Some of Roman Catholicism's worst Atrocities and Abominations of History

By Keith Thompson

As one examines the history of the Roman Catholic Church, the frequency of abominable practices and events seen leaves little doubt that she is not the fulfillment of God’s salvation program on the earth. The level of wickedness produced by the system negates the idea she is the bride of Christ who offers new birth. Instead, once the evidence is assessed, it becomes obvious she belongs to the kingdom of darkness. The following are some of the most evil atrocities, not including the inquisitions, committed by the Roman religion in history:

Pope Urban VI reigned from A. D. 1378-1389. During his reign, an antipope rose up stating he was the real pope, that is, Clement VII. Because Joanna, Queen of Naples, sided with Clement VII, Pope Urban VI had her deposed and replaced by her cousin Charles of Durazzo. However, Charles and Pope Urban VI later had a falling out themselves, resulting in Charles as well as some cardinals plotting against him. As a result Urban VI had six of these cardinals brutally tortured and then murdered (J. N. D. Kelly, M. J. Walsh, Oxford Dictionary of Popes, [Oxford University Press, 2010], p. 230; Richard P. McBrien ed., “Urban VI,” HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism, [HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1995], p. 1290). In fact, it is stated that while these cardinals were being tortured, Pope Urban VI complained that their screams were not loud enough for his satisfaction.

Benedict IX reigned as pope twice. He first reigned from A. D. 1032 to 1044, and then again from A. D. 1045 to 1047. During his second reign he actually sold his papal office to his godfather Giovanni Gratiano, archpriest of the venerable church of St. John, who then became Pope Gregory VI. The papacy was sold to him for 1,500 pounds of gold (E. R. Chamberlin, The Bad Popes, [Dorset Press, 1969], p. 71).

Alexander VI reigned as pope from A. D. 1492 to 1503. Historians note that he amassed ridiculous amounts of wealth and fathered seven children with different women, two of which were after he became pope (J. N. D. Kelly, M. J. Walsh, Oxford Dictionary of Popes, [Oxford University Press, 2010], p. 255). Historian Williston Walker notes that he was “a man of unbridled immorality . . . His great concern was to advance his bastard children, especially his daughter, Lucrezia Borgia, by advantageous marriages, and his unscrupulous and murderous son, Cesare Borgia, by aiding him to carve a principality out of the Papal States” (Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church, [Scribner, 1985], p. 396). Philip Schaff explains an unthinkable event near the end of Alexander VI’s life: “two years before Alexander VI’s death, October 31, 1501, an orgy took place in the Vatican by Caesar’s appointment whose obscenity the worst of the imperial revels could hardly have surpassed. 50 courtezans spent the night dancing, with the servants and others present, first with their clothes on and then nude, the pope and Lucretia looking on. The women, still naked, and going on their hands and feet, picked up chestnuts thrown on the ground, and then received prizes of cloaks, caps and other articles” (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume 6, [Hendrickson Publishers, 2011], p. 461). E. R. Chamberlin likewise confirms, “. . .the Vatican has been the scene of scandalous enough behaviour; now, the court became actively criminal–curiously, deliberately, perverted. . . . fifty Roman harlots coupled with fifty palace servants for prizes presented by Alexander” (E. R. Chamberlin, The Bad Popes, [Dorset Press, 1969], pp. 197, 198). It’s interesting to note that this is the pope who canonized, that is made saint, one of Rome’s favourite saints: Anselm of Canterbury (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume 6, [Hendrickson Publishers, 2011], p. 462).

