From Worst To Best.... Who Was The Best Pope?
Some to consider?
ROME: 10 TOP POPES
St Gregory I ('the Great'; 590-604)
The son of a wealthy family in Rome, with two former popes in his
ancestry, Gregory took a life of monastic austerity after periods of
time studying law and as prefect of Rome. This combination proved
invaluable to the emperor and people of Rome, resulting in Gregory being
forcibly removed from cloister life to be elected Pope. Despite his
reservations, he was an energetic and practical pope, becoming heavily
involved in the civil ruling of Italy, and defining Papal supremacy in
both the east and western empires.
Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere; 1503-13)
Born to a humble family in 1443, the ruthless and energetic Giuliano
della Rovere has gone down in history as the warrior pope, a man who led
his armies into battle dressed in full armour, and who was satirized by
Erasmus as the pontiff whom St Peter balked at admitting to Paradise.
When the grandiose funerary monument planned for him by Michelangelo
came to nothing, Julius was buried simply beneath the pavement of St
Peter's.
Leo X (Giovanni de' Medici; 1513-21)
The second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Giovanni de' Medici was
created cardinal when only thirteen. The celebrated portrait by Raphael
(of whom Leo was an enthusiastic patron) shows him to have been rather
corpulent. He perspired a good deal and during ecclesiastical functions
was always wiping his face and hands, to the distress of bystanders. Leo
was a celebrated bon viveur and passionate hunter, said to have
exclaimed 'Since God has granted us the Papacy, let us enjoy it!'. His
bull Exsurge Domine of 1520 condemned 41 errors of Martin Luther. His
tomb is in Santa Maria sopra Minerva.
Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici; 1523-34)
The bastard nephew of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Giulio de' Medici was
declared legitimate and created cardinal in 1513. He had dark brown
eyes, the left one squinting. According to Benvenuto Cellini he had
excellent taste-the beautiful but faded portrait by Sebastiano del
Piombo (Capodimonte, Naples) makes him look vain and supercilious.
Clement's bitter relations with the Emperor Charles V led to the
disastrous Sack of Rome in 1527. Trapped for seven months in Castel
Sant'Angelo, he grew a beard as a sign of mourning. He refused to allow
Henry VIII to divorce Catherine of Aragon. He is buried in Santa Maria
sopra Minerva.
Paul III (Alessandro Farnese; 1534-49)
As cardinal, Alessandro Farnese fathered four children, but he put
away his mistress in 1514. His secular interests were not entirely
abandoned, however. He loved masked balls, fireworks, clowns and dwarfs,
and in 1536 he revived the carnival, when enormous floats were dragged
through the streets of Rome by teams of buffalo. Yet he was a great
reformer, and as well as his human children he fathered a number of
religious orders, most importantly the Jesuits, in 1540. Paul also
established the Congregation of the Roman Inquisition, to extirpate
heresy. When he was elected, he claimed he had waited 30 years for
Michelangelo-and promptly commissioned the Last Judgement and the new
layout of the Campidoglio. He is buried in St Peter's in a beautiful
tomb by Guglielmo della Porta.
Paul V (Camillo Borghese; 1605-21)
From a Sienese family, but a self-proclaimed proud Roman, Paul V
amassed great power and fortune for himself (and his relatives) whilst
pope, and oversaw a number of substantial projects in Rome: the
completion of St Peter's, the rebuilding of a Trajan aqueduct which
supplied fresh water to fountains in the city, and the enrichment of the
Vatican library. His nephew, Cardinal Scipione Borghese, was one of the
great art collectors of the time. Paul is buried in the Borghese chapel
in Santa Maria Maggiore.
Urban VIII (Maffeo Barberini; 1623-44)
Authoritarian, highly conscious of his own position, and a shameless
nepotist, Urban was also learned and artistic. He wrote Latin verses
(and indeed spoilt many hymns in the Breviary by rewriting them). Though
an unpopular pope (there was unseemly rejoicing when he died), he gave
Rome the art and architecture of Bernini, the young sculptor whom he
made architect of the new St Peter's. The basilica was consecrated in
1626. Urban lies buried there, commemorated by a funeral monument
designed by his brilliant protégé.
