| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Dr. Jai Maharaj" |
| Date: |
13 Apr 2005 10:47:40 AM |
| Object: |
SAINT SINNERS - POPES' MURKY PAST |
SAINT SINNERS - POPES' MURKY PAST
Forwarded message
Saint Sinners: Popes' murky past
(Times of India, 13th April, 2005)
AFP [MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2005 09:30:23 AM ]
VATICAN CITY: They've plotted and deceived, they've been
warlike, corrupt and power-hungry and they've sired
children they shamelessly promoted: the history of popes,
as cardinals mull who will succeed John Paul II, is
decidedly murky.
Such accusations can in no way be levelled at John Paul
II, who died on April 2 after a 26-year pontificate that
inspired and enthralled many.
But it was not always so. "The history of the papacy is
the history of one of the most momentous and
extraordinary institutions in the history of the world,"
says Eamon Duffy in a study of popes entitled "Saints and
Sinners."
As cardinals go into seclusion from April 18 to elect the
next head of the Roman Catholic Church, they have a rich
history of sinning popes to look back on.
In the early centuries of Christianity, popes struggled
to establish their grip in an age when the Roman empire
was collapsing and threats abounded from other cultures
and religions.
They assumed more and more temporal authority as the
papacy developed into a major secular power, at the cost
of plunging to a level of corruption that left it morally
bankrupt.
Pontiffs became absolute monarchs, with their own army,
administration and lands, until other European kings re-
asserted their own rights, shrinking the papacy's power
and forcing it to revert to its age-old spiritual role.
One of the most notorious popes was Alexander VI, from
the scheming Borgia dynasty, who was both intensely
ambitious and wealthy.
During the 1492 conclave that elected him the successor
to Innocent VIII, "money fell like rain," according to
Peter Maxwell-Stuart of the University of Aberdeen,
Scotland.
"The papacy had been bought." Alexander VI had six
sons...
... and three daughters by several women and placed all
his offspring into high positions.
His successor in 1503, Julius II, had three daughters
while a cardinal and was a fierce warrior, leading his
men into battle in silver armour against any who defied
his authority.
Under Leo X, rampant corruption such as the selling of
spiritual blessings in return for money led Martin Luther
to start the Reformation.
Popes were kingmakers too, although not always
successfully.
In the turmoil after the collapse of the Roman empire
people looked to the papacy for leadership, but as proper
nation states developed, popes resorted - like everyone
else - to scheming and plotting and ad-hoc alliances in
the myriad kingdoms and rival loyalties of Middle Age and
Renaissance Europe.
Picking the wrong friends cost lives. Back in 882, John
VIII was poisoned and clubbed to death, the first pope to
be murdered.
A few years later, Pope Stephen VIII had a close
predecessor, Formosus, dug up, dressed in pontifical garb
and put on trial posthumously.
Stephen himself was later imprisoned and...
... strangled. Meanwhile Pope Sixtus IV was implicated in
an inter-factional plot in 1478 that led to the murder of
a leading member of the powerful Medici family.
According to Maxwell-Stuart, five pontiffs have been
jailed, four murdered, one openly assassinated, one
deposed and one publicly flogged.
One died of wounds in battle, another when a ceiling fell
on top of him. Pope Urban VIII, a prodigious nepotist who
reigned from 1623 to 1644, had astrologers draw up
horoscopes of cardinals in Rome to learn when they would
die because he was suspicious of them.
He also ordered a Dominican monk recently released from
jail for heresy to perform a magical ceremony to ward off
any nasty effects of an imminent lunar eclipse.
An enduring myth, which neither Maxwell-Stuart nor Duffy
believe, is that of a pope named Joan in the ninth or
11th century - depending which medieval account you
believe - who was only found out when she gave birth.
Still, as the authors argue, in 2,000 years of
Christianity and 264 popes there are bound to have been a
few rotten apples.
"For all its sins the papacy does seem to have been on
balance a force for human freedom and largeness of
spirit," says Duffy.
Visit
http://www.vandemataram.com
for all those wishing to discover more about Indian
Culture, People, Religion and Vedic Wisdom!
End of forwarded message
Jai Maharaj
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
The terrorist mission of Jesus stated in the Christian bible:
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not so send
peace, but a sword.
"For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the
daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in
law.
"And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
- Matthew 10:34-36.
