“Anybody can be Pope; the proof of this is that I have become one.” -Pope John XXII (1316-1334)
The Catholic Church has been unable to contain renegade, randy priests. And down all theological ages, it has been peppered with a retinue of very bad Popes.
Their transgressions- give or take-would not be forgiven here on earth. Or in heaven: One Pope ordered the murder of another Pope. Another had a harem at the Vatican.
One money hungry pontiff sold his Papacy twice, yet another parceled land to his mistress, committed murder and was himself killed by a husband who did not think Papal discretion extended to bedding his wife.
According to E.R. Chamberlain’s 1986 book The Bad Popes, few ‘Vicars of Christ’ can hold a candle to Pope Stephen VI, grudge speaking.
Pope Stephen VI had such bile against Pope Formosus, his predecessor that even Formosus’ death was not enough to pacify.
During the “Cadaver Synod,” termed “one of the grisliest events in Papal history,” Pope Stephen VI saw to it that Formosus’ nine-month old corpse was exhumed, dressed in Papal robes, put on the throne, and tried.
Formosus was found guilty as he could hardly mount a defense in his situation, the deacon representing him aside.
Three fingers on the right hand that give Papal blessings were cut off. He was stripped, and dressed as a layman.
His corps was dragged on the streets before being thrown in the Tiber River. While Pope Stephen VI, who was later strangled in jail, for his revenge on Formosus, was cruelty made manifest, Pope Alexander VI was a portrait of corruption:
He is said to have bribed his way into the Papacy whose power he employed in appointing blood relations to powerful positions. That included his sons and family of his mistress, Vannozza Catanei with whom he sired four children.
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