Lighten up on Pope Francis--We once had a Pope who was murdered while engaging in the act of adultery

 "Pope Francis says Martians have right to be baptized"

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     Some comments made by Pope Francis certainly must leave even the most devout Catholics wondering if the Holy Father might be spending a little too much time in the Vatican mushroom patch.

     His views on a variety of topics certainly do not represent those shared by previous church leaders.  For example, on the subject of homosexuality, the pope quipped "Who am I to judge a gay person?"

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     And at least a few of the usual less curious adherent supporters had to wonder if Barack Obama perhaps coached the Supreme One, in that earlier referred to mushroom patch, when Papa uttered these words, or perhaps read them off some imaginary teleprompter..."  We need rules of conduct and also, if necessary, direct intervention from the state to correct the more intolerable inequalities."

     As an unwritten rule, Catholics learn from an early age, you do not question 'the church.'  Some years ago I left a close relative scratching her head, and in a state of confusion after informing her that for the first 1200 years of the Church's existence, 39 popes were married.  Honestly, how many Catholics are aware of that fact.  And regardless of whatever Pope Francis might say during his open-end reign,  he most likely will fall short of equaling many of his earlier predecessors in acts of absurdity.

     Here are but a few examples--hope many of you are sitting down, and tightly grasping your rosary beads.

-- Pope John XII (955–964), who gave land to a mistress, murdered several people, and was killed by a man who caught him in bed with his wife. 

--Pope Stephen VI (896–897), who had his predecessor Pope Formosus exhumed, tried, de-fingered, briefly reburied, and thrown in the Tiber.
     
--Pope Benedict IX (1032–1044, 1045, 1047–1048), who “sold” the Papacy 

--Pope Boniface VIII (1294–1303), who is lampooned in Dante’s Divine Comedy 

--Pope Urban VI (1378–1389), who complained that he did not hear enough screaming when Cardinals who had conspired against him were tortured.
     
--Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503), a Borgia, who was guilty of nepotism and whose unattended corpse swelled until it could barely fit in a coffin.
     
--Pope Leo X (1513–1521), a spendthrift member of the Medici family who once spent 1/7 of his predecessors’ reserves on a single ceremony.  Reportedly Barack Obama's most admired pope.
     
--Pope Clement VII (1523–1534), also a Medici, whose power-politicking with France, Spain, and Germany got Rome sacked.
     
--Pope Urban II (1095) ordered that married priests who ignored the celibacy laws be imprisoned for the good of their souls. He had the wives and children of those married priests sold into slavery, and the money went to church coffers.
     
--Pope Gregory IX(Pope from 1227 - 1241) He started the inquisition of heretics in 1231.
     
--Pope Innocent VIII(1484 - 1492) The first pope ever to openly acknowledge his mistress and illegitimate children.*

      Obviously there are probably many other examples, however locating details and reporting back might be more difficult than 'finding the elusive popes in a pizza!'


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 *(The preceding examples are taken from E. Chamberlain’s book “The Bad Popes,” as summarized by Wikipedia.)