Innocent X (Giovan Battista Pamphilj; 1644-55)
Innocent was elected in 1644, after a stormy conclave (he was opposed
by France), and consecrated on 4th October at a particularly splendid
ceremony, when for the first time the sanpietrini lit up the dome of the
basilica with flaming torches. His ugliness was noted by
contemporaries, and Velázquez's famous portrait in the Palazzo Doria
Pamphilj-which inspired several modern versions by Francis Bacon-has
caught his disturbing, implacable gaze. His life was blameless, but he
was irresolute and suspicious. Innocent died in January 1655 after a
long agony; no one wanted to pay for his burial. Later a funerary
monument was set up in the church of Sant'Agnese, which has a façade by
his favourite architect, Borromini.
Pius VII (Luigi Barnaba Chiaramonti; 1800-23)
Elected in March 1800, Pius was constrained by political and military
events to sign a concordat with Bonaparte in 1801. In 1804 he went to
Paris to officiate at the emperor's coronation; he was rudely treated,
and Napoleon placed the crown on his own head. In 1809 Pius was arrested
by the French and interned. In 1814, after Bonaparte's fall, he
returned to Rome amidst general rejoicing. Pius was magnanimous towards
Napoleon's family. He died in 1823, after falling and breaking a leg.
His funerary monument in St Peter's is by (the Protestant) Bertel
Thorvaldsen.
Pius IX (Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti; 1846-78)
Pius was politically maladroit, and to many his name is a byword for
intransigence and arch-conservatism. Garibaldi despised him and named
his horse 'Papa Mastai'; in Italian his regnal number (Pio Nono) sounds
like a double negative, as though he were always saying 'No, no' to the
radical reforms that were proposed to him-unsurprising, perhaps, since
the radicals wanted his territories. Nationalist armies seized the Papal
States in 1860 and Rome in 1870, confining papal authority to the
Vatican. Pius was the last pope to hold temporal power. On the
ecclesiastical level he was a very great pope, and even his enemies
acknowledged his charm. In 1856 he defined the dogma of the Immaculate
Conception; in 1870 he proclaimed the dogma of Papal Infallibility.
After the longest reign in papal history he died in 1878, and lies
buried in a simple tomb in San Lorenzo fuori le Mura.
Thanks for the chime in!
Come on folks, can someone please name one, along with a few reasons why...
How about
Blessed John XXIII????????????
Blessed John XXIII (pope from 1958 to 1963)
Pope John XXIII made various efforts during the Holocaust to save refugees from the Nazis. He was a great pope to the Jewish peoples. He was a great pope in terms of saving lives during World War 2 (before he became pope). Here is a list of his accomplishments:
He assisted Jewish refugees who arrived in Istanbul and going on to Palestine or other destinations.
Slovakian children were able to leave the country as a result of his interventions.
Jews held at a Nazi concentration camp were liberated thanks to his intervention.
He made a request to Bulgaria's king and saved the lives of Bulgarian Jews.
Romanian Jews escaped Romania as a result of his intervention.
Jewish prisoners held at the Sered concentration camp were spared from being deported to German death camps because of his intervention.
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (pope from 1978-2005)
Joh...
Come on folks, can someone please name one, along with a few reasons why...
How about
Blessed John XXIII????????????
Blessed John XXIII (pope from 1958 to 1963)
Pope John XXIII made various efforts during the Holocaust to save refugees from the Nazis. He was a great pope to the Jewish peoples. He was a great pope in terms of saving lives during World War 2 (before he became pope). Here is a list of his accomplishments:
He assisted Jewish refugees who arrived in Istanbul and going on to Palestine or other destinations.
Slovakian children were able to leave the country as a result of his interventions.
Jews held at a Nazi concentration camp were liberated thanks to his intervention.
He made a request to Bulgaria's king and saved the lives of Bulgarian Jews.
