Papacy Quotes
His response was to being asked whether he could do something with Russian Catholics to help Laval win favor with the Pope, to counter the increasing threat of Nazism. This quotation is often used as an example of Stalin’s disrespect for the Papacy. However, in this case, the Pope was extremely weak politically and some argue spiritually for he did not oppose Hitler and the Nazis very much. Defenders of the Papacy argue that Hitler had overwhelming force and little respect for the Pope, and ironically this was what Stain was referring to. Ironically, another Pope, John Paul, had a major part in bring down the Soviet Union and he had no divisions.
The Irish monks were loyal to the pope and were outraged when he was displaced by King Henry VIII. They were seen as a hotbed of disloyalty and therefore ordered to close. This is one of the many examples where an established government church dictated not only how people should worship but also prohibit other religions from functioning. These examples were well known to the American Founding Fathers and much of educated American opinion which was one of the drivers of the First Amendment and the separation of church and state.
Pippin had the opportunity of expanding his empire by conquering the Lombards whose cavalry he could use if and when the Saracen Muslims would invade again. But he would be seizing another Christian country, contrary to the Pope’s edicts, thus losing the blessings of the Pope. Hence the question. He decided to go for the cavalry. Later, Joseph Stalin asked the same question in much different context. See {627524}. Some historians question whether Pippen actually uttered the quotation or just considered it.
There were many other confirmations of the crassness to which the Papacy had descended. While Church historians disagree as to the extent of the vices of Pope Alexander VI, all agree that his personal life was a disgrace. However, a previous Pope provided guidance for interpretation of Papal behavior that was undesirable or immoral. See {590453}.
He was the last Pope to hold temporal power. This was an oft repeated view.
He was the last Pope to hold temporal power.
Karol Jozef Wojtyla
At the time the Pope had secular, diplomatic relationship with many of the states of Europe:
Admiral Coligny was a leading French Protestant. He was murdered along with 50,000 Protestants by the French Catholics in what has come to be known as Massacre of Saint Bartholomew. Earlier in his career Pius V had been the an inquisitor or the Inquisition and was appointed “Inquisitor General For All Christendom,” so he had an anti-Protestant background. Incredibly enough, he was beatified and canonized a saint despite—some say because of—his participation in and encouragement murders of non-Catholics and even Catholics who happened to dissent on some aspect of theology. It is not clear whether the Pope knew in advance of the planned massacre or whether he or his representatives had any part in the planning of it. Since the end of the Second World War, Popes have been in the forefront of protest and moral condemnation of religious or ethnic atrocities, and it is hard for most of us to conceive that a Pope could countenance the murder of 50,000 souls by his faithful followers.
