Popes

A:

Pope Urban II wanted:

• To recover Palestine from the Muslims, and launched the First Crusade for this purpose;
• To remove the right of secular rulers to appoint bishops;
• Control of Sicily, which was then subject to the Byzantine Empire;
• All priests to remain unmarried, although they were to be permitted mistresses on payment of an annual tax called the 'callagium'.

Regine Pernoud's The Crusaders (Ignatius Press, 2003)

Bat Ye'or's The Decline of Eastern Christianity under Islam: From Jihad to Dhimmitude (Associated University Presses, 1996)

Prof. Rodney Stark God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades(Harper One, 2009)

Diane Moczar: Islam at the Gates (Sophia Institute Press, 2008)

from Seven Lies About Catholic History, by Diane Moczar

Unprovoked Muslim aggression in the seventh century brought large parts of the southern Byzantine Empire, including Syria, the Holy Land, and Egypt under Arab rule. Christians who survived the conquests found themselves subject to a special poll tax and discriminated against as an inferior class known as dhimmi. Often their churches were destroyed and other harsh conditions imposed. For centuries their complaints had been reaching Rome, but Europe was having its own Dark Age of massive invasion, and nothing could be done to relieve the plight of eastern Christians.

By the eleventh century, under the rule of a new Muslim dynasty, conditions worsened. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, site of the Crucifixion was destroyed, along with a large number of other churches, and Christian pilgrims were massacred. In 1067 a group of seven thousand peaceful German pilgrims lost two-thirds of their number to Muslim assaults. By this time the popes, including St. Gregory VII, were actively trying to rally support for relief of eastern Christians, though without success. It was not until the very end of the century, in 1095, that Pope Urban's address at Clermont in France met with a response-though not quite the one he had hoped for.

he urged Christians to to fight for Jerusalem. he wanted to make it safe for Christians, and also wanted to reunite the christian church in Rome and the orthodox church in Constantinople.

-Miranda

Urban II called for the first Crusade in the year 1093.

in 1095

1. The pope and many Christians wanted to take back the holy lands that were lost years ago.
2. Muslim armies had been steadily encroaching on Christian land.
3. He saw it as a way to expand the growing Christian empire.
4. The Pope needed a way to keep European leaders from fighting with each other.
5. They gained goods from it such as mirrors, grenades etc.

the pope ordered for the crusades to defend the holy land from the invading islamic seljuk-turks

1) He felt the Christians in the Middle East needed to be rescued from persecution

2) He felt the "lands of Christ" needed to be reclaimed for Christians, not be in the hands of infidels

3) "God wills it" -- Deus Volt

Yes, the Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church, the largest Christian denomination.

.

Secondly, the Holy Father is usually elected from the College of Cardinals, who are all Bishops of the Catholic Church; and thus Christian priests who follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ in bringing Him to the world and the world to His Father.

So the answer is, of course, the Holy Father (the Pope) is a Christian. He is the Vicar of Jesus Christ on earth, and the visible head of His Church; and THE Christian leader for the world.

from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980

Pope, Authority of the. Although elected by the college of cardinals, the pope's authority is not derived from them, but is given to God directly. He exercises it de iure divino (by divine right) as successor of St. Peter. He is infallible in teaching, and he has full and supremem power of jurisdiction over the whole Church, and directly and immediately over every Catholic, and all this in virtue of his office and permanently.

from The Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, English translation 1994

880 When Christ instituted the Twelve, "he constituted [them] in the form of a college or permanent assembly, a the head of which he placed Peter, chosen from among them." (Lumen gentium 19; cf Lk 6:13; Jn 21:15-17) Just as "by the Lord's institution, St. Peter and the rest of the apostles constitute a single apostolic college, so in like fashion the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, and the bishops, the successors of the apostles, are related with and united to one another." (Lumen gentium 22; cf. Codex Iuris Canonici, can 330.)

881 The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. (Cf. Mt16:18-10; Jn 21:15-17.) "The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head." (Lumen gentium 22 section 2) This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.

882 The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, "is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful." (Lumen gentium 23) For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered. (Lumen gentium 22; cf. Christus Dominus 2, 9.)

The official cause of death is a heart attack. There is no evidence of any foul play.

Answer

The official cause of death is a heart attack. However, this was apparently based on a cursory examination of the deceased pope's body, an examination so brief that the diagnosis has been ridiculed by medical experts. the pope's personal physician said that John Paul I was in excellent health, had low blood pressure and was an unlikely candidate for a heart attack. No autopsy was performed.

Others say that the pope may have been killed by poisoning. Some of the evidence is consistent with such a conclusion, although this can only remain speculation. Certainly, there were many within the Vatican with a motive to murder John Paul, once it became known that he intended to rid the Vatican of corruption.

Answer

According to official sources in the Vatican, he died of a heart attack. Some question this diagnosis however and think he was poisoned.