Romanian Jews escaped Romania as a result of his intervention.
Jewish prisoners held at the Sered concentration camp were spared from being deported to German death camps because of his intervention.
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (pope from 1978-2005)
John Paul is credited with ebing instrumental in the end of communism in his native land of Poland. He also decried the escesses of capitalism. His tenure improved relations with Islam, Judaism, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. In his time as pope, he visited 129 countries, which would explain his popularity. He spoke German, Polish, French, Italian, English, Spanish, Serbian, Portugese, Russian, Croatian, Esperanto, and ancient Greek and Latin.
Wonder what the majority of folks think about "John Paul II"???????????
Peter is thought by the Catholic church to be the first Pope. I don't really see that, but that is my own opinion... was originally written in). The word for rock Jesus used to
Very knowledgeable, but I like to find out what other folks think and why.... :+)
I have always found that to be very interesting, from a historical and even a scientific approach. The Science Channel has a lot of interesting shows on Universe creation, black holes and even white holes. You should watch them sometime if you have access.......... Very interesting, as it relates to "OUR" perception of time VS. the actual relevance........
2 Peter 3:8
New International Version (©1984)
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a
thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day
I also see the complexity of the human body and all of earths creatures as something beyond "Evolution". When I think of how complex jest the workings of the human eye, never mind, all the other organ...
I have always found that to be very interesting, from a historical and even a scientific approach. The Science Channel has a lot of interesting shows on Universe creation, black holes and even white holes. You should watch them sometime if you have access.......... Very interesting, as it relates to "OUR" perception of time VS. the actual relevance........
2 Peter 3:8
New International Version (©1984)
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a
thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day
I also see the complexity of the human body and all of earths creatures as something beyond "Evolution". When I think of how complex jest the workings of the human eye, never mind, all the other organs and how they work together.......... All the different species... Just doesn't seem to make sense, that we evolved from monkeys, per Se. lol
I'm a bit of a different bird......... Not your average orthodox pastor!
Pope John XXIII
Of repeated incest: (1410 – 1415) That Pope John XXIII did follow the tradition of Popes for over four hundred years and did commit repeated incest upon all his children, male and female and did father several illegitimate children by them.
Of murder: (1410): That Pope John XXIII did murder deliberately Pope Alexander V to take the Papal Throne.
Of open depravity associated with cannibalism, sex and murder: (1410 – 1415) That Pope John XXIII did open key cathedrals and churches to regular acts of sexual orgies, ritualistic murder of children and cannibalism in the celebration of High Mass of Satanism of Christianity.
Of regular and institutional sodomy and murder of children: (1410 – 1415) That Pope John XXIII did continue the tradition of Popes and senior clergy for over one thousand years and did commit regular sodomy of children, especially young boys. Furthermore, that Pope John XXIII did undertake such acts in churches often including the ritualized murder of his child victims after such evil sex acts.
Of heresy: (1414) That at the Council of Constance John XXIII was accused of 70 crimes at and was deposed for adultery, incest, and murdering predecessor Alexander V.
Pope Gregory IX
Crimes Against humanity
Of kidnapping, unlawful restraint for the purpose of slave trade: the legitimacy of slavery was incorporated in the official Corpus Iuris Canonici (Canon Law), based on the Decretum Gratiani, and Nova Compilatio decretalium (New Compilation of Decretals) which became the official law of the Church since Pope Gregory IX in 1227
Of crimes against humanity: (1227-41) That Pope Gregory IX did establish the first of three Holy Inquisitions in 1232 using the false texts of witchcraft created by his predecessor Pope Honorius III as false evidence of the existence of an alternate “evil” to the Vatican. Approximately 650,000 are burned alive through public satanic rituals during his Papacy.
Of crimes against humanity for the purpose of Satanism: (1231) That Gregory IX issues papal bull decreeing burning of heretics and other church enemies as standard penalty. That this document represents the first time in human history that the satanic practice of burning people alive is made an official law. Remains standard church law even today.
