La Papessa: Difference between revisions
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redirect to The High Priestess, for the card. as for the female pope, there is no there there, and even if there were, it's just a word, another name. Pope Joan is linked in the lead for the card |
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#REDIRECT [[The High Priestess ]] |
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{{Citations missing|date=July 2007}} |
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'''''La Papessa''''', is an [[Italian language|Italian]] term used in [[tarot]] to refer to '''The Papess''' or '''[[The High Priestess]]''' [[playing card]]. It is also a term used informally by some [[Roman Catholic]]s to refer to a woman who is perceived as exercising undue influence on a [[pope]] to the extent that she is seen as ''La Papessa'' or a "she pope" – most recently [[Pascalina Lehnert|Sister Pascalina]] who worked for Pope Pius XII. It was also used to refer to [[Pope Joan]], the [[mythology|myth]]ical woman pope who supposedly reigned as pope from 855 to 858, and of [[Olimpia Maidalchini]] the sister-in-law and alleged mistress of Pope [[Innocent X]]. |
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==Catholicism== |
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While many women were accused of exercising "undue influence" on popes, the term ''La Popessa'' is particularly used to refer to two. |
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===Pope Joan=== |
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{{main|Pope Joan}} |
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According to mediæval legend, in the 9th century (855-858) an [[England|English]] woman disguised herself as a man to be allowed to enter [[Holy Orders]]. It was claimed that she rose to prominence with her Order before being elected pope. Her deception was only unearthed when she collapsed in childbirth during a papal procession through [[Rome]]. According to one version, the angry crowd then stoned to death Pope Joan and her newborn child. All subsequent popes were then supposedly subjected to an examination whereby, having sat on a [[dung chair]] containing a hole called ''[[sedia stercoraria]]'', a cardinal had to reach up and establish that the new pope had [[testicle]]s, before solemnly announcing "''Duos habet et bene pendentes''" – "He has two, and they dangle nicely."{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}} |
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While the story of Pope Joan is attested to by some respected mediæval historians {{Citation needed|date=April 2008}} who repeated as fact traditional accounts of her supposed reign, it has been generally dismissed by historians since the 17th century as a fabrication. |
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However, new information has been discovered by Sir Liam of Slade that the so-called 'Ball Chair' is in fact real, and that it's whereabouts are known. "I know for a fact that the pope had a ball chair," he offered, "I use it myself when entertaining ladies to ensure they aren't actually blokes in drag." Sir Liam is said to be a devote Christian who searched many years for the Ball Chair for this purpose. "As a God loving Christian, I shall never be found to be slipping a dirty up the wrong 'un of a chap!" he said recently in an interview with 'GT'. (Gay Times) |
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===Pasqualina Lehnert=== |
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While the evidence as to the existence of the supposed "Pope Joan" may be scant, Sr. [[Pasqualina Lehnert]] was the real-life housekeeper of [[Pope Pius XII|Eugenio Pacelli]], a [[Vatican City|Vatican]] [[diplomat]] who in 1939 became Pope Pius XII. |
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The precise nature of the relationship between Pacelli and Lehnert remained a source of controversy throughout their lifetimes.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}} |
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The [[Bavaria]]n-born nun first worked for Pacelli when he was appointed [[Apostolic Nuncio]] to the court of King [[Ludwig III of Bavaria]]. In 1918 rumours spread through the Vatican that Pacelli and Lehnert were lovers.{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}} Pacelli demanded and was granted a full investigation of what he called a "horrible calumny". Lehnert remained as his housekeeper, a post she would continue to fill (along with other nuns who assisted her) until his death in 1958. |
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Lehnert became highly controversial in the 1950s when Pope Pius XII's health began to deteriorate. Her enemies included his family (his sister labelled her ''scaltrissima'' — extremely cunning — while his nephew begged him to dismiss her) and senior figures in the [[Curia]]. Lehnert assumed the role of [[gatekeeper (politics)|gatekeeper]] to the Pope, deciding who could meet him and who would not be allowed to meet him, what Vatican documents could be submitted to him and what ones couldn't. Critics accused her of using her position to poison his mind against some senior figures, most notably [[Pope Paul VI|Giovanni Montini]], whom Pius made Archbishop of Milan in 1952/3, thus removing him from influential Vatican circles. At that time, Montini declined the [[cardinalate]]. Her most outspoken critics within the Vatican labelled her ''La Papessa'' or the "She Pope"", also calling her "Virgo Potens", the "Powerful Virgin", a name otherwise used for Mary the Mother of Jesus. Her critics sought, without success, to have her dismissed from the [[Papal Household]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2007}} She left Vatican service immediately upon Pius's death in 1958. |
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[[Category:Tarot]] |
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[[Category:Women and the papacy]] |
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Latest revision as of 17:16, 8 March 2012
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