“the Donatists were rigorists, holding that the church must be a church of saints, not sinners”
Hmm...and I repeatedly have posted that all are sinners. But not all are repentant. I am guilty of both a bad temper and a potty mouth, but I’m repentant. Many of the Popes had no repentance...kind of like a deacon once in a church where I was a deacon.
He shacked up with a girl, and we told him to repent or leave. He left. His choice. But our choice was not to allow him to continue as a deacon (or a member) while living in unrepentant sin.
Nor should ordination LOWER the standard.
“...the toaster that never pops up”
I confess, I enjoyed that phrase.
You were at the deathbed of all the popes and can attest that some of them did not repent?
All I can say about those sons of guns is I sure hope they repented.
Part of the problem is related to the whole sacraments/ordinances disagreement. Maybe I can look at it with fresh eyes/mind tomorrow. As i understood it, one consequence of the Donatist view was the if you were baptized by a minister they thought unworthy, they said the Baptism wasn't valid, while the "orthodox" position was that the worthiness of the minister does not affect the sacraments over which he presides.