that he is the way (john 10) but to them mary is the way. Now i will like to ask,jesus and mary, who love sinner more? If you are a catholic you better repent.
I have read everything on this site and i have read all the comments. Were there bad popes in the history of the catholic church...yes. Is this list of the bad popes historically accurate. No. So we had maybe 10 bad popes in the history of the Catholic Church. 10 out of 266 is not bad. The Roman Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ himself. Knowing all, would he start a church that he knew would fall. No.. Did he know that man within the church would fall. Yes... Our own human weakness causes us to sin. I had a bad teacher in highschool who taught us the wrong information. Does that mean all teachers of that subject or even that school are wrong? No. look into the Roman Catholic Church. Find out What we really believe in. Find out that we worship Only one God. to post articles and comments of things you have never researched is irresponsible. I will continue to pray for each soul that reads these inaccurate non-historical mumbo jumbo. If you would like to find out more about the Actual truth, look into the Catholic church at www.Catholic.com
I would first like too give cudoos to the person who wrote this page. The information is interesting and insightful with a dash of humor throne in- Bravo. I don't believe it was yourintention to be controversial but, as history shows us nothing incites people more than good old religion.
It is amazing to me that even after two years people are still reading this and posting comments but, it saddens me when, I read replies from individuals that are hostile in tone, arrogant in demeanor; acting as if correcting a spelling mistake detracts from the validity of your claim. It would be a more harmonious world if we all had the same beliefs; however, it would be an extremely boring world as well. Unfortunately, just because we hear a point of view we do not like that does not make it wrong.In fact the name "Hitler's Pope,"(The Secret History of Pius XII) is the title of a book written 1999 by John Cromwell which, only revisted an assertion made by many historian and scholars.The first to assert this position was a German playwright Rolf Hochhuth, in the "Deputy." I could continue with many others who are well documented in holding the same opinion but, instead I'll eplain why they do.
I will start by saying,I was raised as a Catholic so I am very familiar with chapter and verse.I love history and study it as a passion and as a student so, I am aware of how and why religion was created.Anyone who truely believe's in something stands up for what they believe in. This fact is especially true if that deep held belief is being attacked. It is human nature for a person to become defensive in their action when they feel persecuted. Case in point, some of the posts above.This holds true when someone speaks out for something you don't believe in.
Jesus, appeared in the temple courts,he sat down to teach them.The scribes and Pharisees brought him a woman accused of adultery.They wanted Jesus, to pass judgment on her and the law according to the Moses,is that she should be stoned to death. Jesus said,"He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone"... John 8:3
Or, when Jesus went into the temple and became enraged to see money changers and merchant in his father's house. Jesus responds by, turning over the tables and tells them to leave. This are all examples, of Jesus's expectation of a righteous man standing up and being heard against an injustice.
Pius XII, didn't stand up! In fact, he stayed silent concerning Hitler and the massacre of the European Jews. No man or women should ever stand silent in the prensence of injustice and claim to know God.“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Martin Luther King, Jr
When I say, "Silent," I mean Pius XII DID NOT- speak out clearly and definitively against Hitler's treatment and killing of Jewish fellow human beings.You know,like they do about abortion. His silence is a recorded fact and so is the fact that he served as the papal nuncio to Germany his entire career.As far as the claims that Pius XII save 700,000 Jews(by the way, that number has changed as much as the Vatican's excuses as to why pediophile priest were left unpunished and in position.)the documents that supposedly supported these fuzzy fact; brought to light by Pope John PaulII in 1998 are being called into question.To be clear,the documents authenticity and validity are being questioned until futher investigation.
The Vatican,itself as a matter of record only saved and sheltered 2,000 Jews at the most. To be clear,the Vatican is a financially self sustaining entity, with is governed and answers only to itself.(kind of like the Federal Reserve)except,the Bank of the Vatican.(scratch the fed. analogy) So, if someone wants access to documents, wishes to conduct and investigation or wishes to try a criminal for say, a sex crime they maybe haurboring behind Vatican walls, they can say no. That's That's.
I could go on and on with facts but, the only fact that really matters is everyone adds something to the converstion. People are put on this earth to learn from one another. A piece of information here, and there and collectively we become smarter and better people.We may not always like the truth but, we can prove it! Proof is being able to go to several unrelated independent scholarly sources and finding information to back up your claims, Instead of going to one book written by the people your investigating.That's Mumbo Jumbo, it sounds foolish and fanatical. To the author, You know you wrote something interesting and engaging when you piss people off. I loved it!
