Myths About the Papacy
Part II - The Reality: Papal Sins and Heresies
A Guest Document
by Lee Penn
Leaving aside the bait-and-switch tactic (why would the Pope - not Christ - personify Catholicism?), to exalt the person of the Pope ignores history. The Popes of the 20th Century were, for the most part, virtuous in their personal lives. Many who preceded them were quite otherwise. Whatever it was that they personified, it was not from God.
The Papacy From 896 to 1048
AD
• Even the Vatican’s apologists acknowledge that the Papacy passed through a dark age from 896 to 1048; they describe the Papacy of the 900s as a “pornocracy,” due to its domination by the Theophylacts, a corrupt family of Roman nobles. The Papal misdeeds of this era include:[2]
Stephen VI (896-897): exhumed the corpse of Pope Formosus (891-896), tried it for offenses against canon law in the “Cadaver Synod,” and had the former Pope's body mutilated (the three fingers used for blessing were chopped off) and the remains tossed into the Tiber. This outraged the population to the point of insurrection. Stephen was deposed and strangled – and then buried in St. Peter's.
The Papacy From 1455 to 1555 AD
• The Papacy of 1455-1555 likewise earned infamy for its immorality.[9] As is obvious, various Papal decisions (those that apologists describe as “disciplinary acts”) led directly to Protestant revolts in Germany and England. During this period, ancient paganism became respectable in the Vatican; Curial writing referred to “God the Father as ‘Jupiter Optimus Maximus,’ to the Virgin Mary as ‘Diana,’ to the Apostles as ‘legates,’ and to the bishops as ‘proconsuls.’”[10]
Pius II (1458-1464): “known throughout Italy and beyond as a connoisseur, an historian, and the author of erotic plays and tales.”[11] Pius II made two nephews cardinals; one of these – who got his red hat at age 21 – reigned for a month as Pius III (1503).
Ironically, the sainted Pope Pius X reversed this decree. In the
1904 decree Vacante Sede Apostolica, Pius condemned simony, but held
that this would not invalidate a Papal election. His successors did the
same. John Paul II ruled in 1996 that “If – God forbid – in the election
of the Roman Pontiff the crime of simony were to be perpetrated, I decree and declare that all
those guilty thereof shall incur excommunication latae sententiae. At the same time I
remove the nullity or invalidity of the same simoniacal provision, in order that – as was
already established by my Predecessors – the validity of the election of the Roman Pontiff may
not for this reason be
challenged.”[20]
The
Standards set forth by St. Paul for Bishops
Contrast the behavior of these Popes to the standards that St. Paul set forth for bishops:
“The saying is sure: If any one aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a noble task. Now a bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, dignified, hospitable, an apt teacher, no drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and no lover of money. He must manage his own household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way; for if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil; moreover he must be well thought of by outsiders, or he may fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” (1 Tim. 3:1-7)
Another part of the Dictatus was “the claim that the Pope alone has the right to use the imperial insignia, or that princes shall kiss his foot;” these were derived from the Donation of Constantine,[27] a fraudulent document.
The Defenders of the
Hierarchy Fail in Their Efforts
Defenders of the Hierarchy say that (a) even the worst of Popes never formally taught heresy, and (b) that the evil behavior of some Popes does not impair their authority and accuracy as teachers of the Faith. This defense fails on both counts:
Vigilius’ greatest crime had been the way he obtained the Papacy: he had aligned himself with the dissolute Empress Theodora, posed as a Monophysite sympathizer to gain her support, and went to Rome with her money to buy election as Pope. The clergy there had already elected Silverius as Pope; the Imperial authorities responded by sending Silverius into exile and declaring the Holy See to be vacant. Vigilius won the new Papal election, arrested Silverius as soon as the former Pope returned to Rome, and exiled him again – leading to Silverius’ early death by starvation. As a historian of the Papacy reports, “To all intents and purposes, one Pope, and he the son of a pope, had been deposed and murdered by another.”[29] These acts raise a question: shouldn't posing as a heretic, and doing so with such lethal effect, “count” against a Pope in the same way that intentionally issuing a heretical encyclical would?
Honorius I (625-638): adhered to Monothelitism, which held that there is only one (divine) will in Christ. After Honorius died, he was solemnly condemned as a heretic by the Third Council of Constantinople, (680-681 – the Sixth Ecumenical Council).[30] Pope Leo II (682-683) affirmed the verdict, saying, “We anathematize ... Honorius, who did not attempt to sanctify this Apostolic Church with the teaching of Apostolic tradition, but by profane treachery permitted its purity to be polluted.”[31] The Seventh Ecumenical Council (787) restated this condemnation.[32] Even though Honorius did not formally define his view as Church teaching,[33] this event clearly shows that Popes can be heretical.
