Seares: Some popes whose ring you would not kissSun.Star Network Online - Your Source of Philippine Community News
Atty. Pachico A. Seares
Today, 10:42:47 AM
“Authoritative as a pope may be by his office, he is not impeccable as a man--he can sin, as can all humans.â€
-- Garry Wills, “Papal Sin: Structures of Deceitâ€
MANY Catholics, mostly the young, have taken for granted that all popes were molded like John Paul II, Benedict XVI, or Francis.
John Paul (1978 to 2005) was “moral voice of our time.†Benedict (2005 to 2013) was “courageous prophet of peace.†And Pope Francis has embraced tenets of poverty and
simplicity.a
Not all past popes were poster guys of virtue and good deeds.
Pope Julius II had syphilis, threw orgies, and sired a child with his sister. Alex VI held a “Joust of the Whores†in which 50 women sat and naked at his dinner table. A number of popes were known for corruption, extravagance, child abuse, incest, rape, adultery, or homosexuality (one slept with a male ambassador to the Vatican).
Those were the times:
--When power and wealth of the church rested on one man, with no stiff rules to choose Christ’s vicar or how he’d govern.
--When church members had no means of redress and were cowed by threat of hell.
--When church power encroached on government, with no force outside Vatican to temper its might: intimidated press and awed lay groups; no leaks and no pesky social media to shake the pope.
Good fortune
Most young Catholics aren’t aware of past excesses. Catechism classes didn’t include Vatican scandals.
Reading about past papal sins, younger Catholics should appreciate their fortune and blessing in having Pope Francis as church leader.
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