Who were the popes who practiced abuses?

Answer 1

Catholic Answer:
Yes, there have been bad popes but the vast majority have been good men. This is reflected in the fact that about 1/3 of them have been canonized as saints. Overall, perhaps 10 percent of the 266 recognized pontiffs have been bad. However, these can be broken down into three groups:

Inept - Some men chosen to be pope should never have been chosen in the first place as they had no leadership abilities. Pope Saint Celestine V is a good example. He was a hermit and had no desire to be pope. He was elected anyway but resigned within a year as he knew well he was not suited to be a leader.

Imprudent - Popes are fully human and as with all humans they make decisions that history later shows to have been wrong decisions. Many of the popes who called for Crusades would fall into this group as well as Pope Leo X who totally mismanaged the Martin Luther situation as well as Vatican finances. Nearly every pope has made decisions he later regretted.

Immoral - Perhaps 5 percent of popes would fall into this group of truly evil and despicable human beings. Pope Alexander VI, Pope Benedict IX are probably the worst of the lot.

Remember this: Our Lord chose 12 apostles. One of those 12 turned out to be an evil man.

Just as God exalts the humble and the weak and raises up saints, so the power of God shines through the weakness of these men. Could there be a more signal proof of the Divine assistance and the indefectibility of the Church? Satan has tried for 2000 years to destroy the Church and will continue to do so until the end of time. The Church will survive.

It should also be noted that even the most evil and immoral men to sit in the chair of Peter did not teach anything contrary to Catholic Doctine. I suppose these could be called cases of "Do as I say, not as I do."

Depending on potential classification of one or two Medieval popes as antipopes, there have been approximately 266 popes recognised by the Catholic Church. Of these, there are simply too many popes who were sexually immoral, corrupt, violent, murderous, or otherwise practised abuses to be listed here.

Perhaps Pope Alexander VI is considered the most corrupt and decadent pope in history, but he would have many rivals for that accolade.

Answer 2

Depending on potential classification of one or two Medieval popes as antipopes, there have been approximately 266 popes recognised by the Catholic Church. Of these, there are simply too many popes who were sexually immoral, corrupt, violent, murderous, or otherwise practised abuses to be listed here.

Perhaps Pope Alexander VI is considered the most corrupt and decadent pope in history, but he would have many rivals for that accolade.