The worst Pope

[Wertbag]

I was speaking to a Catholic online and I asked him what he thought about the horrific Popes through history.  If these popes were terrible people, wouldn't that point to the whole organisation being man-made and hence no reason to consider it holy?  He said the position is holy, but the people are fallible humans, but even the worst of them help to teach us something about sin, life and redemption.  Which while I get that a disaster of a pope can be a moral story for others, it still says that commands given by the pope should not be considered special, and yet due to the position being considered holy, even the most horrific orders must be followed without question.  The guy I was talking to was completely unable to use his own moral compass to determine if commands were good or evil, having instead the inbuilt rule that he must obey the pope regardless.  It was truly a terrible mindset to see in another person.

 

I Googled the worst Pope, and the story that I came across was so twisted that it would put most soap operas to shame.  Let me summarise the rein of Pope Benedict IX (1012-1056):

Benedict was the nephew of previous popes Benedict VIII and John XIX, in fact his family tree had 7 Popes in it.  Back in those days the pope was more selected by wealth and power than by holy works.  Benedict became Pope at age 20, the youngest Pope in history.

The Popes back then lived in the Lateran Palace and rarely visited the Vatican.  The young Pope straight away started having orgies and parties in the palace, with descriptions of sadism, bestiality and even several people killed.

Due to the horrific events the church kicked him out in 1045, giving the Papacy to Pope Sylvester III, but only lasted weeks before Benedict marched in and reclaimed it by force.

However, it was only a few months later Benedict sold the papacy to his godfather who became Pope Gregory VI.

The following year both Sylvester and Benedict returned to Rome and both claimed the papacy.  All 3 Popes took the matter to the Roman emperor, who ended up rejecting all 3 claims and installing Pope Clement II instead.

After less than a year Pope Clement died under mysterious circumstances, either a disease or poison, never confirmed.
At which point Pope Benedict IX reinstalled himself for the third time, however the Roman Emperor was not happy and sent troops to have the Pope removed again.  He was exiled from Rome, never to return.  He was replaced by Pope Damasus II, whose papacy lasted 3 weeks (the shortest in history) before he too died under mysterious circumstances and rumours of poison once again arose.
The following Pope Victor III said of Benedict "his rapes, murders and other unspeakable acts of violence and sodomy. His life as a pope was so vile, so foul, so execrable, that I shudder to think of it."

 

And this is the guy that a modern Catholic must consider chosen by the holy spirit to lead the church?  Whose commands are the words of God?  This veneration of people to Godhood is so obviously dangerous, so cult like, and has happened so many times throughout history that it is easy to see why many people see the Catholic church as a blight on humanity.

[Casualfanboy16]

On 8/22/2023 at 5:22 PM, Wertbag said:

The young Pope straight away started having orgies and parties in the palace, with descriptions of sadism, bestiality and even several people killed.

Beastiality??? People killed???? Well, the rest of it isn't terribly surprising, but what the fuck.