I believe in God and Jesus Christ but, I do not believe being blind or illogical are mutually exclusive to that belief.
Read the book " The Devil In The Church !" then give your comments!
Pope Pius Xll being considered a bad Pope, is a bad opinion, to say the least! This Pope is a candidate for Sainthood, and no doubt he will make it, because he was a living Saint to millions of Jews that escaped the Holocost because of his noble and smart efforts! He was NOT called Hitler's Pope (that's a late 20th century smeer!), quite the opposite infact, he was called the Jewish Pope! This is a partial list, well documented, of his tireless efforts to first stop WWll and then to help all people escape the cruelty of Hitlers henchmen. 1. He had all the convents and monesteries of Italy take in Jews and to give them habits in order that they would not be detected. 2. He had false Passports printed and passed around to Jews for them to escape Europe. 3. He asked Catholic Countries to take them in and when they didnt because of anti-semintism, he had new passports issued documenting that the owners of the passports were baptized Catholics even though this was a deliberate lie, 4. He organized the largest social network in ther world, staffed by 1000's of volunteers from various countries, to help find missing persons before the war ended, but most importantly, after the war. 5. He desperately tried to intervene in political discussions to help staff off WWll but the United States,specifically, refused the Vatican any say or presence in any public or private meetings. 6. All Catholic Churches in Germany and Italy were ordered to preach against Hitler directly and told that there was no room for cowardice. I reccommend that whoever is interested inthis topic,search for books written in the late 1940's and 50's to get an accurate picture of what really happened as I did! Even the Head Rabbi of Rome was so humbled and grateful for all Pius Xll did for the Jewish people, he actually converted to Catholicism! There is a cementary named in honor of Pius Xll in Israel, so loved was he by Goldy Mier. And one more footnote....it is a little known fact that Pius Xll personaly contacted all the Catholic countries and requested that they vote YES in the UN referendumon for Israel being given to the Jewish people. The list goes on and on....
P.s Here is a good Blogspot which many links for personal research: linhttp://popepiusxiiandthejews.blogspot.com/ks to prove the point that Pius X11 was a Saintly Pope: and here is an excellent book to read if you can find a copy Pius Xll by Halecki 1951. One will read the details of Eugenio Pacelli's Crusade of Charity, The 5 Point Peace Plan, the efforts of the Vatican to secure peace alongside President Roosevelt, The Vatican Information Service with 645 persons aiding the reuniting of people all over Europe, Papal Soup kitchens, Food for Children of Europe and the Far East, Papal requests to American Catholics to provide food aid, Papal emergency ration stations, 15,000 Jews having taken refuge in Castel Gandolfo,the Pope's personal residence,Papal request for food help to Spain and Portugal, Catholic Hospitals open to all in need without charge,the relief Caravans that followed behind Allied advances to aid those in concentration camps and aiding more than 2 million, and
the behind the scenes efforts of Papal Nuncios.
the catholic church has and always will be rotten to the core. the reformation was a good start at breaking the power of rome in europe, but much more needs to be done.
pedophilia is and has been an integral part of catholicism.
woe betide those who follow its twisted creeds.
I enjoyed reading the run-down on the 'Bad Popes'. It was crafted carefully and even humorously.
I was stunned at the comments of some people deciding that Pious XII shouldn't be on the list because he is being considered for Sainthood! Seems to me that the Catholic church might want to change their definition of what a 'Saint' is. I don't think that people have to be perfect, but certainly not racists. Another example is Mother Theresa. I believe she was a good person who tried hard to help people, except for one thing. She is an example of showing how piety is a good thing, while at the same time having a good deal of money that could have been used to alleviate suffering. I guess helping people always has been defined by suffering. I seem to remember Jesus multiplying the fish and the bread for the wedding feast. If Jesus had adopted Mother Theresa's ideas, He would have walked away and boasted that is good to leave the poor to their suffering.
Catholics don't seem to be able to reason. Just where in the scriptures are we told to call a man "Holy Father" or that any man can live vicariously as Christ on Earth. Now that's blasphemy because it looks to me that many of the Pope's weren't even basically honest. All those mistresses. Did the Catholics do away fornication directives from scripture? That's the only logical conclusion I can honestly come to.
