Popes, Emperors, And A Diet Of Worms

The Papacy; Its Own Worst Enemy

God does work in mysterious ways.  And one of those mysterious ways was giving Emperor Constantine the power to defeat his rival at the Malvern Bridge on that fateful day in October 312.  The victory sealed the fate of Maxentius, Paganism, and the Roman Empire.  Equally fateful was Constantine's decision to move the seat of Imperial Power from Rome to Byzantium, a move that proved to be permanent.  Politically, it made sense, as civilization was in the East, and Rome was at the very periphery of that civilization.  But for the Church, it would ultimately prove to be a disaster, paving the way for dual crises that were going to impact Christendom for centuries to come.
The Ink was not dry on St John's Gospel when the impending crisis between East and West first manifested itself.  "Peter turning about, saw that disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also leaned on his breast at supper, and said: "Lord, who is he that shall betray thee?"   Him therefore when Peter had seen, he saith to Jesus: "Lord, and what shall this man do?"   Jesus saith to him:  "So I will have him to remain till I come, what is it to thee?  Follow thou me."  Peter, of course, would ultimately plant his Seat at Rome, while St John ultimately chose Antioch, third largest city in the Empire, for his Episcopal Seat.  During the long course of the Roman persecutions, the rivalry simmered.  But from the first the influence of Our Lady persisted in the East, whence rose the great doctors- Polycarp, Irenaeus, and Ignatius.  Of course, if one rises with the Greeks, one must beware Greeks as well, particularly Origin and Tertullian.  Adoptionism, Arianism, Docetism, Monophysitism, Monothelitism and Nestorianism are but a few of the errors from the fertile minds of Greek thinkers which were ultimately crushed by the Roman primacy.

All that notwithstanding, what would exacerbate matters after Constantine was the tendency for the Emperors to interfere in church matters, primarily in the appointment of bishops, a state of affairs that tragically was tolerated by the Holy Seat.  And matters were not helped at all that, in the West, the "barbarians" were recruited into the army because the lazy Romans had no desire for the relatively hard life of the soldier.  By sheer force of numbers these Romanized aliens usurped the political structure and invited all their inlaws and outlaws to settle in Roman towns on the perimeters of the empire.  (And you thought the Barbarians "invaded" Rome.)  Eventually, as the proverbial neighborhood went to the dogs, these folk looked for Greener Pastures further towards the center of the Empire.  In their wake came peoples even further on the fringes of "civilization", and the western half of the Roman Empire rapidly imploded.  The Romans were too busy wining and dining to contemplate their peril until it was at the gate, and did much too little way too late.  Fortunately, about this time St Benedict would erect what was to become the Citadel of Christendom, and our model even today.

Meanwhile, back in the East, they were convoking Councils, having disputes, and otherwise making decisions that would have far reaching consequences for Holy Mother Church, such as settling the Canon of Scripture at the Council of Ephesus- no easy task, considering the volume of Apocrypha from both the Old and New Testaments.  But their achievement, which would ultimately come to be known as the Latin Vulgate, would, like the Greek Currency, the Bezant, endure as a benchmark of civilization for another thousand years.  Rome, however, was relegated to the status of mere observer, simply giving its- albeit very important- stamp of approval to the proceedings.  During this time, political pressure raised Constantinople to a certain primacy, eventually eclipsing the Seats of Antioch, Alexandria, and Ephesus.  Concurrently, the Byzantine Emperors were essentially appointing primates to the Episcopal Seat of Constantinople, which in turn was influencing appointments to other bishoprics.  The lines between Church and State were becoming blurred.

It is only natural that the Emperors would begin to resent the Roman Primacy, especially when it condemned the errors and heresies of their hirelings.  A series of controversies and schisms erupted in the 8th Century, which were only grudgingly healed.  Rome, for its part, began to resent Byzantine interference in church affairs, and thought the solution lay in political independence.  To that end, Charlamagne was crowned "Holy Roman Emperor" by Pope Leo III, beginning the disaster that Modern History records as "The Dark Ages".  While many Traditional Catholics like to romanticize Charlamagne and his Grandfather, Charles Martel, the truth is they were louts and conquerors in the mold of Alexander the Great and Ghegnis Khan.  The only use they had for Holy Mother Church was as a vassal to further their policies, and to that end they began what is known as the "lay investiture of Bishops".  This is a polite way of saying that they essentially bequeathed positions in the church to their lackeys with no regard for piety, learning, or virtue.  In no time at all, the Roman Church was full of scoundrels- married clergy being not the worst of the problems.  Tragically, this too was essentially rubber stamped by a series of popes, and the precedent was set.

And so in both East and West petty politics came to dominate church affairs, with spiritual life occupying a distant second place.  Where the Faith was kept alive, in both East and West, was the Monasteries.  Monte Cassino, fortunately, was its own Castle, impervious to invasion.  One imagines that for generations, however, they had to keep tabs on both the Plunderers and the Popes of the Month- and sometimes they were one and the same, as several popes were at the head of mauradering and looting armies!  Intrigues both within and without Rome vied for control of Papacy and Church.  Popes were murdered, Antipopes appointed, popes and antipopes captured and imprisoned, while ever-shifting alliances of saints, sinners, vassals, dukes, counts, and kings checkered the multifaceted history of the next several centuries.

Finally, a strong Pope Emerged- Gregory VII, who was determined to put an end to Lay Investiture.  He ultimately excommunicated the Emperor, and an unlikely alliance of saints and sinners ultimately imposed the consequences of that excommunication on Henry.  But his son, Henry V,  would renew the conflict.  And he got a weak pope to sign into law an edict renewing the Church's recognition of Lay Investiture.

Enter one of this Wolf's greatest heros, St Bruno di Segni, abbot of Monte Cassino in that fateful year 1111.  Here was a clear thinker, who had helped St Hildebrand (AKA Pope Gregory VII) reform the church by outlawing simony and lay investiture.  For thirty years he had witnessed the glorious rebirth of an Apostolic Hierarchy.  And so when the treacherous, cowardly lout, Pope Pascal II, came personally to demand he submit to the lecherous decree, he replied: "I love you as my Lord and Father, and I have no desire for another Pope.  But the Lord has said: 'Whoever loves Father and Mother more than me, is not worthy of me.'  As for this Outrageous Treaty, wrung from you by violence and treachery, how can I praise it?  Or indeed how can you?  Your own laws have condemned and excommunicated the cleric who submits to investiture..." 

The abbot was relieved of his duties and his bishopric, but his words echoed in the heart of Christendom.  Mere years later, political intrigue forced the Emperor to retreat deep within his realm, and when his last friends left him, he was forced to confess his misdeeds, and sign a treaty before a Council at Worms in Germany that forever broke Lay Investiture as being an official policy approved by Holy Mother Church.  It would persist in the shadows for years to come, only being finally abolished by the Council of Trent.  But the tide had finally turned.

Meanwhile, if only a few good Bishops like St Bruno had stood to be heard when Pope Paul's "New Mass" surged like a Tsunami over Christendom in the 1970's, the subsequent history of the Church might have been much different.