The exposed text says, and it is ‘Pope Francis’ speaking: “I have prayed for time to stop wars, to save the planet, to welcome all the refugees, to restore justice and renew the Church. But God, perhaps …”
WOW. WOW. WOW.
“But God, perhaps …”
This cartoon strip which is ULTRA FRANCIS FRIENDLY is admitting that Pope Francis’ prayers …
Well, I have SAID it BEFORE — about how Francis needs to STOP PRAYING. I have said it more forcefully.
I really don’t KNOW. That is why I am asking. Maybe it says so in the Bible? OOOPs! My mistake. Popes are NOT mentioned in the Bible. Oh?
The recent work I have been doing about popes got me THINKING (which is something I just can’t stop doing).
God & St. Peter between them must have SOME CRITERIA as to what is RIGHT and what is WRONG.
Yes? No?
Let’s, for the sake of it, take the blessing of same sex couple?
Where does God stand on that? He must have a position. Where does St. Peter stand on that?
The traditionalist are opposed to that and many other things. Are THEY RIGHT? Is God on their side. What about St. Peter.
From what I know, (THOUGH, I, OF COURSE, don’t believe in heaven (and SURE don’t won’t to be stuck there for eternity), St. Peter is the arbitrator. Plus, popes are his special envoys.
Just asking. Let me know. Are there any OFFICIAL Church teachings as to popes and heaven.
I know of AT LEAST two popes who deserve to be in heaven. AND PLEASE, don’t start talking about SAINTS. Men create popes as Saints! Not God. God, & St. Peter, are not bound by what men do, even popes … especially the ones that they might not let into heaven.
The ONLY two popes I can be sure of. My FAVORITE pope of ALL TIME — Saint Celestine V. Now that was a POPE. He was a MAN. He was a true Saint. My next Saint John XXIII.
You can find then on ‘Audible.com‘.Click to ENLARGE. From an internal Amazon report.
As I have already stated a couple of times I am very happy that ‘Amazon‘ made it possible for me to convert my print/eBooks into audiobooks. My books work great in audiobook form. Folks will be able to listen them while driving or ambling. This is wonderful.
They have also started selling — though they have only been available in the last 2.5 weeks. Wow. Not great — but, as I always say, it is better than a kick in the teeth.
As expected my ‘Orgasm’ book has DONE BEST. That makes sense.
Yes, of course, I plan to head up again this March. Why break a good, fun, enjoyable trend. But, I am NOT going to be writing a book after this trip. Of that I am 98% certain. Have a FEW books going already — & one that I am really enjoying working on. Plus, I need a break from ‘Bold Coast‘ books. I get jaded. Has, of course, happened with all of my past passions too. But, sometimes, as with popes, I keep on going back.
I just wanted to point out to you that March is a good time to visit the Bold Coast — or more to the point for the FIRST visit to the Bold Coast for the year. SMILE. Yes, I will, of course, go up a few times more before the year is up. Or at least that is the plan.
Click to ENLARGE. The start of ‘All the Popes‘ list (below)
The Vatican Marble Tablet of ‘Popes buried‘. Click to ENLARGE.Monument to Pius VIII (#254). Landmark for findling above Tablet. Click to ENLARGE.
The 2 lists provided below are MORE ACCURATE than any other list you are likely to find anywhere!
Most of you have probably seen at least a picture of this imposing, ~6′ tall marble tablet listing the names of the popes buried in St. Peter’s, under the Latin inscription SUMMI PONTIFICES IN HAC BASILICA SEPULTI (Supreme Pontiffs buried in this Basilica).
This tablet, in St. Peter’s is to the right of the entrance to the sacristy – that being the rather large ‘annex’ to the left of the main Basilica (when facing it). You reach it from the left aisle under the huge monument to Pius VIII (#254), pictured below.
The Vatican’s marble tablet lists 148 popes up to and including John Paul II (#266).
This 148 number is optimistic.