This atrocity concerns forgeries Rome created in order to deceive people to believe in papal primacy and Roman supremacy. The first is called the Donation of Constantine. This document was forged in the 8^th – 9^th century by Rome. In it the emperor Constantine who reigned during the papal reign of Pope Silvester I (A.D. 314-345) is represented as conferring on Pope Silvester I and Rome certain prerogatives and honors which 8^th –15^th century Roman Catholicism would point to as evidence for the historicity of her papal doctrine and policy. In it the emperor gives to Pope Silvester I primacy over the church patriarchs of the world and dominion over Rome and Western states (J. N. D. Kelly, M. J. Walsh, Oxford Dictionary of Popes, [Oxford University Press, 2010], p. 25). The document was proven to be false in the 15^th century. It was not a letter from Emperor Constantine. It was created by Rome. This is truly abominable. Another similar example is known as the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals which were produced in the 9^th century by Catholic scholars. They were a set of documents forged in the name of the late Isidore of Seville, the 6^th and 7^th century Archbishop of Seville (Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church, [Scribner, 1985], p. 250). These documents, according to Schaff, “gave legal expression to the popular opinion of the papacy, raised and strengthened its power more than any other agency” (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume 4, [Hendrickson Publishers, 2011], p. 268). In fact, on the same page Schaff explains the papal teaching within these forged decretals “forms to a large extent the basis of the canon law of the church of Rome” (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume 4, [Hendrickson Publishers, 2011], p. 268). In other words, Rome’s canon law which is still used today is based on these forgeries. That Rome would create these forgeries and use them to deceive people to bow to her doctrines and policies is truly a remarkable fraud and abomination.

The epidemic of Rome’s homosexual pedophilia abuse scandals further demonstrate this system is reprobate and not of God. It seems there is always something in the world-wide news concerning a priest molesting a child, a pope covering up a scandal, a pedophile priest being moved to a different diocese, or lawsuits and Rome paying off abuse victims, etc. There are countless documentaries on this subject as well as books and essays. It is one of the things Roman Catholicism is most known for. In regards to only the United States, a 2004 study-report done by professors from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice revealed that from 1950 to 2002 10,667 individuals came forward in the United States as being sexually abused by Catholic Church leaders. The dioceses were only willing to substantiate 6,700 cases (which is nevertheless alarming!). 4,392 American priests were therefore officially recognized as engaging in sexual abuse. However, the SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priest) argued these figures, though large, were nevertheless too small based on their findings.  One has to ask: what would cause all of these Catholic leaders to do this? Many have explained how setting up a sexually repressed celibate order when these men are not given the gift of celibacy by Christ, will inevitably lead to sexual sin. But why the specific sin of sexually abusing male children? Romans 1:26-28 explains that when men persevere in rejecting God and His truth, God hands them over to a reprobate mind as a judgement, to do things which should not be done, such as homosexuality. It states, “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done” (Romans 1:26-28). Catholic Apologetics International put out: “How Many Priests and Bishops are Homosexual? Richard Sipe, a psychotherapist and former priest, has studied celibacy and sexuality in the priesthood for four decades. He has authored three books on the topic. He once estimated that 30% of the priesthood is homosexually oriented. Elsewhere, he is quoted as estimating that between 25% and 45% of American priests are homosexual in orientation. He told the Boston Globe: 'If they were to eliminate all those who were homosexually oriented, the number would be so staggering that it would be like an atomic bomb; it would do the same damage to the church's operation. . . . It would mean the resignation of at least a third of the bishops of the world. And it's very much against the tradition of the church; many saints had a gay orientation, and many popes had gay orientations’” (http://catholicintl.com/epologetics/articles/pastoral/homosexual-priests-print.htm).

John XII reigned as pope from A. D. 955 to 964. He was one of the most immoral popes of history and engaged in things one would expect a Satanist to engage in. Historian Philip Schaff observes, “John XII. disgraced the tiara for eight years . . . He was one of the most immoral and wicked popes, ranking with Benedict IX., John XXIII., and Alexander VI. He was charged by a Roman Synod, no one contradicting, with almost every crime of which depraved human nature is capable, and deposed as a monster of iniquity” (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume 4, [Hendrickson Publishers, 2011], p. 287). Schaff lists the following charges of the Synod against John XII: “appearing constantly with an armed sword, lance helmet, and breastplate, that he neglected matins and vespers . . . that he had made a boy of ten years a bishop, and ordained a bishop or deacon in a stable, that he had mutilated a priest, that he had set houses on fire, like Nero, that he had committed homicide and adultery, had violated virgins and widows high and low, lived with his father’s mistress, converted the pontifical palace into a brothel, drank to the health of the devil, and invoked at the gambling-table the help of Jupiter and Venus and other heathen demons!” (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume 4, [Hendrickson Publishers, 2011], p. 297 n. 1; see also E. R. Chamberlin, The Bad Popes, [Dorset Press, 1969], pp. 43-44). There are two accounts of his death. One is that he was killed by the jealous husband of a woman he was committing adultery with (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume 4, [Hendrickson Publishers, 2011], p. 297 n. 1). The other is that he had a stroke while committing adultery with a woman (J. N. D. Kelly, M. J. Walsh, Oxford Dictionary of Popes, [Oxford University Press, 2010], p. 127).