I leave them to their corruption.
catholic church is not the true church of God. The God Almighty will not let bad people lead his church.
jenine and Katie are not historians. In fact they only prove they are ready to believe anything evil about the Catholic Fatih. There comments are laced with lines found in newspapers and magazines which have decided to demonize Catholicism because of its stance against abortion and homozexuality.
The original flub who wrote this page amazingly left off John XII and Benedict X, two of the most evil and disgusting popes ever.He mentioned nothing of "the Pornocracy" and the century long "Rule of the Harlots" in recard to papal politics in the 900s. Apparently his sect's antiCatholic website missed them also.
Apparently the silly women, Jenine and Katie, have never read Catholic histories of the papacy. We're a lot tougher on the bad apples than this jackanapes who wrote this, ladies.
Oh, Jenine, one more thing. Just because you were once a member of the Catholic Church does not mean that you have a doctorate in systematic theology or in Church History. Leaving the Church only proves that you didn't understand what little you were taught. And, I promise, anything else you write defending yourself and denouncing Catholic belief comes only from the present sect of which you are now a member and has no basis in actual fact.
I am ashamed of you, Jenine, and you, Katie, and everyone else who praised this poorly researched and leering collection of half-truths. lies and smears.
i thought this was a great post :) it's nice to see some light shed upon the horrible things the catholic church has done in it's two thousand years of existence. i only wish there was a little more detail put into how many millions of people have been murdered in it's name, or how many boys have been molested by it's leaders.
alas, as there obviously is no god, really it's all a waste to even argue which leader was the worst. when your raised to believe the ridiculous fairy tales derived before science, you have little hope of having any objective, open minded thoughts. i mean it makes sense, look around the world, you can make anyone believe anything if you repetitively tell them it over and over from birth. hence the wealth of silly beliefs that still exist across the globe.
it's sad to think that people still believe in the astro-theological hybrid of the bible, open your eyes- watch zeitgeist. anyway, if i can offend just one person by this post i will have done my job :)
The pope is not god the pope is human so don't worship them and they also die not like jesus they don't have powers of god their power comes from evil only god can forgive ..
any time that humans collect together,some will do the wrong thing.examples are plentiful in politics,religion,commerce etc.we do receive benefits from every collective human activity.it is reasonable and i think logical to recognize the benefit of collective human effort when the benefit is evident.it is wise to weed out evil but ungrateful and unjust to ignore the good.
poooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop
Some interesting opinions, we will all be judged eventually (except of course for the athiest, I suppose he is pleading "no contest"). I do wrestle with the idea that those in leadership positions should be given any more esteem than the common man. It seems to end badly when people possess alot of power. Even the power to publish any random post, though I must say, this was an enjoyable one.
Take comfort in the proverb "the good man will receive what he hopes for, and the wicked man will get what he fears most."
Haters, most of you. Sad.
And of course we are all sinners, so putting faith in a man, or knocking a faith because of a man is just ignorant.
(please don't be offended by the word ignorant)
No one is perfect and by admitting it we agree that no religion is perfect. Even on the Apostles that Jesus lead on his time, they commit mistakes (sin). Peter the Apostles who considered by Catholic first Pope also have sinned against Jesus. For those bible readers, you are also familiar of Paul rebuking Peter because he sinned with the congregation. So I cant find anything wrong with this article. Maybe Pious XII is "Hitler's Pope" just to be an undercover to save life or maybe not. We really do not know what is with him at that time. We just face it that somehow he maybe a bad pope in that area but also a good pope in other area. He will be judged thru fact by history but he whether he is bad or good, God will judge him. Thats it! I look this as a positive for Catholics or in any other religion. Religion cant save you but your faith thru God's grace. And also that the Catholic Church was tested thru fire. Pope are people like us and every people has his bad and good side. Dont be self righteous guys by being defensive. Read but dont be affected its not your soul, it is their. Be humble enough that we all sinned. :)
Jesus founded His church in the Apostle's...not Pope's, miters,rings,coronations and thrones. "for such is the Kingdom of heaven"...reference to humble children.
from a priest and chaplain
Tell you what...... Why don't we just concentrate on being GOOD
Tell you what...... Why don't we just concentrate on being GOOD
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Matthew 7:1-3
daria369 3 years ago
This is an awesome post, I really enjoyed it!
Besides, you could easily write a spicy book on every one of these guys... ;)