The actual number of popes now believed to be buried within the precincts of St. Peter’s is 137, possibly 138 or maybe 139 — and that includes the original Stephen (II) (#92), a bona fide pope albeit for four days, who is indeed buried there though NOT listed in the marble tablet.
WHY THE DISCREPANCY? The problem is that the list on the tablet does not reflect some bodies that were transferred away from St. Peter’s after they had been initially buried there.
St. Sixtus I (#7) is a good example. There is a wonderful story about what happened to the body of Sixtus I (which I recounted in my first book). Tradition maintains that Sixtus I was martyred (though this was unlikely) and buried under what is now St. Peter’s Basilica. It is also said that in 1132 Innocent II (#165), at the bidding of the residents of Alife [Italy], granted them Sixtus I’s relics. But the mule carrying the relics from Rome refused to go beyond Alatri [Italy]. So, the relics were interned at the Alatri Cathedral with Alfie just getting a finger bone.
But, his name appears on the marble tablet, thus making us rethink that old adage about things chiseled in stone – in this case, ‘soft,’ most likely Carrera, marble.
Here is THE list of the 13 popes that appear on the marble tablet but have since been translated to other locations:
1. St. Sitxus (#7) –> Alatri Cathedral, Italy 2. St. Anicetus (#11) –> Palazzo Altemps, Rome 3. St. Sorter (#12) –> San Martino ai Monti, Rome 4. St. Eleutherius (#13) –> Santa Susanna, Rome 5. Vigilius (#59) –> Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti, Rome 6. St. Paschal I (#99) –> Santa Prassede, Rome 7. John XVIII (XIX)(#142) –> St. John Lateran or San Paolo fuori le Mura, Rome 8. Honorius IV (#191) –> Santa Maria in Aracoeli, Rome 9. Eugene IV (#208) –> San Salvatore in Lauro, Rome 10. Callistus III (#210) –> Santa Maria de Monserrato degli Spagnoli, Rome 11. Pius II (#211) –> Sant’Andrea della Valle, Rome 12. Alexander VI (#215) –> Santa Maria de Monserrato degli Spagnoli, Rome 13. Pius III (#216) –> Sant’Andrea della Valle, Rome
So that is -13 [i.e., minus 13].
However, that has to be offset by 2 popes that are not on the marble tablet, but are indeed buried at St. Peter’s. These two are: Stephen (II) (#92) & John XI (#126).
Then we have Leo VIII (#132). Nobody knows where he is buried. Some suspect that he is indeed buried at St. Peter’s. So he gets the benefit of the doubt.
We also have the same problem with the pope hat succeeded him, Benedict V (#133). Again nobody can determine where he was buried. However, in his case, people are not as sure whether he is buried at St. Peter’s.
So here is how the numbers reconcile. 148 on the tablet. But we know 13 were translated away. So that is 148-13 which gives us 135. Then we have to ADD Stephen (II) and John XI. That takes us up to 137.
Whether we then add Leo VIII and Benedict V dictates whether we go with 138 or 139.
OK? Get the drift. Study the list.
MULTIPLE PHASES We also need to take into account that today’s magnificent Basilica, in its current grandiose form, now the second largest in the world, hasn’t always been there.
Initially, c. 60 AD, it was an open field, on top of a mound, on the outskirts of Rome. There was no building or structure. We have to take it on faith that those that succeeded St. Peter (#1) were buried close to him.
St. Anacletus (#3), c.76/79 – c.88/92, had a monument (possibly a chapel) built over St. Peter’s tomb. That was the first structure.
In the fourth century, at the behest of Emperor Constantine the Great a small Basilica was built on this site – the so called Old St. Peter’s or the Constantine Basilica. St. Leo ‘the great’ I (#45), in 461, was the first pope to be buried in this Basilica.
In the sixteenth century, Julius ‘the warrior pope’ II (#217), of the Sistine Ceiling fame, commissioned Donato Bramante, the great Italian architect, to build a bigger, grander Basilica around the by now dilapidated old structure. In time the incomparable Michelangelo Buonarroti, having finished the ceiling, designed the imposing timeless dome. Bramante had to do away with nearly all the papal tombs that were located in the old Basilica. Many of the remains were transferred to new locations within the new Basilica.
THE DEFINITIVE LISTS
Two seperate, (safe) PDF Files. Click on icon to OPEN.
Click to ENLARGE. My work. {Took me about 3 hours!}
As I had mentioned recently, antipopes have become my latest interest. And boy am I glad that it occurred to me that I should do some research. Very fertile fields for I. Right up my ally. Lots of data, much of it unrefined, from disparate sources. Waiting for me to refine & sort out. Having a ball already. Will keep me busy over the winter. That is good. The ‘Bold Coast‘ (as I feared it would) will start taking a back seat. Just finishing one new book on the Bold Coast — my 5th. I have one more planned to be available in Spring 2023. But, I am working on antipopes in parallel.
Yes, there will be an Antipope Book. Smile. My 11th or 12th papal book. Just think IF I had been a Catholic or even a Christian. SMILE.
Got it from eBay, delivered today, for $27.17 (in total).Title pages.
List of popes.
Directory of all the dioceses.
I really didn’t need it! All the information I could get from an ‘Annuario Pontifico‘ (Pontifical Yearbook), i.e., the list of popes, list of cardinals, & organization of the curia, I already have in buckets — &, moreover, in ENGLISH. The ‘AP’ is in 100% Italian, which makes it difficult for me to follow, though, of course, you can get a fairly good idea of what is being said, especially when it is talking about names.
In 2007, when I started doing my research into popes I thought that I had to get my hands on an AP just to make sure that I was not missing out of anything. In those days, I recall, that APs were hard to get, in the U.S. $120 comes to mind. I think that that was about what the average price was — plus there were long shipping times being quoted since most were being shipped across from Europe. I then quickly discovered that all the data I wanted was readily available, in English, in more extensive detail, online & in other, easier to obtain books. So, I lost interest in APs & to be honest hadn’t looked for one until last week.
Getting this ‘AP’ only came about because I was in eBay looking for OLD copies of “J.N.D. Kelly’s” ‘Oxford Dictionary Of Popes’ as I talked about in this post. I didn’t want the new revised editions published well after Kelly’s death. Partly because of nostalgia, since my old copy, in tatters, was from 2006, I wanted one (or has it transpired two) from that era. Hence, why I went to eBay. Well, as I said in that earlier post, I ended up getting two copies, one from eBay & the other from Amazon. It was after I had bought that book from eBay that it struck me that I should look to see what APs were going for. The prices varied from ~$25 to well over $70 — the newer editions typically more expensive. I really didn’t care what year I got. There was one for 1978 — the year of the 3 popes. But, I realized that this one would not include the two that got elected that year. So, I opted for the 1985, which was priced at $26 — with “Make An Offer” option. As you can see, I got it for $2, plus shipping.
It is a LARGE book. 2,070, densely packed pages. It is quite literally a red brick. I have only thumbed through it. It is cute & neat. I wish I could read Italian.
The production of ‘The Empress’ cannot be faulted. It is lavish & sumptuous to a degree that leaves you wondering as to how they managed to pull it off. It would appear that no costs were spared. So in terms of the ‘Bollywood factor‘ (i.e., WOW factor) it is certainly on par with ‘Victoria’ & probably better than that of ‘The Crown’ (which portrayed a more restrained era of monarchy).
What makes ‘The Empress’ less compelling, alas, is the story! And that is kind of sad. All three of these series are biographical with emphasis on historic accuracy. So, ‘The Empress’, in this initial season at least, had a less dramatic storyline. It is interesting, but not as gripping as what we got with the other two.
