The Popes

When I read “The Popes” a book by Futura Edizioni I bought in Rome, I read what they did and it appeared they never seemed to get a break.

The Roman Empire was founded in 27 BC by the Roman Emperor Augustus and lasted until the fall in the West in 476 AD and the transition in the East in 610. http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac59#2749#ixzz3eIoBzxRA

The first 5 Popes from 33AD to 125AD concentrated on organizing the popular new ‘underground’ religion, spreading it across the Roman Empire and avoiding arrest. St. Paul’s letters to the communities he founded shows him instructing them. These 5 Popes were all martyred.

The next 26 Popes from 125AD to 313AD, were also persecuted and were busy establishing more faith communities across the Mediterranean and battling heresy like the Gnostics.  Gnostics were the folks who shunned the material world and embraced the spiritual world. The early Church disagreed with the Gnostics and suggested that they spend a little more time evangelizing to be more in line with Jesus’ instructions. Most of these Popes were also martyred.

In 313AD, Emperor Constantine ordered the end of Christian persecution. The good news and the bad news was that the Church would gain the sponsorship of the Emperor. The good news was that the Church would have money, support, rapid growth and a publicist.  The bad news was that they would also need to be attentive to their benefactor, the government. But, after that, they didn’t get martyred, but some did get poisoned and all were challenged.

In 325AD, Constantine called the council of Nicaea to help establish a common Creed for all Christians. Constantine, Pope Sylvester and the Metropolitans of Alexandria and Antioch were present with all of their Bishops. It was clear that Constantine’s skill was an asset and a necessity. In 330AD, Constantine created the second Byzantine Capitol

Living conditions had improved for the Pope, the Metropolitans and the Bishops. They were viewed as royalty. Church and State were inexorably linked for mutual benefit. The job of the Church was to dissuade the government from interfering with Doctrine and the government used the Church to legitimize their governments as reflecting God’s Will.  The Bible was packed with accounts of God taking sides, favoring the Israelites.  So much for “thou shalt not kill”.

Constantine’s mother, St. Helen was consecrated a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church and St. Constantine was consecrated a Saint in the Orthodox Catholic Church.  

Constantine died in 337AD and was replaced by his sons Constans and Constantinus II. The Popes and Metropolitans were learning how to work with the Emperors and were required to have political skills and an agenda that meshed with the Emperor’s agenda. At its best each leveraged the other’s skills and became partners committed to the priorities of each other. At its worst, it was a ‘no win’ situation. Bishops had to take these realities into account when they elected Popes.

Roman legions evacuate Britannia in AD 406. The Anglo-Saxons move into Britannia. The Huns push other groups westward, eventually into Roman territory. Attila the Hun 434AD-453AD attempted to conquered Constantinople and Rome but failed. Aleric and the Visigoths sack Rome, AD 410 Vandals invade Spain, north Africa, and sack Rome in AD 455  

After the fall of Rome in 476AD, the city of Rome continued to be a target for foreign invaders. Foreign Kings had to send their armies to “bail out’ the Pope. The Frankish King Pepin III supported the expansion of “Papal States in 754AD. 

In 781, Charlemagne codified the regions over which the pope would be temporal sovereign: the Duchy of Rome was key, but the territory was expanded to include Ravenna, the Duchy of the Pentapolis, parts of the Duchy of Benevento, Tuscany, Corsica, Lombardy and a number of Italian cities. The cooperation between the papacy and the Carolingian dynasty climaxed in 800, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_States

Prince-Bishops ruled towns and territories beginning about 800AD. It combined the church authority with the governing authority primarily during the Holy Roman Empire era in Germany from 753 to 1806.

It didn’t take long for wealthy, land-holding and merchant families to take notice of the Church as a vehicle for family upward mobility. Wealthy families encouraged their children to either become a powerful cleric or marry into a wealthy family. Wealthy families could bribe clerics for favors with donations.

So, finally, Popes, because they were considered royalty, were given territory and funding for armies. Popes often found themselves tasked as governors and battle commanders. “Papal States” were established.