Of obstructing fundamental human right of fairness and justice (1231) That Pope Gregory IX introduces for the first time in human history the twisted and unjust notion of "guilty until proven innocent" replacing t...
Pope Gregory IX
Crimes Against humanity
Of kidnapping, unlawful restraint for the purpose of slave trade: the legitimacy of slavery was incorporated in the official Corpus Iuris Canonici (Canon Law), based on the Decretum Gratiani, and Nova Compilatio decretalium (New Compilation of Decretals) which became the official law of the Church since Pope Gregory IX in 1227
Of crimes against humanity: (1227-41) That Pope Gregory IX did establish the first of three Holy Inquisitions in 1232 using the false texts of witchcraft created by his predecessor Pope Honorius III as false evidence of the existence of an alternate “evil” to the Vatican. Approximately 650,000 are burned alive through public satanic rituals during his Papacy.
Of crimes against humanity for the purpose of Satanism: (1231) That Gregory IX issues papal bull decreeing burning of heretics and other church enemies as standard penalty. That this document represents the first time in human history that the satanic practice of burning people alive is made an official law. Remains standard church law even today.
Of obstructing fundamental human right of fairness and justice (1231) That Pope Gregory IX introduces for the first time in human history the twisted and unjust notion of "guilty until proven innocent" replacing the ancient common law notion of "innocent until proven guilty" which had existed for over 6,000 years. In addition, removes the right to counsel, the right to hear charges against an accused, the identity of the witnesses making the accusation and notification to family and/or friends that a person has been arrested by the inquisition. This model forms the basis of the Catholic model of the Gestapo interrogation.
Pope Gregory IX
1227 AD established the Inquisitional Courts to arrest, try, convict and execute Heretics anyone suspected was always found guilty and killed Responsible for the Deaths of over 5 million
.
In June 1232, the population in Rome began an open revolt against the Papacy. The Pope was forces to take refuge as Anagni and invoke the aid of Frederick II. Gregory and Frederick reached a short truce. However the military successes of Frederick in cleaning up the mess in Italy changed his mind. Fresh war between Frederick and the Pope erupted leading to Gregory excommunicating the Emperor in 1239.
Gregory IX denounced Frederick II as a heretic and summoned a council at Rome to give point to his anathema, at which Frederick II attempted to capture or sink as many ships carrying prelates to the synod as he could. The struggle was only terminated by the death of Gregory IX on August 22, 1241.
"the layman, when he hears any speak ill of the Christian faith, to defend it not with words but with the sword, which he should thrust into the other's belly as far as it will go" (Chronicles of the Crusades, G. de Villehardouin, p. 148).
Pope John Paul II
POPE JOHN PAUL II SOLD CYANIDE-GAS TO NAZIS TO MURDER JEWS
Today, the VaticanCrimes Organization has obtained shocking evidence documenting the employment history of Polish ex-cyanide gas salesman Karol Wojtyla - known worldwide as Pope John Paul II.
In the 1940's, the former salesman not only sold cyanide gas to the Nazis for use in Auschwitz concentration camps, but also worked as a chemist for I,G. Farben Chemical, the then largest chemical manufacturing enterprise in the world and the manufacturer of this poison gas. Yes, the very same poison used in conjunction with Malathion and Zyklon B by Nazi Germany to kill millions of Jews in the gas chambers of extermination camps, where they were burned to ashes in the ovens.
Pope Pius XII
1939-1958
As though one horrible Pius wasn’t enough, Pope Pius XII came into power over the Vatican not long after his predecessor Pius who supplied the orders to kill Lincoln. Again, take careful note of the era during which Pius XII held the Chair of Peter – it was 1939 to 1958. Well, if anyone had ever been curious as to why exactly Hitler got the notion that Jews were to be exterminated by the millions between 1939 – 1945, it may have had something to do with the fact that Pope Pius XII personally handed him detailed instructions on how the methodical extermination of non-Catholic minorities across all of Europe was to be enacted and how death camps were to be constructed for the sole purpose of their murder. According to Pius XII, people of Jewish faith and other “heretics” were not only supposed to be shot or killed, they were to be burned alive as to stay consistent with the Roman Catholic Church’s designated penalty for heresy against God
in 1946 he came to the aid of war criminals including Ante Pavelic who was known in Croatia for leading among the most satanic and kill-happy regimes in all of World history. The group went by the name of the Croatian Ustashi. Taking a note from Pavelic, Pius XII established his own mini form of the Ustashi known as the Catholic Ustashi (guess he liked Pavelic’s work?) and the Catholic organization was responsible for the murder of more than 600,000 people.