2. “Teaching” involves more that putting orthodox words into an encyclical with the appropriate canonical formulae. Jesus taught by his acts as well as with his sermons. Any wise parent, teacher, or manager knows that bad example can – and usually will – negate even the most inspired or well-intentioned of their words (or teachings) given to those under their authority. As the Apostle James said: “faith, by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” (James 2:17). Thus, when Popes lived evil lives – and yet more, when they pursued evil policies using the power, resources, and authority associated with their office – they were teachers of evil.
Lord Acton, a Catholic historian in 19th Century England, makes this case for sober and realistic judgment of the behavior of Popes (and other powerful men):
“I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption it is the other way against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.”[34]
_________________________________________________________
The Document has been broken up in four
sections:
Part II - The Reality: Papal Sins and Heresies
Part III - The teachings of the Magisterium and a History of its Fallibility
Part IV - A Way Out of the Trap
Back to Introduction
[1] Patrick Madrid, Pope Fiction, Basilica Press, 1999, p. 18.
[2] Sources used for this history include: Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, Harper San Francisco, 2000, pp. 143-174 (liberal perspective); Charles A. Coulombe, Vicars of Christ, Citadel Press, 2003, pp. 163-204 (traditionalist perspective); Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University Press, 2001, pp. 104-114 (centrist, academic perspective); Claudio Rendina, The Popes: Histories and Secrets, Seven Locks Press, 2002, pp. 210-257 (liberal perspective).
[3] Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, Harper San Francisco, 2000, p. 146.
[4] Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, Harper San Francisco, 2000, pp. 157-158.
[5] Charles A. Coulombe, Vicars of Christ, Citadel Press, 2003, p. 179.
[6] Claudio Rendina, The Popes: Histories and Secrets, Seven Locks Press, 2002, p. 226.
[7] Charles A. Coulombe, Vicars of Christ, Citadel Press, 2003, p. 200.
[8] Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University Press, 2001, p. 111.
[9] Sources used for this history include: Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, Harper San Francisco, 2000, pp. 260-284; Charles A. Coulombe, Vicars of Christ, Citadel Press, 2003, pp. 322-347; Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University Press, 2001, pp. 184-218; Claudio Rendina, The Popes: Histories and Secrets, Seven Locks Press, 2002, pp. 413-461.
[10] Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University Press, 2001, p. 188.
[11] Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University Press, 2001, p. 184.
[12] Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, Harper San Francisco, 2000, p. 263.
[13] Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University Press, 2001, p. 189.
[14] Charles A. Coulombe, Vicars of Christ, Citadel Press, 2003, p. 326.
[15] Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University Press, 2001, p. 196.
[16] Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University Press, 2001, p. 189.
[17] Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, Harper San Francisco, 2000, pp. 267-268.
[18] Claudio Rendina, The Popes: Histories and Secrets, Seven Locks Press, 2002, p. 431.
[19] Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, Harper San Francisco, 2000, p. 270.
[20] John Paul II, Universi Dominici Gregis, para. 78, 1996; http://catholiculture.com/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=5518, accessed 01/11/06.
[21] Charles A. Coulombe, Vicars of Christ, Citadel Press, 2003, p. 337.
[22] Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University Press, 2001, p. 209.
[23] Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, Harper San Francisco, 2000, p. 283.
[24] Claudio Rendina, The Popes: Histories and Secrets, Seven Locks Press, 2002, p. 459.
[25] Claudio Rendina, The Popes: Histories and Secrets, Seven Locks Press, 2002, p. 460.
[26] Gregory VII, Dictatus Papae, 1075, translation at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/g7-dictpap.html, accessed 01/11/06.
[27] Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University Press, 2001, p. 121.
[28] Sources used for this history include: Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, Harper San Francisco, 2000, pp. 60-62, 66-68, 90-93, 101-103; Charles A. Coulombe, Vicars of Christ, Citadel Press, 2003, pp. 71-72, 101-103, 113-115; Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University Press, 2001, pp. 32-33, 54-57; Claudio Rendina, The Popes: Histories and Secrets, Seven Locks Press, 2002, pp. 47-51, 58-60, 89-93, 112-114.
[29] Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University Press, 2001, p. 55.
[30] Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, Harper San Francisco, 2000, p. 395.
[31] Charles A. Coulombe, Vicars of Christ, Citadel Press, 2003, p. 126.
[32] Decree of the Second Council of Nicaea, which stated: “Further we declare that there are two wills and principles of action, in accordance with what is proper to each of the natures in Christ, in the way that the sixth synod, that at Constantinople, proclaimed, when it also publicly rejected Sergius, Honorius, Cyrus, Pyrrhus, Macarius, those uninterested in true holiness, and their likeminded followers.” (http://www.piar.hu/councils/ecum07.htm, accessed 01/23/06).
[33] Charles A. Coulombe, Vicars of Christ, Citadel Press, 2003, p. 115.
[34]
John Acton, “Acton-Creighton Correspondence,” April 5, 1887, in Lord Acton, Essays on
Freedom and Power, ed. Gertrude Himmelfarb, Meridian Books, 1957, pp. 335-336.
Published on February 2, 2006
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