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed
by forgery by one or more net terrorists,
this post may be reposted several times.
.
|
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| User: "" |
|
| Title: Re: SAINT SINNERS - POPES' MURKY PAST |
15 Apr 2005 08:51:09 AM |
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"Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world
will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that
pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning things
pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by
the church to judge? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is
not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge
between his brethren? " NKJ 1Cr 6:2-5
.
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| User: "raven1" |
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| Title: Re: SAINT SINNERS - POPES' MURKY PAST |
14 Apr 2005 02:37:13 AM |
|
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On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 10:47:40 GMT, (Dr. Jai Maharaj)
wrote:
<snip>
Reported to .
.
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| User: "Dr. Jai Maharaj" |
|
| Title: Re: SAINT SINNERS - POPES' MURKY PAST |
14 Apr 2005 05:14:06 AM |
|
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SAINT SINNERS - POPES' MURKY PAST
Forwarded message
Saint Sinners: Popes' murky past
(Times of India, 13th April, 2005)
AFP [MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2005 09:30:23 AM ]
VATICAN CITY: They've plotted and deceived, they've been
warlike, corrupt and power-hungry and they've sired
children they shamelessly promoted: the history of popes,
as cardinals mull who will succeed John Paul II, is
decidedly murky.
Such accusations can in no way be levelled at John Paul
II, who died on April 2 after a 26-year pontificate that
inspired and enthralled many.
But it was not always so. "The history of the papacy is
the history of one of the most momentous and
extraordinary institutions in the history of the world,"
says Eamon Duffy in a study of popes entitled "Saints and
Sinners."
As cardinals go into seclusion from April 18 to elect the
next head of the Roman Catholic Church, they have a rich
history of sinning popes to look back on.
In the early centuries of Christianity, popes struggled
to establish their grip in an age when the Roman empire
was collapsing and threats abounded from other cultures
and religions.
They assumed more and more temporal authority as the
papacy developed into a major secular power, at the cost
of plunging to a level of corruption that left it morally
bankrupt.
Pontiffs became absolute monarchs, with their own army,
administration and lands, until other European kings re-
asserted their own rights, shrinking the papacy's power
and forcing it to revert to its age-old spiritual role.
One of the most notorious popes was Alexander VI, from
the scheming Borgia dynasty, who was both intensely
ambitious and wealthy.
During the 1492 conclave that elected him the successor
to Innocent VIII, "money fell like rain," according to
Peter Maxwell-Stuart of the University of Aberdeen,
Scotland.
"The papacy had been bought." Alexander VI had six
sons...
... and three daughters by several women and placed all
his offspring into high positions.
His successor in 1503, Julius II, had three daughters
while a cardinal and was a fierce warrior, leading his
men into battle in silver armour against any who defied
his authority.
Under Leo X, rampant corruption such as the selling of
spiritual blessings in return for money led Martin Luther
to start the Reformation.
Popes were kingmakers too, although not always
successfully.
In the turmoil after the collapse of the Roman empire
people looked to the papacy for leadership, but as proper
nation states developed, popes resorted - like everyone
else - to scheming and plotting and ad-hoc alliances in
the myriad kingdoms and rival loyalties of Middle Age and
Renaissance Europe.
Picking the wrong friends cost lives. Back in 882, John
VIII was poisoned and clubbed to death, the first pope to
be murdered.
A few years later, Pope Stephen VIII had a close
predecessor, Formosus, dug up, dressed in pontifical garb
and put on trial posthumously.
Stephen himself was later imprisoned and...
... strangled. Meanwhile Pope Sixtus IV was implicated in
an inter-factional plot in 1478 that led to the murder of
a leading member of the powerful Medici family.
According to Maxwell-Stuart, five pontiffs have been
jailed, four murdered, one openly assassinated, one
deposed and one publicly flogged.
One died of wounds in battle, another when a ceiling fell
on top of him. Pope Urban VIII, a prodigious nepotist who
reigned from 1623 to 1644, had astrologers draw up
horoscopes of cardinals in Rome to learn when they would
die because he was suspicious of them.
He also ordered a Dominican monk recently released from
jail for heresy to perform a magical ceremony to ward off
any nasty effects of an imminent lunar eclipse.
