Sunday Off-Topic: Popes Throughout History

Every Introduction course always has its off-topic tangents, and Catholicism 101 is no different. On Sundays, we'll delve into some aspects of Catholicism that we might not otherwise get to. These areas are kind of up to my whim, but they will usually focus on unusual parts of Catholicism.

Catholicism regards St. Peter as the first pope, selected by Jesus himself according to the Gospel of St. Matthew (16:18), when Jesus said "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I shall build my Church." If you count St. Peter as the first pope, then Benedict XVI is the 266th pope (or the 265th successor of St. Peter, depending on how you keep track). And you thought it was hard to remember U.S. Presidents.

There are some colorful and diverse characters among those 266 men. 78 are cannonized as saints, and 10 more are beatified, which is one step short of sainthood. In other words, about a third of the papacy has been exceptionally good. Of the rest, there are only 12 who are considered to have been corrupt or morally evil.

Although one bad pope is too many, keep in mind that no pope is perfect. Even the men handpicked by Jesus to be his original 12 apostles were imperfect sinners. The first pope, St. Peter, lied about knowing Jesus on three seperate occasions in order to protect himself, and Judas (one of Jesus's first bishops) betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver. One repented, while the other hanged himself instead of seeking forgiveness.

The dubious honor of "worst pope ever" probably belongs to Alexander VI (1492-1503). If you are a student of European history, all you need to know is that he was a Borgia. For the rest of us, Alexander was a member of the Borgia family (a notorious clan of Italians who had a lot of influence during the Rennaisance). Pope Alexander VI had several illegitimate children before and during his reign as pope-two of whom grew up to lead their own infamous lives: Cesare Borgia grew up to be a ruthless aristocrat, and his sister, Lucretia Borgia, will forever have her name associated among the famous poisoners of history. Alexander VI's reign was the height of nepotism, bribery, deceit, debauchery, and everything else you can imagine (And, not coincidentally, occuring about the same time as the Protestant Reformation). The Borgias were the Sopranos of the Rennaisance. Before we completely dishonor the family, however, it should be noted that one member-St. Francis Borgia-was much respected as a humble servant of God in his own time.

Benedict IX (1032-45) is probably a close second-worst ever. Assuming the throne of St. Peter in his late teens, the playboy pope incited a riot in Rome because of his antics. One of his contemporaries, St. Peter Damian, accused him of being "a demon of hell in the disguise of a priest." Interestingly, the modern Church calls Benedict IX "a disgrace to the Chair of Peter" but does not believe that any of his writings contradict the teachings of the Bible or the Church.