Rise and Fall of Papal Power
The Rise and Fall of Papal Authority
For a brief period in history, the Pope was the most powerful person on the face of the planet. Throughout history, monarchs have bowed to his demands, and his acts have had a ripple effect on the rest of the world. This is not something that happened overnight. Additionally, it did not disappear overnight, despite the fact that it is apparent that the papacy has lost some of its influence in the modern day. The rise and fall of papal power have both been driven by a wide range of various events, all of which have culminated in the current state of affairs in the globe.
While popes attained historical relevance at some point in time, they were not very significant at the outset of the Catholic Church’s history. Constantine was instrumental in establishing Christianity as a world religion, and he served as the preeminent figure in the Christian hierarchy during his reign. He convened the Council of Nicea, and he issued the Edict of Milan, which is known as the “Edict of Milan.” None of this involved popes, and it wasn’t until after Constantine’s death that popes began to hold the high and significant role that they would later come to be recognized for in the Western world.
Unanimity over who would be pope and dispute over the role of the pope in appointing bishops were two of the factors that limited papal power in the early years. In 1378, the Western Schism occurred when Catholic powerbrokers disagreed on who should be the next pope. In contrast to the Italian cardinals, who desired a Roman pope, the French cardinals desired a French pope. As could be expected, the solution provoked a schism between the two countries, with the Italian cardinals voting Urban VI as pope and the French electing Clement VII as their own pope, respectively. Throughout history, the papacy has struggled due to a lack of established papal authority.
During the Renaissance, popes began to exert significant influence. During this time period, the papacy was treated as if it were a separate nation-state, and it wielded enormous power throughout Europe. With the title “Warrior Pope,” Julius II was one of the first popes to employ military campaigns to capture territory, earning him the nickname “The Warrior.” Later, Pope Clement VII — a different version with the same name – played a role in the sacking of the city of Rome. Because it was evident that from that point forward, the papacy would wield tremendous influence, this was the moment in which the papacy truly asserted itself.
When one takes a look at the current papal position, one might note that the pope does not wield as much power. Even Catholics habitually disregard the pope, modern leaders are not required to take the pope’s words into consideration, and the current pope – Francis – has been relegated to the status of a human rights champion rather than a supreme leader, if that is the phrase one wishes to use. When the major democracies of Europe began to emerge, the papal office began to lose its influence and legitimacy. The French Revolution in the late eighteenth century and subsequent changes in the Italian power structure made it evident that no single leader would be able to exercise the kind of royal control that had previously been the norm. Slowly but steadily, democracy spread throughout Europe, and even when authoritarian regimes arose – as they did in Italy and Germany in the years leading up to World War II – they were established through free and fair election processes. Before the Reformation, the legitimacy of popes was derived from the fact that powerful national leaders sought their advice before making decisions. As power became increasingly concentrated in the hands of the people, the pope’s position became increasingly marginalized.
During World War II, the influence of the Pope was severely eroded, and they were forced to effectively beg Adolph Hitler not to invade (Vaillancourt). Hitler chose not to invade, which he did politely, because he feared the repercussions of doing so with his Italian allies. However, it was at this moment that it became evident that the papacy was no longer a key player in European politics. It was unable to command the same level of respect that it had in the previous years.