Pope John XXIII
1410-1415 - not to be confused with Pope John XXIII from the 20th century.
Why people called this man the most depraved criminal who sat on the papal chair rather than calling him the most depraved criminal of all time may never be understood. Perhaps it was simply because they didn’t understand the scope of his evil. This “man” if you can call him that, committed almost every heinous crime imaginable – by the hundred. There were thirty-seven clergy members who witnessed and professed against him on the following charges: Fornication, Adultery, Incest, Sodomy, Simony, Theft, and last but not least, Murder. Even more members of the church than the thirty-seven who had accused him had been witnesses to the gut-wrenching fact that Pope John XXIII had a harem of mistresses in Boulogne numbering two-hundred. Even more disgusting yet was the fact that these two-hundred women consisted mostly, if not entirely of nuns. Thousands of lives were lost during the schism enacted in efforts to depose John XXIII, but luckily for the people, and the two-hundred nuns, he was indeed deposed
Pope Boniface VIII
1294-1303
Again a Pope that was so evil that he made it into the Catholic encyclopedia for his grave injustices against the people and his God. Boniface VIII was described in the Catholic encyclopedia as having, “scarcely any possible crime omitted – heresy gross and unnatural immorality, idolatry, magic, simony… his whole pontificate was one record of evil.” Quite an accusation coming from the Catholic encyclopedia… When the poet Dante wrote his eternal masterpiece, “Inferno” it was the deepest pit of Hell that were assigned to Boniface VIII, Nicholas III and Clement V. Needless to say, this was one bad dude
Pope Innocent III
1198-1216
While Pope Innocent III didn’t reach the epic numbers of slaughters that his predecessor Urban II had, he still aided and abetted in the murder of well over one million people during his papacy between 1198-1216. His were words of war: he rallied military support in favor of the Inquisition after excommunicating Philip II of France and had put both France and England under interdict which was the Pope’s granted power of punishment. What was unique was that the Crusade he waged after supporting the Inquisition was not against heathen scum following a far carried faith – he went from the Vatican directly to England and had his military might wage war against European brothers. He had also began a Crusade against the Albigenses where upon his military constituents were ordered to butcher them by the tens of thousands in horrid and unholy ways. Dracula, eat your heart out.
Pope Urban II
1088-1099
Pope Urban II was the benchmark for where the crimes against humanity and God became genocidal. Between the years 1096-1099 Pope Urban II ordered the slaughter of roughly ten million Heretics where there were men and women but mostly children in efforts to procure Belgrade, the Orthodox Church of Constantinople in Yugoslavia as well as Turkey, Syria, Antioch and Palestine. Just for reference, Hitler killed in or around six million Jews during the Holocaust. Wow.
