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List of sexually active popes

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This is a list of sexually active popes, list of priests who were sexually active before becoming pope and popes who were legally married, who belonged to the Catholic Church. Some candidates were sexually active before their election as pope, and it has sometimes been claimed that other Popes were sexually active during their papacies. Since such relationships were sometimes undertaken outside of the bonds of matrimony, and because sometimes the Pope was under a vow of celibacy, the Catholic Church considers these to be grave abuses and causes of scandal. However, it does not undermine the Catholic doctrines considering the authority and succession of the Papacy from Saint Peter the Apostle.

Introduction

Since the Middle Ages, the Latin (Western) rite of the Catholic Church has required priest and bishops to be celibate.[1] Previously, celibacy was not absolutely required for those ordained, but still was a discipline practiced in the early Church. In this context, celibate is not synonymous with sexually abstinent; it means not married and only entails sexual abstinence because a different Catholic doctrine requires sexual abstinence outside marriage.

The discipline of priestly celibacy is not considered one of the infallible immutable dogmas, but Catholic doctrine does say that virginity and celibacy, lived out as abstinence, are higher than marriage, following the Letters of Paul of Tarsus and confirmed by a dogma in the Council of Trent.

In some cases a married Protestant minister who converts to Catholicism may be ordained to the priesthood. Present-day canon law allows the College of Cardinals to elect a married man to the papacy. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, married men are routinely ordained to the priesthood, but not to the episcopate. According to the Gospels, Saint Peter, Whom the Catholic Church maintains as the founder, bishop and first Pope of the Christian community in Rome, was married, and several other Popes have also been married.

Allegedly and factually sexually active popes

There have been 265 popes. There are various classifications for those who were sexually active at some time during their life. Periods in parentheses refer to the years of their papacies.

Popes married before receiving Holy Orders

It was within canon law, and still is, for priests to have once been married before receiving Holy Orders. In the Eastern Rite branches of the Catholic Church, it is within canon law to be a priest and married.

  • Saint Peter (Simon Peter), whose mother-in-law is mentioned in the Bible as having been miraculously healed (Matthew 8:14–15, Luke 4:38, Mark 1:29–31). According to Clement of Alexandria (Stromata, III, vi, ed. Dindorf, II, 276), Peter was married and had children and his wife suffered martyrdom. In some legends dating from at least the 6th century, Peter's daughter is called Petronilla [2][3]. Pope Clement I wrote: "For Peter and Philip begat children; [..] When the blessed Peter saw his own wife led out to die, he rejoiced because of her summons and her return home, and called to her very encouragingly and comfortingly, addressing her by name, and saying, 'Remember the Lord.' Such was the marriage of the blessed, and their perfect disposition toward those dearest to them."[4]
  • Pope St. Hormisdas (514–523) was married and widowed before ordination. He was the father of Pope Saint Silverius.[5]
  • Pope Adrian II (867–872) was married, before taking orders, and had a daughter.[6]
  • Pope John XVII (1003) was married before his election to the papacy and had three sons, who all became priests[7]
  • Pope Clement IV (1265–1268) was married, before taking holy orders, and had two daughters.[8]
  • Pope Honorius IV (1285–1287) was married before he took the Holy Orders and had at least two sons. He entered the clergy after his wife died, the last pope to have been married.[9]

Popes sexually active in violation of Catholic teachings on sexual morality

Sexually active only before receiving Holy Orders

Sexually active after receiving Holy Orders

  • Pope Julius II (1503–1513) had at least one illegitimate daughter, Felice della Rovere (born in 1483, twenty years before his election). Some sources indicate that he had two additional illegitimate daughters, who died in their childhood.[14]
  • Pope Paul III (1534–1549) held off ordination[15] in order to continue his promiscuous lifestyle, fathering four illegitimate children (three sons and one daughter) by his mistress Silvia Ruffini. He broke his relations with her ca. 1513. There is no evidence of sexual activity during his papacy.[16] He made his illegitimate son Pier Luigi Farnese the first Duke of Parma.[17][18]
  • Pope Pius IV (1559–1565) had three illegitimate children before his election to the papacy.[19]

Sexually active during their pontificate

Along with other complaints, the activities of the popes between 1458 to 1565, helped encourage the Protestant Revolt.