[Close advisors to the Pope have been called Cardinals, from the Latin carde for hinge, since probably the 4th century. Since 1059 Cardinals have served as the exclusive electors of the Popes, and the College itself was given its current form in 1150.”] https://www.ewtn.com/HolySee/Cardinals/history.asp

Crusades to remove Muslims from prior Christian territory started in 783. The Crusade to recapture Jerusalem went from 1095-1285 in a series of 15 separate campaigns.

Medieval Inquisitions 1184 – 1230 Cathars, in general, formed an anti-sacerdotal party in opposition to the Catholic Church, protesting against what they perceived to be the moral, spiritual and political corruption of the Church. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharism

The Black Death 1346-1353 was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people and peaking in Europe in the years 1346–53.

Spanish Inquisition 1478- was established in by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and to replace the Medieval Inquisition, which was under Papal control. It became the most substantive of the three different manifestations of the wider Christian Inquisition along with the Roman Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition.

The Inquisition was originally intended in large part to ensure the orthodoxy of those who converted from Judaism and Islam. This regulation of the faith of the newly converted was intensified after the royal decrees issued in 1492 and 1501 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert or leave Spain.

Many Saints and founders of religious orders came from wealthy families and chose to live simply with the poor or in monasteries. Saints Francis, Claire, Rita and other “incorruptible” Saints can be seen in their glass caskets, untouched by time.

St. Francis 1181-1226, son of a wealthy merchant in Assisi, founded the Franciscan Order and the Poor Clares.

St. Clare 1194-1253, daughter of a wealthy Count in Assisi, met St. Francis at age 18. She founded the Order of Poor Ladies, later named the Poor Clares.

St. Rita 1381-1457, married for 18 years, raised 2 sons and was widowed. She entered the Augustinian convent.

In 1503, Pope Julius II worked as a Pope and a General and the Ruler of Italy.  He had hired Michelangelo as the Architect for St Peters Basilica that stands in Rome today. Michelangelo 1475–1564 and Pope Julius II 1503 – 1513 collaborated to complete the painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, completed in 1541. The movie, “the Agony and the Ecstasy” gave a powerful picture of both men and their relationship.

Martin Luther 1483- 1546 the father of the reformation was a reformer and founder of what became the Lutheran Church. He attained bachelors and masters degrees and dropped out of law school to become a monk and was ordained a priest in 1507. He received his Doctor in Theology in 1512, lectured and wrote. He wrote his 95 thesis criticizing the church for its corruption in 1517 and was excommunicated in 1520.  He translated the New Testament into German in 1522. Having left the Catholic Church, he married in 1525. He published Lutheran Doctrine in 1530. Others joined the Reformation including John Calvin and Henry VIII in 1536. http://christianityinview.com/protestant/timeline.html

The Church often found itself compromised. Jesuits had accompanied the Spanish as they colonized America.

In 1750, Spain signed the Treaty of Madrid (1750) with Portugal to end their border disputes. Spain gave up territory near the Uruguay River. The Jesuits had a Mission there for the Guarani Indians. Spain had protected the Mission, but Portugal wanted the Mission closed to take the land and sell the Guarani as slaves. The Pope sent a Jesuit Cardinal to tell the Mission to close.  It did not close.  So, according to the treaty, they marched on the Mission.  The Guarani and the Jesuits fought to defend the Mission and died. The Mission a (1986) film based on this event.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mission_(1986_film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Madrid_(13_January_1750)

Conclusions:

Catholic Church history has been inextricably tied to European politics as it is today with Pope Francis and the UN and EU and Agenda 21 and global Marxism.

Being a Pope is a tough job. Many of our Popes since 313 were compromised by the ruling class. Many others were not. The best Popes were not naïve enough to get caught in this trap.

 

The thing that stuck me most after my first reading of “The Popes” was how much wealthy rulers wanted to control the Papacy. Popes were poisoned regularly to advance family fortunes.  Also, there was a pendulum swing between Popes who were more secular than spiritual to Saints, who were clueless about handling the wealthy rulers.

 

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader