The Pope’s Reign and Ruin
A superbly written article from Brendan Michael Dougherty at National Review which shows real understanding of the subject matter as well as a flair for communication. Just one important point: The Papal Personality Cult began a little earlier than Vatican I. It started when Napoleon abducted Pius VII. The then Cardinal Secretary of State, Ercole Consalvi (pictured above - a deacon, never a priest or bishop, despite the ostentatious sartorial mode) had little cards with the Pope’s picture on it made and distributed all across Europe. So a tradition began. It accelerated after Garibaldi’s attack on the Papal States. As things tend to accelerate towards their end ( motus in fine velocior , as the Latin maxim has it), is what we see now is the end rapidly coming? "The First See is judged by no one", in other words, The Church has no mechanisms for dealing with a corrupt and heretical Pope. Will the real product of the Pontificate of Francis be a move towards a more colleg...