  • Pope Sergius III (904–911) was supposedly the father of Pope John XI by Marozia, according to Liutprand of Cremona in his Antapodosis[20], as well as the Liber Pontificalis[21]. However it must be noted that this is disputed by another early source, the annalist Flodoard (c. 894-966), John XI was brother of Alberic II, the latter being the offspring of Marozia and her husband Alberic I. Hence John too may have been the son of Marozia and Alberic I. Bertrand Fauvarque underlines that the contemporary sources backing up this parenthood are dubious, Liutprand being "prone to exaggeration" while other mentions of this fatherhood appear in satires written by supporters of late Pope Formosus.[22]
  • Pope John X (914–928) had romantic affairs with both Theodora and her daughter Marozia, according to Liutprand of Cremona in his Antapodosis[23]: "The first of the popes to be created by a woman and now destroyed by her daughter". See also Pornocracy.
  • Pope John XII (955–963) (deposed by Conclave) was said to have turned the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano into a brothel and was accused of adultery, fornication, and incest (Source: Patrologia Latina).[24] The monk chronicler Benedict of Soracte noted in his volume XXXVII that he "liked to have a collection of women". According to Liutprand of Cremona in his Antapodosis[25], "they testified about his adultery, which they did not see with their own eyes, but nonetheless knew with certainty: he had fornicated with the widow of Rainier, with Stephana his father's concubine, with the widow Anna, and with his own niece, and he made the sacred palace into a whorehouse." According to The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, John XII was "a Christian Caligula whose crimes were rendered particularly horrific by the office he held".[26]He was killed by a jealous husband while in the act of committing adultery with the man's wife.[27][28][29][30] (See also pornocracy).
  • Pope Benedict IX (1032–1044, again in 1045 and finally 1047–1048) was said to have conducted a very dissolute life during his papacy.[31] Accused by Bishop Benno of Placenta of "many vile adulteries and murders."[32][33] Pope Victor III referred in his third book of Dialogues, to "his rapes, murders and other unspeakable acts. His life as a Pope so vile, so foul, so execrable, that I shudder to think of it." [34]It prompted St. Peter Damian to write an extended treatise against sex in general, and homosexuality in particular. In his Liber Gomorrhianus, St. Peter Damian recorded that Benedict "feasted on immorality" and that he was "a demon from hell in the disguise of a priest", accusing Benedict IX of routine sodomy and bestiality and was said to have sponsored orgies.[35] In May 1045, Benedict IX resigned his office to pursue marriage, selling his office for 1,500 pounds of gold to his godfather, the pious priest John Gratian, who named himself Gregory VI [36].
  • Innocent VIII (1484–1492) litterly died as "father of Rome": he had 16 children by various married women, 8 girls, 8 boys, of whom only two were publicly acknowledged, the others presented as nephews. [37].
  • Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503) had a notably long affair with Vannozza dei Cattanei before his papacy, by whom he had his famous illegitimate children Cesare and Lucrezia. A later mistress, Giulia Farnese, was the sister of Alessandro Farnese, who later became Pope Paul III. He fathered a total of at least seven, and possibly as many as ten illegitimate children.[38] (Also see the Banquet of Chestnuts orgy.)

Popes suspected to have been sexually active as homosexuals

  • Paul II (1464–1471) was alledged to have died of a heart attack while in a sexual act with a page boy.
  • Sixtus IV (1471–1484) was alledged to have awarded gifts and benefices to court favourites in return for sexual favours. Giovanni Sclafenato was created a cardinal by Sixtus IV for "ingenuousness, loyalty and his others gifts of soul and body", according to the papal epitaph on his tomb.[39]
  • Julius II (1503–1513) was alledged by contemporaries and diarists to be sexually active. According to the schismatic Council of Pisa in 1511, he was a "sodomite covered with shameful ulcers"[40].
  • Leo X (1513–1521) was alledged to have had a particular infatuation for Marc-Antonio Flaminio.
  • Julius III (1550–1555) was alledged to have had a long affair with Innocenzo Ciocchi del Monte. The Venetian ambassador at that time reported that Innocenzo shared the pope's bedroom and bed [41]. According to the The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, he was "naturally indolent, he devoted himself to pleasurable pursuits with occasional bouts of more serious activity".[42]

Popes who have been accused of being sexually active since the Catholic Reformation (1565)

