And that has been shown to be taken completely out of context almost as much as the *Listen to the church* fallacy.
As far as licentious lifestyles all you need to do is look at the lives of Luther and Henry VIII once they abandoned the Faith. Not quite the same as when they were good Catholics were they?
Well, we can look as these paragons of virtue and look as the licentious lifestyles of these "good Catholics" who never abandoned *the faith* and determine that being Catholic, or rather, not being non-Catholic, makes little difference.
Top 10 Most Wicked Popes
http://listverse.com/2007/08/17/top-10-most-wicked-popes/
1. Liberius, reigned 352-66 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
2. Honorius I, reigned 625-638 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
3. Stephen VI, reigned 896-89 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
4. John XII, reigned 955-964 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
5. Benedict IX, reigned 1032-1048 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
6. Boniface VIII, reigned 1294-1303 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
7. Urban VI, reigned 1378-1389 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
8. Alexander VI, reigned 1492-1503 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
9. Leo X, reigned 1513-1521 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
10. Clement VII, reigned 1523-1524 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
Top 10 Worst Popes in History
http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-worst-popes-in-history.php
1. Pope Alexander VI (1431 – 1503)
2. Pope John XII (c. 937 – 964)
3. Pope Benedict IX (c. 1012 – 1065/85)
4. Pope Sergius III (? – 911)
5. Pope Stephen VI (? – 897)
6. Pope Julius III (1487 – 1555)
7. Pope Urban II (ca. 1035 – 1099)
8. Pope Clement VI (1291 – 1352)
9. Pope Leo X (1475 – 1521)
10. Pope Boniface VIII (c. 1235 – 1303)
Catholicism does NOTHING to ensure a pure life and lifestyle.
As far as the licentious lifestyle of Luther, would you care to provide the evidence of that instead of just smearing his name?
So much of that is doctrinal ... first they have Mortal sin and venal sin ... Big sin and small sin.. if you can go your life (after baptism) without committing a mortal sin.. you are good to go (to purgatory) ...
Now "Mortal sins"..Like intentionally skipping mass to go to a game ...easily cared for with confession and 3 Hail Mary's and 3 Our fathers..
I had a family member that was an ACTIVE RC... She was one of the nicest, most hospitable loving people I have ever known..
But you could not spend 20 minutes in her presence where she did not blaspheme God.... ...I do not even think she was aware of it..
She also had a real "social drinking" issue that ended up being the cause of her death .
Her funeral mass was concelebrated by a bevy of priests .... But it was the message that made me want to cry.. In it the family friend priest told the full church that she was now a saint in heaven and they could pray to her
She, like Mother Teresa.. was judged by men to be a"saint" using mens and Rome's standards , not Gods
Wow..10 bad Popes....most of your 2 lists were duplicates...and all those 10 in only 2,015 year....that's an average of 1 every 201.5 years....I would say that Christ was doing an outstanding job of protecting and leading HIS CHURCH AGAINST EVIL just as He promised to do.....I will be with you until the end of time....