The Reformers protested the veneration of fraud relics which Catholics fervently sought out in the medieval era. It was affirmed that veneration of such relics would shorten a person’s time in purgatory. Explaining some of these is Eleanor Herman: “The body parts of saints were called first-class relics. Some Italian churches boasted magnificent first-class items–drops of Virgin Mary’s breast milk, the foreskin of Jesus’ penis, and his umbilical cord. Other churches offered second-class relics, articles that had been intimately connected with the holy person during his or her life. One Roman church exposed Jesus’ cradle from the manger, and another the marble pedestal on which Pontius Pilate had had him flogged” (Eleanor Herman, Mistress of the Vatican, [HarperCollins, 2009], p. 241). This outraged regenerated Bible believers such as Luther and Calvin. In his work The Theology of John Calvin, Charles Partee highlights some of Calvin’s recollections of these absurd relics: “In a rare reference to his childhood Calvin expresses the outrage of a small boy observing the poor ignorant women of his parish, unable to distinguish between the figures of saints, murderers, and demons, adorning all alike with garlands. . . . As an adult Calvin notes that among the amazing things an account of relics would reveal is that every apostle had more than four bodies and every saint two or three. Equally amazing anatomically is the display of the foreskin of Jesus at three (!) churches—one in Charrox, one in Rome, and a third in Hildesheim. Again, although only one man carried the cross, if all the pieces were assembled in the same place, one could build a ship. Among the credulous, goat droppings are taken for the beads of the Virgin Mary. Calvin recognizes that since the body of the Virgin Mary is not on earth, no bones can be produced, but the compensation is her breastmilk. `Had the breasts of the most Holy Virgin yielded a more copious supply than is given by a cow, or had she continued to nurse during her whole life time, she scarcely could have furnished the quantity which is exhibited” (Charles Partee, The Theology of John Calvin, [Westminster John Knox Press, 2008], p. 11).

The Pornocracy is the name given to a period of 68 years in the tenth-century which spanned the reign of fifteen popes. It started with Sergius III who reigned from A. D. 904 to 911 to John XIII who reigned from A. D. 965 to 972. It was a period where a family of nobility called the Theophylact family, most notably the women of the family Theodora and her daughter Marozia, had firm control over the popes and led the papacy into much immorality, wickedness and corruption (Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church, [Scribner, 1985], pp. 252-253). J. N. D. Kelly and M. J. Walsh note that “the papacy itself was effectively controlled by this powerful, unscrupulous family” (J. N. D. Kelly, M. J. Walsh, Oxford Dictionary of Popes, [Oxford University Press, 2010], p. 120). Pope Sergius III was intimate with and had a child with Theodora’s 15 year old daughter Marozia. Their child would then be installed as pope by the Theophylact family when he grew up. He would be named Pope John XI (E. R. Chamberlin, The Bad Popes, [Dorset Press, 1969], p. 34; J. N. D. Kelly, M. J. Walsh, Oxford Dictionary of Popes, [Oxford University Press, 2010], p. 119). The way Pope Sergius III became pope was that he marched to Rome with an armed force, deposed antipope Christopher and had him thrown into gaol after which he was executed (J. N. D. Kelly, M. J. Walsh, Oxford Dictionary of Popes, [Oxford University Press, 2010], p. 118). Pope John X (A.D. 914-928) was at first on good terms with the Theophylact family which was at his time still controlling the papacy. However, because of certain political actions, Marozia, daughter of Theophylact, organized a revolt against him. They had his brother murdered and he himself ended up being deposed of his papal office and suffocated to death (J. N. D. Kelly, M. J. Walsh, Oxford Dictionary of Popes, [Oxford University Press, 2010], p. 121). This family freely installed popes such as Leo VI, Stephen VII and others. Marozia married numerous times during this seize of the papacy. Commenting on this horrible time, Philip Schaff relays, “The papacy itself lost all independence and dignity, and became the prey of avarice, violence, and intrigue, a veritable synagogue of Satan. It was dragged through the quagmire of the darkest crimes, and would have perished in utter disgrace had not Providence saved it for better times. Pope followed pope in rapid succession, and most of them ended their career in deposition, prison, and murder. . . . These Roman amazons [Theodora and Marozia] combined with the fatal charms of personal beauty and wealth, a rare capacity for intrigue, and a burning lust for power and pleasure. . . . They turned the church of St. Peter into a den of robbers, and the residence of his successors into a harem. And they gloried in their shame. Hence this infamous period is called the papal Pornocracy or Hataerocracy” (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume 4, [Hendrickson Publishers, 2011], p. 284 brackets mine).

