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Top 10 Controversial Popes

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  • Top 10 Controversial Popes

    Top 10 Controversial Popes
    As controversy swirls around the Catholic Church and noted atheists such as Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins call for Pope Benedict XVI's arrest for "crimes against humanity," TIME takes a look at history's most scandal-ridden Pontiffs

    Read more: Stephen VI - Top 10 Controversial Popes - TIME

    ORIGINAL LIST
    1. Stephen VI
    2. Urban VI
    3. Alexander VI
    4. Pius XII
    5. Benedict IX
    6. Boniface VIII
    7. Nicholas III
    8. Clement V
    9. Leo X
    10. Sergius III

    Read more: Full List - Top 10 Controversial Popes - TIME


    Stephen VI
    By Kayla Webley
    Talk about holding a grudge. Pope Stephen VI (also sometimes known as Stephen VII) despised his predecessor, Pope Formosus, so much that even his death could not satisfy him — he wanted defamation. In the Cadaver Synod — what has been called "the strangest and most terrible trial in human history" and "one of the grisliest events in papal history" — Stephen VI had Formosus' rotting nine-month-old corpse dug up, redressed in his papal vestments and seated on the throne so he could be tried. Somehow the corpse hadn't built much of a defense and Formosus was found guilty of what were likely bogus charges. As punishment, three of Formosus' fingers were cut off (the three fingers on the right hand used to give blessings). The corpse was then stripped of his sacred vestments, dressed as a layman, dragged through the streets and dumped in the Tiber River — where he was finally able to rest in peace.

    Urban VI
    By Laura Fitzpatrick
    The papacy of Urban VI (Bartolomeo Prignano) got off on the wrong foot. An Italian, he was elected to succeed Pope Gregory XI in April 1378 in a move intended to placate Romans bridling at the decades of French domination in the papacy. But once installed Urban alienated his followers with a harsh leadership style. Thirteen French cardinals — fearing that their new leader would favor his fellow Italians — fled Rome, declaring within months that Urban's election was "null because it was not made freely but under fear." On September 20, 1378, they chose their own pope, French cardinal Robert of Geneva, who became the antipope Clement VII. Those competing papacies launched the Western Schism that proved a thorn in the Church's side for four decades. If only Urban had played nice...

    Alexander VI
    By Kayla Webley
    Corrupt, controversial, and by some accounts wicked, Alexander VI was not a picture of papal purity. A member of the prominent and wealthy Borgia family, he bought his way into St. Peter's. Once there, he appointed family members to powerful positions, including his own sons and members of his mistresses family. While some of the controversy surrounding Alexander VI is well-founded, other scandalous details may just be rumors, such as his arranging murders or hosting wild orgies inside the papal palace. He did, however, bear four children by his mistress, Vannozza Catanei. He made his daughter Lucrezia into a political pawn — marrying her off three times in the hope of securing alliances and power. Some even speculate that Alexander VI himself fathered one of Lucrezia's children.
    Alexander VI did have one redeeming quality: his patronage of the arts. He persuaded Michelangelo to draw up plans for the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica, embellished the Vatican palaces and restored the Castel Sant'Angelo — all of which he is remembered for today.


    Pius XII
    By Gilbert Cruz
    Quite popular during his time as pontiff, Pius XII, who served at the Vatican from 1939 to 1958, has been the subject of heated debate in the decades since. As head of the Catholic Church during World War II, Pius was been pilloried in some quarters for not doing more to speak out against the atrocities of the Holocaust. Just this January, the head of Rome's Jewish community confronted Pope Benedict XVI over Pius' perceived silence during the war. The Church, however, has long held that Pius was active in saving Jews from the Nazis, a claim it says will be supported when Vatican documents related to the war are released to the public over the next half decade.


    Benedict IX
    Pope Benedict IX was not exactly beloved. St. Peter Damian, for one, called him "a demon from hell in the disguise of a priest." In his third book of Dialogues, Pope Victor III wrote of Benedict as having a "life as a pope so vile, so foul, so execrable, that I shudder to think of it." No wonder Benedict decided to stick it to all of them, resigning in 1045 — and becoming the first man in history to sell the papacy. The buyer: the priest John Gratian (Pope Gregory VI). Benedict later refused to face charges of simony and was excommunicated.

    Boniface VIII

    Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303) didn't want to save your soul; he wanted to rule your life. Boniface was one of the most ardent supporters of papal authority. What started as a minor squabble with King Philip IV of France over a government's ability to tax clergy members escalated until Boniface excommunicated the king and released a decree stating that "every human creature [was] subject to the Roman pontiff." Boniface sent mercenaries to destroy other people's castles, declared all of the prominent Italian Colonna family's property forfeited, and proceeded to parcel their land out among his own family members. In September 1303, an army led by the Colonna family kidnapped the Pope and demanded he abdicate. Held in captivity for multiple days, the Pope refused. He survived the attack and returned to Rome only to die a month later.
    Although Boniface was still alive when Dante — who had been personally exiled by the Pope for supporting papal limitations — wrote his famous Divine Comedy, the Italian writer placed him in his version of Hell anyway.

