Well, Claud, remember that the Catholic church also failed to reform some ridiculous practices when called upon by a priest to do so; I picture the Pope’s white elephant in parades while the church split and financial concerns over stopping indulgences . . . I’m not a big historian of the Church but I have a hazy view of a sort of Nero of Christianity, fiddling while the Church burned, so to speak, in Leo X. There was hardening was on both sides when the reverse was needed in light of Christ’s prayer for unity in the Church.
The Pope's a Republican, and you have a problem with this? If it'd been a white DONKEY, now I'd be upset.
Yep, sometimes the only sign of anything like Papal graces was that they stayed the heck out of theology and confined themselves to grandiosity and whoring.
Who was it who said, "The Papacy at last is ours; let us at least enjoy it."
Well, you’re right...if those Popes were saints...if WE were saints...then maybe we wouldn’t have gotten ourselves into this mess in the first place.
I find it thoroughly consistent to be a) critical of the Catholic hierarchy of that era for letting it get so bad, and b) critical of the Reformers for applying exactly the wrong medicine to fix it.
What was really needed was more along the lines of the Counter Reformation, which came a bit too late.
You’re right. The protestant rebellion was a scourge, as is the coming Koranic scourge. God cleans house in interesting ways.