With the death of Pope Francis, the question is who will be the next Pope?
There are several candidates as to who will succeed Pope Francis. Some of them are conservative, while others are progressive. Meanwhile, Joy Behar dread the possibility of a conservative becoming Pope. Such views are shared by liberal journalists as well as left-leaning religious leaders.
This situation reminds me of the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism during the Middle Ages.
The Babylonian Captivity (a reference to the seventy years that the Hebrews were held captive in Babylon) was when the Popes lived in Avignon, France instead of Rome from 1309 to 1376. It started when the French King Philip the Fair (who wanted to control the church and its policies) pressured Pope Clement V to move
to Avignon. Such a move led to a decline in the papacy’s prestige (e.g. focusing on bureaucratic matters instead of spiritual matters, most of the popes during this era having luxurious and extravagant lifestyles). Meanwhile, the Papal States became unstable both politically and economically, prompting many Catholics begging the popes to come back to Rome.
In 1377, Pope Gregory XI brought the papacy back to Rome, but he died soon afterwards. The people of Rome then demanded that an Italian be elected pope in order to keep the papacy there. They even surrounded Saint Peter’s Basilica, blocked all roads leading out of Rome, and seized all boats along the Tiber River in
order to pressure the conclave into electing an Italian. As a result, the conclave elected Bartolomeo Prignano (the Archbishop of Bari). Prignano then took the name Urban VI. Although Urban VI introduced many reforms, he did so in an arrogant, tactless, and bullheaded manner, thus alienating other church officials.
The cardinals met at Anagni and declared the election of Urban VI to be invalid since they under pressure to elect an Italian as pope. They then elected Cardinal Robert of Geneva (a cousin of King Charles V of France), who took the name Clement VII. Thus began the Great Schism in which there were two popes- Urban
VI of Rome and the “antipope” Clement VII (who settled in Avignon), who would soon excommunicate each other.
Meanwhile, the nations of Europe were divided on whom they recognized as pope. Clement VII was supported by France, Scotland, Aragon, Castile, and Portugal. Urban VI was supported by England, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Italian States (who later supported Clement VII after being alienated by Urban VI).
In 1409, cardinals from both Rome and Avignon met in Pisa and deposed the pope (Gregory XII of Rome) and the antipope (Benedict XIII of Avignon), although neither of them chose to step down. Meanwhile, the cardinals elected a new pope- Alexander V, who died the following year and was succeeded by John XXIII,
thus resulting in the Roman Catholic Church having three popes.
Finally, in 1417, the Council of Constance deposed all three popes and chose Cardinal Colonna of Rome, who then took the name Martin V and whose legitimacy was accepted by everyone.
Although some people might laugh about the Great Schism today, back then it was no laughing matter, since it confused many people as to which pope was legitimate, not mention the fact that the situation even weakened their faith.
The conclave will be meeting soon to elect a new pope. Hopefully history will not repeat itself.
