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  • Leo X, The First Medici Pope, Was Also Actively Gay on Random Popes Who Didn't Take Celibacy Very Seriously

    (#8) Leo X, The First Medici Pope, Was Also Actively Gay

    Julius II's successor was Leo X, the first Medici pope, the son of Lorenzo Medici, called "Il Magnifico." His father cautioned him against the licentious atmosphere in Rome: 

    You ought to be grateful to God, and continually to recollect that it is not through your merits, your prudence, or your solicitude, that this event has taken place, but through his favor, which you can only repay by a pious, chaste and exemplary life.

    Maintaining such a virtuous lifestyle would, though, be difficult in Rome, "that sink of all iniquity." Giovanni would "probably meet with those who will particularly endeavor to corrupt and incite you to vice." Unfortunately, Leo X continued the money-raising practice of selling both indulgences and offices.  He is also mentioned in two contemporary histories as having had routine involvement with male lovers, and he is listed as such in a modern who's who of gay history. 

  • Paul II Allegedly Passed While Sexually Engaged With A Male Page on Random Popes Who Didn't Take Celibacy Very Seriously

    (#2) Paul II Allegedly Passed While Sexually Engaged With A Male Page

    Paul II was a 15th-century pope who was engaged in minor conflicts for his seven-year tenure. Celibacy may have been an issue, as the manner and circumstances of his passing are disputed. Official accounts have him succumbing to heart failure after eating an excessive amount of melon.

    Other accounts, possibly originating with papal enemies, assert that Paul II passed during the intimate act of a young male page entering him from the rear. That he thoroughly enjoyed dressing up in elaborate vestments also contributed to rumors of "effeminacy" and homosexuality.    

  • Pope John XII Turned The Papal Palace Into A Brothel on Random Popes Who Didn't Take Celibacy Very Seriously

    (#7) Pope John XII Turned The Papal Palace Into A Brothel

    Documented papal sexual misbehavior goes as far back as the 10th century with John XII. Named pope at the age of 18 on December 16, 955, John XII got the appointment through his father, a Roman prince who ruled the city for 20 years. John XII was most likely illegitimate, and because he was both the religious and secular leader of Rome, he ignored celibacy.

    He allegedly engaged in intrafamilial relations and is reputed to have turned the papal palace into a brothel. His passing was rumored to be at the hands of a jealous husband occurred who caught the pope engaging in adultery with his wife.

  • Pope Benedict IX Was 'A Demon From Hell In The Disguise Of A Priest' on Random Popes Who Didn't Take Celibacy Very Seriously

    (#6) Pope Benedict IX Was 'A Demon From Hell In The Disguise Of A Priest'

    By all accounts, Benedict IX was not only a really bad pope - he was a really bad person. A contemporary called him a "demon from hell in the disguise of a priest." Even the Catholic Encyclopedia, which is frequently accused of sanitizing papal history, refers to him as a "disgrace to the chair of St. Peter." One of the youngest popes ever elected, in 1032 he immediately began spending the papal treasury in bordellos and on debauchery, hosting group sexual engagements that included men and animals. 

    His behavior was shocking even by Roman standards: his first papacy ended when angry Romans rebelled and expelled him briefly in 1036. He would exploit politics and be re-installed, only to be removed again in 1044. Benedict assembled an army and retook the papacy a third time in 1047. Wisely, considering his unpopularity, he decided to sell the papacy and get married. Typically, he soon changed his mind, throwing the political situation into chaos.

    He would eventually be forcibly expelled and excommunicated, after which he renounced his ways and later passed in a monastery in 1056. He is the only pope with three separate terms in the office and the only pope to openly auction off the position.

  • Pope Leo XII Slept With The Wife Of A Swiss Guard And Fathered At Least Three Children on Random Popes Who Didn't Take Celibacy Very Seriously

    (#10) Pope Leo XII Slept With The Wife Of A Swiss Guard And Fathered At Least Three Children

    Born Annibale della Genga, Leo XII was one of the most conservative and unpopular popes of the 19th century. In his six-year reign starting in 1823, he instituted many laws and ordinances including prohibiting Jews from owning personal property, banning alcohol in Rome, and reintroducing regulations not seen since the Middle Ages. He was elected pope despite his ill health; in fact, he was a compromise candidate who most believed would not survive for any length of time. 

    Assigned by Pius VI in 1794 as papal nuncio to France, Austria, and several German states, he is believed to have conceived three illegitimate children in a dalliance with the wife of a Swiss Guard. Believing that this would be his final appointment in the church seems to have given him a fatalistic attitude towards his holy obligations. He would live in poor health for another three decades, finally succumbing in 1829. 

  • Julius III Made His Alleged Commoner Boyfriend A Cardinal on Random Popes Who Didn't Take Celibacy Very Seriously

    (#4) Julius III Made His Alleged Commoner Boyfriend A Cardinal

    Giovanni Ciocchi Del Monte (eventually Julius III) was a pope who ruled for five years in the mid-sixteenth century. Perhaps he is most famous today for creating what was described as one of the most notorious homosexual scandals in the history of the papacy. While still a cardinal, Julius became emotionally involved with Innocenzo, a teenaged, illegitimate son of a beggar-woman. After Julius met him in the streets, he was installed in the household of the cardinal's brother, who adopted him and gave him the family name. One of Julius III's first acts as pope was to appoint Innocenzo a cardinal.

    Although church historians have attempted to label this relationship as strictly platonic, at least one ambassador stated emphatically that Innocenzo "shared the pope's bedroom and bed." Innocenzo was so incompetent that the pope had to create a special office for him with zero responsibility. Because of this appointment, Julius was mocked within Rome and throughout the various courts of Europe, with emissaries noting Innocenzo's coarse background and lack of sophistication.

    Upon Julius III's passing in 1555, his paramour's influence waned. He was eventually incarcerated by papal order after separate incidents involving murder and rape. Although he was still officially a cardinal when he passed in 1577, his memorial was private and unattended. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the Del Monte family chapel in Rome.

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About This Tool

Celibacy is a basic sacred law for the priests of the Catholic Church, and it is even more important for the pope. However, this is not the case for the Anglicans or most of the Eastern Etiquette under the control of the Pope. Whether or not to follow the doctrine of celibacy, popes who have sex scandals and controversies over the celibacy tradition were shameful and guilty in history.

A shocking and distinctive feature of early Christianity was the praise of celibacy. The church preached the practice of abstaining from all sexual relations as a model of faith. However, there are several Popes broken the tradition. The random tool lists 10 Popes in history who did not take celibacy seriously.

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