List of sexually active popes

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Since the 13th century, a discipline of the Roman Catholic Church has required priests in Latin Rite (i.e. Western) Catholic jurisdictions and bishops in both Latin Rite and Eastern Rite jurisdictions to be celibate.^{[citation needed]} Celibacy is a practice and discipline however going back to the early Church, even if it was not absolutely required of all ordained previously. In this context, celibate is not synonymous with sexually abstinent; celibate means not married; it entails sexual abstinence because of a separate church doctrine requiring sexual abstinence outside of marriage. The discipline of celibacy is not considered one of the infallible immutable dogmas, and so exceptions are occasionally allowed (see clerical celibacy — for example, in some cases a married Protestant minister or Anglican priest who becomes a Catholic may be ordained to the priesthood). In particular, present-day church law allows the College of Cardinals to elect a married man to the papacy. In the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, married men are routinely ordained to the priesthood, but not to the episcopate. According to the Gospels, Saint Peter was married. According to the tradition of the Catholic Church, and supported by the archaeological evidence of his tomb on Vatican Hill, St. Peter founded the Christian community in Rome and became its bishop.

Some popes were sexually active before their election as pope; and it has sometimes been claimed that other Popes were sexually active during their papacies.

Periods in parentheses refer to the years of their papacies.

Contents 1 Sexually active popes 2 Allegedly sexually active popes 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References

[edit] Sexually active popes

• Saint Peter, traditionally the first Pope, was married (Jesus cured his mother-in-law), known to have taken his wife along on his apostolic/mission journeys (1 Cor. 9:5).
• Pope St. Hormisdas (514–523) was married and widowed before ordination. He was the father of Pope Silverius. ^[1]
• Pope Adrian II (867–872) was married before taking orders and had a daughter.
• Pope Sergius III (904–911) was supposedly the father of Pope John XI by Marozia (Source: Liber Pontificalis, Liutprand of Cremona).
• Pope John XII (955–963) (deposed by Conclave) was said to have turned the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano into a brothel and was accused of adultery, fornication, and incest (Source: Patrologia Latina).^[2]
• Pope Clement IV (1265–1268) was married before taking holy orders, and had several children.
• Pope Pius II (1458–1464) had several illegitimate children.^{[citation needed]}
• Pope Innocent VIII (1484–1492) had several illegitimate children.
• Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503) had a notably long affair with Vannozza dei Cattanei before his papacy, by whom he had his famous illegitimate children Cesare and Lucrezia. A later mistress, Giulia Farnese, was the sister of Alessandro Farnese, who later became Pope Paul III. Rumors of Alexander's sexual activity were even more wild — see Banquet of Chestnuts. He fathered a total of seven children.
• Pope Julius II (1503–1513) had three illegitimate daughters.
• Pope Clement VII (1523–1534) was probably the father of Alessandro de' Medici, whom he made Duke of Florence.
• Pope Paul III (1534–1549) held off ordination in order to continue his promiscuous lifestyle, fathering four illegitimate children by his mistress. His nickname was "Cardinal Petticoat" because his sister Giulia had been Alexander VI's mistress. He made his illegitimate son Pier Luigi Farnese the first Duke of Parma.
• Pope Pius IV (1559–1565) had several illegitimate children.
• Pope Gregory XIII (1572–1585) had an illegitimate son before he took holy orders.

[edit] Allegedly sexually active popes

• Pope Benedict IX (1032–1044, 1045–1046, 1047–1048) Accused by Bishop Benno of Placenta of "many vile adulteries and murders." Pope Victor III referred to "his rapes, murders and other unspeakable acts. His life as a Pope so vile, so foul, so execrable, that I shudder to think of it."
• Pope Clement II (1046–1047) died from consuming too much lead sugar, which was used at the time as a cure for venereal diseases. It is unknown whether Clement took the lead sugar to treat a sexually transmitted disease or if he was poisoned by a third party.

[edit] See also

• Myths and legends surrounding the Papacy

[edit] Notes

1. ↑  Kelly, J.N.D (1986). Oxford Dictionary of the Popes. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-213964-9. p. 36–37
2. ↑  Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) Pope St. Hormisdas
3. ↑ Martin, Malachi (1981). Decline and Fall of the Roman Church. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-22944-3. p. 105

[edit] References

• The Pope Encyclopedia: An A to Z of the Holy See , Matthew Bunson, Crown Trade Paperbacks, New York, 1995.
• The Papacy, Bernhard Schimmelpfennig, Columbia University Press, New York, 1984.
• Lives of the Popes, Richard P. McBrien, Harper Collins, San Francisco, 1997.
• Papal Genealogy, George L. Williams, McFarland& Co., Jefferson, North Carolina, 1998.
• Sex Lives of the Popes, Nigel Cawthorne, Prion, London, 1996.