Today the Pope is seen as the holiest man in the Catholic world, and Francis seems like a good dude. But when it comes to popes, goodness wasn't always the case. Throughout history, the papacy has been riddled with scandal, murder, thievery, sexual abuse and immense hypocrisy. In today's episode we cover 5 of the most evil Popes ever, as well as some honorable mentions.
Trigger warning: this episode contains discussion of child abuse, rape, incest and violence.
Sources:
The Bad Popes (The Mad, Bad and Ugly of Italian History) by E.R. Chamberlin
https://www.worlddata.info/religions/catholics.php#:~:text=The%20Catholic%20churches%20form%20a,are%20the%20largest%20Christian%20grouping.
https://www.vaticancitytours.it/blog/who-were-the-worst-popes-in-history/
https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/popes-benedict-i-x
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2005/apr/03/pope-helped-lift-iron-curtain/
https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/global-christianity/
https://historyofyesterday.com/pope-john-xii-the-youngest-and-worst-pope-in-history-b701a9949eaf
https://historycollection.com/17-popes-who-didnt-practiced-what-they-preached/9/
https://historycollection.com/10-of-historys-most-scandalous-popes/2/
Discount StorytimeProud winner of the Nobel "I Tried" Ribbon in Literature.
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