    Nicholas III
    By Claire Suddath
    It's always good to be the Pope. But for the three years of Pope Nicholas III's brief reign (1277-1280) it may have been better to be the Pope's brother. Or uncle. Or cousin. Nicholas III distributed principalities in the Papal States among members of his family, essentially giving them land and political power. This nepotism earned him a spot in Dante's eighth circle of Hell.


    Clement V
    By Claire Suddath
    Clement V (1305-1314) reversed Boniface VIII's anti-France decrees and appointed 23 new French cardinals, but attempts to make amends were short lived. When France's King Phillip IV charged the Knights Templar with heresy, Clement abolished them before the King could (this retaining an appearance of supreme power). He played countries against each other, instituted oppressively high taxes and openly gave land to his supporters and family. Clement had seemingly no qualms about his ability to be bought; for this reason, Dante also placed him in his Inferno.

    Leo X
    By Kayla Webley
    Pope Leo X had expensive tastes. A true Renaissance man, he built up the Vatican Library, accelerated the construction of St. Peter's Basilica and poured lavish funds into the arts. But his efforts to renew Rome's position as a cultural center took money. So much money, in fact, that within two years he had drained the papal treasury completely, as well as a great deal of his own fortune. To compensate, Leo X began selling off pieces of the Vatican palace — furniture, dishes, jewels and statues of the apostles. He also issued indulgences as a way to make up lost funds, essentially allowing sinners to buy their way out of damnation.
    The indulgences helped, though in the end they would cost Leo X much more. Martin Luther harshly objected to what he saw as the buying and selling of salvation, saying, "As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs." Leo X dismissed Luther's claims. By failing to take such criticism seriously, he contributed to the dissolution of the Western church and the rise of the Protestant Reformation.

    Sergius III
    By Laura Fitzpatrick
    The truth about Sergius III has been lost in the mists of time — he lived over one millennium ago. But he is believed to have the dubious distinction of being the only pope to order another pope's death: in 904, antipope Christopher is believed to have been strangled to death on the order of Sergius — who took control of the papacy that same year. His shady doings didn't end there: Sergius is rumored to have dallied with Marozia — the daughter of Theophylactus, a powerful count who helped the pope expand into more territory — and to have fathered her son. That son, incidentally, went on to become Pope John XI.
    To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

  • #2
    Alexander VI? Not controversial at all. History' verdict against him is unanimous and firm. :)):)):))
    All those who are merciful with the cruel will come to be cruel to the merciful.
    -Talmud Kohelet Rabbah, 7:16.

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    • #3
      Leo ix
      Hell the Bishop of Rome wasn't even at Nicea and now by himself he insisted the creed be changed? It probably contributed greatly to balkan problems today and the elimination of Christianity from Asia minor. and possibly doomed the western states created during the crusades. An Eastern Empire still strongly tied to the west would of been a much stronger ally and more likely to of gotten assistance rather than destroyed by co religonists.
      Where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost.”
      ~Ronald Reagan

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      • #4
        What problems did religion caused?And I mean caused by religion per se,not politics that use religion as a pretext.
        Byz. Empire lost Anatolia during the civil war that followed Manzikert.With or without the Schism it would have been the same.
        In 1204 the Pope did not condone the attack.Nevertheless,the brave warriors of faith were quick to interfere in another civil war and get rich in the process.The Serbian kings(and not only) weren't shy in forming their own Patriarchy that crowned them Emperors and quite a few other Orthodox rulers had their eyes on Constantinople.So its not religious affiliations,schisms or whatever else mon ami,it's only politics.

        Somehow I was always fond of Phillip le Belle,the Iron King.His man,Nogaret, had a most succesfull way of dealing with stubborn popes,an iron fist in Pope Boniface's face.Clement V seems to have received the message.
        Those who know don't speak
        He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Mihais View Post
          What problems did religion caused?And I mean caused by religion per se,not politics that use religion as a pretext.
          Byz. Empire lost Anatolia during the civil war that followed Manzikert.With or without the Schism it would have been the same.
          In 1204 the Pope did not condone the attack.Nevertheless,the brave warriors of faith were quick to interfere in another civil war and get rich in the process.The Serbian kings(and not only) weren't shy in forming their own Patriarchy that crowned them Emperors and quite a few other Orthodox rulers had their eyes on Constantinople.So its not religious affiliations,schisms or whatever else mon ami,it's only politics.

          Somehow I was always fond of Phillip le Belle,the Iron King.His man,Nogaret, had a most succesfull way of dealing with stubborn popes,an iron fist in Pope Boniface's face.Clement V seems to have received the message.
          A closer connection may of made sacking Constantinople less likely or eliminated the crusade all together. The Eastern Empire was the great power in the East during the 12th century and it's at least plausible they wouldn't of been making treaties with the Danishends if the Crusader states weren't hostile and who knows the Comenii might of had a relationship with Outremer along the lines of later 12th century Hungary. The rise of Venice might of made the slaughter in the 1170s happen anyway but much less likely and the subsequent Venician hatred as well. Plus well, there was still the Angelii. The western and coastal Asia minor were recovered within 50 years of Manzikert. I think he still gets a vote for a "bad pope" he unilaterally changed 700 yr old church doctrine and lost half of those who believed him at least titular head of the Church.
          Where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost.”
          ~Ronald Reagan

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