I had no familiarity, at all, at all, with this period of the Austrian Empire — my meagre knowledge of this Empire related to the early days of the Holy Roman Empire (given its significance to my work on the popes). So, I had to look up the Emperor & his wife, i.e., the Empress. I am glad I did. The series appears to be true to the facts — more or less (with possibly a wee tad of poetic license here and there to make it a bit more appealing). But, now that I looked it up, I kind of know how it is going to end — & the definite need for a 2nd, if not 3rd season.
Netflix has not commented on the next season. I am sure they are waiting to see how successful season 1 is going to be. On that count I hope it does well because the story sure gets better from now on. So, now you also know.
IF you have Netflix & like historic drama, you should give it a whirl. I doubt you will regret it. As I said, up front — it is NOT bad, just not as good as Victoria or The Crown.
Click to ENLARGE. I created this using maps from Wikipedia.
To be fair, this wasn’t a hard record to achieve. As yesterday’s post highlighted papal travel, outside of Italy, is quite a recent phenomenon — pioneered by Paul VI in the 1960s.
Then John Paul II took it to new heights. He made papal travel commonplace. Given his lengthy tenure, 26.4 years, during which he travelled during each FULL year of his papacy, his record is going to hard to beat.
Benedict XVI, as you can see from the figure above, was not a great traveler. He tried to keep his travels short — never undertaking a trip with more than 5 stops. John Paul II, in 1983, made a trip with 11 stops. Paul VI’s last trip, in 1970, had 9 stops. Francis, in 2019, did a 7 stop trip. So, of the last 3 popes, in terms of tenure, Benedict XVI has been the pope least travelled. [You may come across references that say he only made 24 trips to 28 countries. That is wrong. San Marino, that he visited in 2011, is NOT a part of Italy!]
Note that Francis, though he has visited Latin America multiple times, has yet to visit his motherland, Argentina.
In marked contrast, Benedict XVI visited Germany 3 times; John Paul II Poland 9 times. In both instances they visited their motherland more times than any other country. They also both managed to make it home during the first year of their papacy. Ironically, Francis’ first visit, during his first year, was to Brazil which borders Argentina.
Click to ENLARGE. I created this using maps from Wikipedia.
How you react to this (or let it even register with you) will depend BOTH on your age & familiarity with papal history.
42 years mean, quite literally, two full generations. Yes, that means we now have two generations of folks, worldwide, independent of religion, who take it for GRANTED that popes travel. They are so used to seeing images of popes all over the globe, kissing the ground & holding Masses attended by hundreds of thousands.
But, if they ONLY knew how recent this all has been.
Between 1814 and 1964, i.e., 151 years, NO pope set foot outside of Italy. Just ponder that. 151 years between 1814 & 1964. This 1814 date, however, needs elaboration. The pope, Pius VII [1800 — 1823], was NOT outside Italy, in 1814, by choice! He was being held a prisoner, in France, by Napoleon. Pius VII did attend Napoleon’s wedding, by choice, in France, in 1804. So, that was the last time, prior to Paul VI, that a pope had left Italy by choice. So, we need to make a distinction between 1804 & 1814. First was by choice, the other wasn’t.
Prior to 1804 travel outside Italy had been quite rare & often undertaken under duress rather than by choice.
It was Paul VI, who became pope in 1963, that started this trend of popes travelling the globe. Paul VI travelled extensively between 1964 and 1970. In 1970 he had a 11 day trip covering 11 countries. That is a record, i.e., 11 countries on one trip. During that trip there was an attempt made on his life, in the Philippines, on day 3 of the trip. Paul VI was a trooper. He did NOT let this curtail his trip. He completed it. But, he did NOT make any further foreign trips THOUGH he would continue to reign for another 8 years.
Not so with his successors, bar poor the 33-day only John Paul I.
Even John Paul II, despite his infirmities in his later years, continued to travel abroad, year year, without fail, till the end.
Hence, the interrupted 42-year record until last year — & COVID.
42 years, uninterrupted, was quite the record. Don’t scoff at it.
In 2021 we, of course, had to reset the clock. Now, the popes will have to maintain an unbroken sequence of yearly overseas travel till 2063 before the current record is overtaken.