There have been forty-one popes since 1565. None of them is known to have been sexually active during their papacy.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Priestly celibacy retrieved June 9, 2008
  2. ^ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11781b.htm De Rossi, 'Roma sotterranea', I, 180
  3. ^ http://www.saintpetersbasilica.org/Altars/StPetronilla/StPetronilla.htm
  4. ^ http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250103.htm Clements, Stromata (book VII) / Eusebius, Church History (Book III)
  5. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) Pope St. Hormisdas
  6. ^ K. Dopierała, Księga Papieży, Pallotinum, Poznań, 1996, p. 106
  7. ^ * "Pope John XVII" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
  8. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia article on Clement IV
  9. ^ The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Cardinal Giacomo Savelli
  10. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia article on Pope Pius II
  11. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia article on Pope Innocent VIII
  12. ^ S. Miranda: Cardinal Giulio de Medici - Pope Clement VII (note 1)
  13. ^ The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Ugo Boncompagni
  14. ^ The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Giuliano della Rovere
  15. ^ He was ordained priest only in 1519, but in 1493 he was created Cardinal-deacon, and as such he belonged to the ecclesiestical state
  16. ^ The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Alessandro Farnese
  17. ^ Giovanni Drei, I Farnese, Parma, 1950
  18. ^ http://www.onlipix.com/kings/italy/farnese.htm Farnese familytree
  19. ^ The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Giovanni Angelo de' Medici
  20. ^ http://fmg.ac/FMG/Popes.pdf Lindsay Brook, "Popes and pornocrats: Rome in the Early Middle Ages"
  21. ^ Liber Pontificalis (first ed., 500s; it has papal biographies up to Pius II, d. 1464)
  22. ^ Fauvarque, Bertrand (2003). "De la tutelle de l'aristocratie italienne à celle des empereurs germaniques". In Y.-M. Hilaire (Ed.), Histoire de la papauté, 2000 ans de missions et de tribulations. Paris:Tallandier. ISBN 2-02-059006-9, p. 163.
  23. ^ http://fmg.ac/FMG/Popes.pdf Lindsay Brook, "Popes and pornocrats: Rome in the Early Middle Ages"
  24. ^ Martin, Malachi (1981). Decline and Fall of the Roman Church. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-22944-3. p. 105
  25. ^ http://fmg.ac/FMG/Popes.pdf Lindsay Brook, "Popes and pornocrats: Rome in the Early Middle Ages"
  26. ^ The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, Oxford University Press, 1986
  27. ^ Peter de Rosa, "Vicars of Christ: The Dark Side of the Papacy", Poolbeg Press, Dublin 1988/2000, pages 211-215.
  28. ^ Hans Kung, "The Catholic Church: A Short History" (translated by John Bowden), Modern Library, New York. 2001/2003. page 79
  29. ^ "The Popes' Rights & Wrongs", published by Truber & Co., 1860
  30. ^ Dr. Angelo S. Rappaport, The Love Affairs of the Vatican, 1912
  31. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia article on Benedict IX
  32. ^ “Post multa turpia adulteria et homicidia manibus suis perpetrata, postremo, etc.” Dümmler, Ernst Ludwig (1891), Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Libelli de lite, vol. I (Bonizonis episcopi Sutriensis: Liber ad amicum ed.), Hannover: Deutsches Institut für Erforschung des Mittelalters, p. 584, retrieved 2008-01-03. {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  33. ^ The Book of Saints, by Ramsgate Benedictine Monks of St.Augustine's Abbey, A.C. Black, 1989. ISBN 9780713653007
  34. ^ "Cuius vita quam turpis, quam freda, quamque execranda extiterit, horresco referre." Victor III, Pope (1934), Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Libelli de lite (Dialogi de miraculis Sancti Benedicti Liber Tertius auctore Desiderio abbate Casinensis ed.), Hannover: Deutsches Institut für Erforschung des Mittelalters, p. 141, retrieved 2008-01-03
  35. ^ Liber Gomorrhianus, ISBN 8876945172
  36. ^ Dr. Angelo S. Rappaport, The Love Affairs of the Vatican, 1912, pp. 81-82.
  37. ^ Halley's Bible Handbook - An Abbreviated Bible Commentary, 24th Ed. [1965], page 779
  38. ^ The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Rodrigo Borja
  39. ^ http://books.google.com/books?lr=&ei=CWUPSMLhGKDsygTH0ti9Ag&output=html&as_brr=1&id=BM6DAz1tefoC&jtp=21 diary records of Stefano Infessura (1440-1500)
  40. ^ Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History from Antiquity to World War II, Robert Aldrich and Garry Wotherspoon, Routledge, 2001
  41. ^ Burkle-Young, Francis A., and Michael Leopoldo Doerrer. The Life of Cardinal Innocenzo del Monte: A Scandal in Scarlet, Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen, 1997
  42. ^ The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, Oxford University Press, 1986

References

  • The Bad Popes, Chamberlin, E.R., Sutton History Classics, 1969 / Dorset; New Ed edition 2003.
  • The Pope Encyclopedia: An A to Z of the Holy See , Matthew Bunson, Crown Trade Paperbacks, New York, 1995.
  • The Papacy, Bernhard Schimmelpfennig, Columbia University Press, New York, 1984.
  • Lives of the Popes, Richard P. McBrien, Harper Collins, San Francisco, 1997.
  • Papal Genealogy, George L. Williams, McFarland& Co., Jefferson, North Carolina, 1998.
  • Sex Lives of the Popes, Nigel Cawthorne, Prion, London, 1996.
  • Popes and Anti-Popes, John Wilcock, Xlibris Corporation, 2005.
  • La véritable histoire des papes, Jean Mathieu-Rosay, Grancher, Paris, 1991
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