Pope Pius IX
1846-1878
Let it first be known that Pius IX resided in the Vatican as Pope between the years 1846-1878. Let it secondly be known that there was a direct correlation between his constant scheming within the realm of politics and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Both funding for and the mission plan itself had made its way from the papal office, through hands undisclosed to eventually meet with John Wilkes Booth who shot Lincoln dead on April 15th, 1865 at the Ford Theater in Washington D.C. Yes, despite popular belief, Lincoln died as a result of orders from the Roman Catholic Church – not a fanatical maniac who really wanted his slaves. What an addition for the history books…
Pope Benedict IX
1032-1048
Nephew to the previous two Popes that resided in the Vatican, Pope Benedict IX was touted in the Catholic Encyclopedia as, “a disgrace to the chair of Peter” – He raped the office of Pope in every way he could from murder to adultery and just about all else. Because of the horrible things he did, the people literally drove him out of Rome. His violent and sexual crimes were committed under the blazing bright sun instead of through stealth of night and when he left, he did not go with empty pockets. Before accepting his fate of having to leave the Papacy, Benedict IX sold the office of the papacy to John Gratianus (Gregory VI) who was fortunately for the people, labeled among the most religious of his day and age. After Gregory VI’s rule as Pope, a Pope known as Damasus II came into power. Benedict literally poisoned Damasus II and reclaimed power over the Papacy. This was when the crimes of Benedict IX were so much to bear that the Romans could no longer stand it – they expelled him from the city entirely. Later, Roman Emperor Conrad II reinstated Benedict IX despite his atrocious crime
Pope Sergius III
904-911
In seven short years as Pope, Sergius III was bad the minute he was made Pope. He took the Papacy through murder and while in office, lived quite contently unmarried with a concubine by the name of Marozia. While his political affiliates may have enjoyed his murderous tendencies for the sake of gaining control of the papacy, Sergius’s concubine may have rivaled him in true potential for evil. Marozia personally assassinated Pope Leo VI who followed Sergius just seventeen short years after Sergius left the Throne of Peter in order to claim the throne for Sergius’ and her son, John XI. Wicked.
Pope Alexander VI 1492-1503
. On Halloween night of 1501, he was said to have organized and participated in the “worst orgy ever in the Vatican”. While sex with promiscuous women while unwed and sworn to celibacy and a life devoted to God may be forgivable in certain circles, his other most awful sexual conduct would be frowned upon by just about any member of our currently civilized society. Alexander VI also was known to fornicate regularly with his two sisters and his daughter.
Pope Damasus I 366-384 AD
Individuals who lived to see Damasus’s rule saw a bitter day: women and children were bought and sold as sex slaves to increase funding for the church at Damasus’s design. Those who opposed the tyrannical rule of Damasus would be tortured and literally burned alive after their lands were seized and used for church designated purposes. Worse still is that the women forced into prostitution were not always simple subjects of Rome, but female priests and nuns themselves. So much for serving in humility before God
While some light could be said to come out of this, there were forty-four bishops who abhorred the acts of Pope Damasus I and had found him guilty of adultery on many counts. Unfortunately, the office of the Pope was a strong central figurehead and Pope Damasus I weaseled his way through being convicted of the crimes that he was known to commit on a regular basis. After the charges had passed, all forty-four bishops were murdered at the order of Damasus I. What could be done? Nothing. Damasus I was also the first among Popes to instill the concept that the papacy was a supreme office of God, using the Petrine text in the Holy book of Matthew to support his claims. Nothing like divine intervention eh? Among the populous these heinous crimes went without retribution.
I thought it was kind of interesting WHO THEY perceived as good......... I am actually surprised that no one else has pondered this list and commented on such facts/activities.......
Lets see if someone can come up with WHO - a good Pope, might have been........ Historically, that is........ Maybe Sister Jean, can come up with a proper Top Ten?
the only Female Pope
Have you heard of the First Female Pope? Pope Joan
http://www.sodahead.com/livin...
Pagan gods were made Christian saints.
Bacchus became St. Bacchus, and Dionysius
became St. Denys or Denis
Brigid, Became Saint Brigid
Dazhdbóg became saint Germain
ERos became SAINT EROS,
Demeter is now St. Demetrios
Aphrodite became St. Aphrodite
The Roman god Mars was originally a god who guarded wheat fields. He became St. Martin (esp. St. Martin-in-the-fields)
The Roman god Quirinus became St. Cyrinus,
The Roman gods known as the Lares became St. Lawrence
The Roman goddess Venus became St. Venera
The Roman gods known as the Gemini, who were protectors of sailors in Roman pagan times, became the Sanctos Geminos
The Greek goddess Nike was picked up as Saint Nike
and Dozens of others
and even many Angels are based on Pagan Gods Goddess and demi Gods and heros