Why have some popes been so evil?

Answer 1

Those people are not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. In some cases they have interpreted Revelation 17 and 18 as being this church, and the pope as the false prophet of the last days.

Answer 2

A:

Just to be clear, not all popes have been evil, and some have been extraordinarily good men. Nevertheless, the history of the papacy makes the question of why some popes were evil a question deserving of an answer.

Ever since the fourth century, and especially since the creation of the 'Donation of Constantine' forgery in the eighth century, the papacy became a great prize for men seeking power and great wealth. The very fact of the 'Donation of Constantine' forgery, which purported to bestow upon the Pope huge ecclesiastical and political authority, demonstrates that wealth and power were considered more valuable currency than morality and integrity.

Once the election of popes became the domain of cardinals, who almost always elected from within their own ranks, the attainment of the cardinalate itself became a prize for the greedy and self-serving, with the possibility of papacy just the icing on the cake.