An enduring myth, which neither Maxwell-Stuart nor Duffy
believe, is that of a pope named Joan in the ninth or
11th century - depending which medieval account you
believe - who was only found out when she gave birth.
Still, as the authors argue, in 2,000 years of
Christianity and 264 popes there are bound to have been a
few rotten apples.
"For all its sins the papacy does seem to have been on
balance a force for human freedom and largeness of
spirit," says Duffy.
Visit
http://www.vandemataram.com
for all those wishing to discover more about Indian
Culture, People, Religion and Vedic Wisdom!
End of forwarded message
Jai Maharaj
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
The terrorist mission of Jesus stated in the Christian bible:
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not so send
peace, but a sword.
"For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the
daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in
law.
"And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
- Matthew 10:34-36.
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed
by forgery by one or more net terrorists,
this post may be reposted several times.
.
|
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| User: "Dr. Homilete" |
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| Title: Re: SAINT SINNERS - POPES' MURKY PAST |
01 May 2005 11:50:20 PM |
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Johnny Judas Jay "the jumpin' jackass" Maharaj wrote:
SAINT SINNERS - POPES' MURKY PAST
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/929659.cms
.
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| User: "raven1" |
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| Title: Re: SAINT SINNERS - POPES' MURKY PAST |
14 Apr 2005 05:54:11 AM |
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On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 05:14:06 GMT, (Dr. Jai Maharaj)
wrote:
<snip nonsense>
Did you have a point?
.
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| User: "Dr. Jai Maharaj" |
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| Title: Re: SAINT SINNERS - POPES' MURKY PAST |
14 Apr 2005 06:25:37 AM |
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In article <gc1s515r56oe2og08nql6v9ttem21b0vvs@4ax.com>,
raven1 <quoththeraven@nevermore.com> posted:
Did you have a point?
Did you have a point?
Jai Maharaj
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti
.
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| User: "Dr. Homilete" |
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| Title: Re: SAINT SINNERS - POPES' MURKY PAST |
02 May 2005 12:01:07 AM |
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Johnny Judas Jay "the jumpin' jackass" Maharaj wrote:
In article <gc1s515r56oe2og08nql6v9ttem21b0vvs@4ax.com>,
raven1 <quoththeraven@nevermore.com> posted:
Did you have a point?
Did you have a point?
Didja?
Didja?
Didja?
Open up, you stinking jyotishithead, and admit to your agenda!
Dr. Homilete
http://www.stopfundinghate.org/sacw/part1.html
http://www.hinduonnet.com/mag/2002/09/01/stories/2002090100020400.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/09/05/BA232355.DTL
http://www.rickross.com/reference/saibaba/saibaba2.html
http://www.dalitstan.org/vishnu/week.html
.
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| User: "raven1" |
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| Title: Re: SAINT SINNERS - POPES' MURKY PAST |
15 Apr 2005 12:25:45 AM |
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On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 06:25:37 GMT, (Dr. Jai Maharaj)
wrote:
In article <gc1s515r56oe2og08nql6v9ttem21b0vvs@4ax.com>,
raven1 <quoththeraven@nevermore.com> posted:
Did you have a point?
Did you have a point?
Jai Maharaj
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti
I meant a *meaningful* point...
.
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| User: "Dr. Jai Maharaj" |
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| Title: Re: SAINT SINNERS - POPES' MURKY PAST |
15 Apr 2005 04:24:06 AM |
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In article <ah2u51lda0m3jukuqvq6l58u2n9ff3bosb@4ax.com>,
raven1 <quoththeraven@nevermore.com> posted:
Dr. Jai Maharaj wrote:
In article <gc1s515r56oe2og08nql6v9ttem21b0vvs@4ax.com>,
raven1 <quoththeraven@nevermore.com> posted:
Did you have a point?
Did you have a point?
I meant a *meaningful* point...
To whom? Surely not to some anonymous coward!
Jai Maharaj
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti
.
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| User: "=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Le_G=E9ant?=" |
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| Title: Re: SAINT SINNERS - POPES' MURKY PAST |
13 Apr 2005 12:09:01 PM |
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/929659.cms
http://www.ambedkar.org/p3a.htm
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1923/stories/20021122003703800.htm
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/op/2002/05/07/stories/2002050700140200.htm
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/india/India994-11.htm#P1982_417054
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1069325.cms
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