Pope Stephen VI reigned as pope from A. D. 896-897. He was consecrated as bishop of Anagni by previous pope Formosus who reigned from A. D. 891-896. However, Stephen VI turned his back on Formosus. After Formosus died Stephen VI had his eight month old corpse exhumed, dressed in full papal vestments, and put on a throne for a mock trial on charges of perjury, coveting the papacy, and violating the canons prohibiting the translation of bishops. A deacon stood beside Formosus’s dead body and answered for him at the mock trial. Formosus was declared to be guilty, his fingers cut off, and his body tossed into the Tiber River. This is truly satanic. However, it gets worse for Rome. Stephen VI’s actions did not go unpunished. A few months later the outraged Catholic supporters of Formosus “deposed Stephen, stripped him of his papal insignia, and threw him into the gaol, where he was shortly afterwards strangled” (J. N. D. Kelly, M. J. Walsh, Oxford Dictionary of Popes, [Oxford University Press, 2010], p. 115).

This historical abomination concerns indulgences. An indulgence is the remission of temporal punishments of sin here and in purgatory. It was proclaimed by medieval Rome that these indulgences could shorten people’s time in the non-existent place called purgatory. Pope Urban II who reigned from A.D. 1088-1099 offered indulgences to crusaders who died battling Muslims whereby all their temporal punishments for sin were said to be remitted (Kenan B. Osborne, “Indulgences,” ed. Richard P. McBrien, The HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism, [HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1995], pp. 662-663). Not only is the idea of indulgences an abomination, but the fact that Roman Catholicism sold indulgences in the middle ages is unthinkably satanic. On April 18, 1506 Pope Julius II put out a bull promising indulgence to those who paid money to him. He would use these funds to construct St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume 6, [Hendrickson Publishers, 2011], p. 764). Rome commissioned certain preachers like Tetzel to go around scaring Catholics into giving their money so that they could get loved ones out of purgatory faster. The logical abuse which came about is that people would sin willfully thinking it was okay since they would just pay money to get the temporal punishments for sin remitted with money. This despicable practice was fervently opposed by the reformer Martin Luther.

There are many other atrocities one could highlight (including the inquisitions). Suffice it to say, this track-record of unspeakable abominations coming out of Romanism era after era demonstrates very clearly that this system is not the fulfillment of God’s salvation plan on the earth. Romanism is not the arbiter of God’s kingdom. She is not God’s holy bride, the true seed of Abraham who is given the role of spreading the gospel to the lost in a Christian manner. Although no one expects God’s people to always be one-hundred percent perfect all the time, this constant track-record of abominations and atrocities in Catholic history century after century proves that this type of thing is commonplace in Papalism. This system resembles a satanic cult more than it does the fulfillment of God’s plan on the earth. It is because Roman Catholicism, far from representing God and being God’s sanctified bride, is actually Satan’s greatest counterfeit, an apostate church which, as a church, had its lampstand removed long ago.