A female Pope?

Question

I heard once that many many centuries ago there was actually a female Pope who was married and even had children in the Vatican. Also that is was common for priests to marry and have children. Is this true? If so what happened?

Answer 1

You are referring to the myth of pope Joan.

Sometime around the thirteenth century, a story was published about a Pope who turned out to be a woman. During the Reformation, it was circulated widely among Protestants -- one more reason to find the Papacy fallible, even ridiculous. What better evidence that the Papacy was flawed, than that it could have failed to detect that one of its Popes was a woman!

In most of the stories, the Pope is "outed" as a woman when he (she) suddenly, in front of a crowd, goes into labor and produces a child -- about as strong a proof of womanhood as any witness might want! The mob, of course, responds appropriately to such chutzpah on the part of a woman: they drag her through the city and then, for good measure, stone her to death.

The main arguments against the legend? That there are no records from the time of the supposed Popess about any such incident. And that there are no gaps in the historical record that would allow for an otherwise undocumented Pope to have held office.

Actually, in history, the main purpose of the story of the female Pope was not to testify to the possibilities for women, beyond the ordinary, as were many legends of warrior women and women leaders that were based on verifiable truths or germs of truth. The purpose of the story of the woman Pope was originally as a lesson: that such roles were improper for women and that women who took on such roles would be punished. Later, the story was used to discredit the Roman Catholic Church and the authority of the Pope, by showing how fallible the church could be in making such a horrible error. Imagine, not even noticing that a woman was leading the Church! Patently ridiculous! was the conclusion expected of anyone hearing the story.

Not exactly a way to promote positive role models for women.

In 1856, the Encyclopedia Britannica took on the Pope Joan legend, and concluded that the legend was false. Here's an excerpt from the article there:


The grounds on which this conclusion is arrived at may be briefly stated. In the first place, 200 years elapsed between the era of the supposed pope and the date at which her name is first mentioned by any historian. In the next place there were at Rome, during the time assigned to her Papacy four persons, who each in succession sat on the papal throne, and left behind them many and various writings. Had they ever heard of the story, it is impossible to believe that they should each and all have passed it over in silence as they have done. In the third place, all the contemporary writers, without a single exception, attest that, immediately on the death of Leo IV., the papal chair was offered and accepted by Benedict III.

At the same time, though the story of Pope Joan is given up by all historians alike as a fable, it is impossible that it should have found believers and upholders for so many centuries had there been nothing in the annals of the church to give a sort of colour to it. Many conjectures have been advanced upon the subject, of which by far the most plausible is that of Biancho-Giovini, who proves clearly enough that the papal chair was often virtually occupied by a woman. Pope John X., elected in 914, owed his elevation entirely to his mistress Theodora, whose beauty, talents, and intrigues had made her mistress of Rome about the beginning of the tenth century. At a late period Theodora's daughter, Marozia, wielded a similar influence over Sergius III., and finally raised her son by that pope to the pontifical throne, with the title of John XI. At a still later period, John XII. was so completely governed by one of his concubines, Raineria by name, that he entrusted to her much of the administration of the holy see. These, and other instances of the same kind that might be adduced, account satisfactorily enough for the origin of the fable of Pope Joan.

Answer 2

"The church insists that its papal line, dating back to St. Peter, is an unbroken string of men. Scholars tend to agree. An array of reference books, from the Encyclopaedia Britannica to the Oxford Dictionary of Popes, dismiss Pope Joan as a mythical or legendary figure, no more real than Paul Bunyan or Old King Cole. (Another Joan, the 15th-century martyr Joan of Arc, is honored by the church as a saint.)

"The chief weakness of the Pope Joan story is the absence of any contemporary evidence of a female pope during the dates suggested for her reign. In each instance, clerical records show someone else holding the papacy and doing deeds that are transcribed in church history.

"Another problem is the gap between the alleged event and the news of it. Not until the 13th century–400 years after Joan, by the most accepted accounts, ruled–does any mention of a female pope appear in any documents. That's akin to word breaking out just now that England in 1600 had a queen named Elizabeth."
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/doubleissue/mysteries/pope.htm

>>Also that is was common for priests to marry and have children. Is this true? If so what happened?<<

The Church has never permitted priests to marry and remain in active ministry. However, the Church has, and does today, ordain married men. One of our better known priests, Fr. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, has a wife and thirteen children.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_1_43/ai_n17134118

Answer 3

Pope Joan is the name of a female pope (also La Papessa) who supposedly reigned for less than two years in the 850s, based on a legend that circulated in the Middle Ages. Pope Joan is regarded by most modern historians and religious scholars as fictitious, possibly originating as an anti-papal satire.

Answer 4

There's no way to prove that Pope Joan existed.

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/popeJoan.html

Answer 5

There is a legend of Pope Joan that has little or no documentation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Joan

With love in Christ.

Answer 6

They could leave the altar boys behind?

Answer 7

Vodka ?

Answer 8

there are things that cannot be compromised and as far as i know what you mentioned is untrue.