Excellent analysis!
Thanks! Just pointing out the obvious contradiction in the arguments of many anti-Catholics who argue first that the medieval popes were incompetent and corrupt and only were in office for a year at a time, then, at the same time, argue that the Popes were in total control of every Christian in Europe for a thousand years, and responsible for every sparrow that fell.
I wonder, if the pope's were in total control of every Christian in Europe, why did he allow some of them to become Protestants? Is it possible that Protestantism is a secret plot by the papacy to control the world?