There are many stories about the “bad popes” of Roman Catholicism. Although many of these are true, the famous “Pope Joan” story is considered by many to be a fabrication. Unless you talk to people like Donna Cross, a novelist who, after 7 years of research, wrote a book on “Papa Juana”. She claims that the historical evidence is there. “I would say it’s the weight of the evidence: over 500 chronic accounts of its existence.”

Another person who seems convinced, although he is no longer living, was Martin Polonus, a monk and close adviser to the Pope. In his “History of Emperors and Popes”, Polonus wrote of a young woman from Mainz who learned Greek and Latin and became “proficient in a diversity of branches of knowledge”.

Supposedly, Pope Joan served as pope until the year 858. She was said to be a poor German girl whose mud-hut village of Mainz was taught Christianity by English missionaries. Supposedly, she took the identity of her brother when the Vikings killed him, called herself John Anglicus (English John) and joined a children’s monastery called Fulda. She disguised herself as a monk to be with her clergyman’s boyfriend in Rome, where she so impressed others with her Christian scholarship that she, still posing as a monk, was eventually elected pope. With ambition and courage, the Englishman John became secretary to a cardinal and then, as Polonus writes, “the chosen pope of all” in AD 855.

The jig began when she gave birth during a procession, after which she and the child were murdered. Other records say that she was sent to a convent and that her son grew up and later became Bishop of Ostia. “Experts” are divided as to the legitimacy of the story. Interestingly, the future popes for 100 years avoided taking that terrible, very direct route, when returning to the Vatican. Polonus writes: “Señor Papa always strays from the street… due to abhorrence of the event.”

If you travel to Italy and ask questions about Pope Joan, many will direct you to clues embedded in art, literature, and architecture.

The Renaissance poet Giovanni Boccaccio, best known for writing “The Decameron,” also wrote a book on “100 Famous Women.” Number 51 on his list? Pope Joan. Rare book dealers in Rome pull ancient tarot cards off their shelves. The card for occult knowledge is called “La Papessa” – the female Pope. To the north, in Siena, is the Duomo, where inside the cathedral is a gallery of terracotta busts representing 170 popes, in no particular order. In the 17th century, Cardinal Baronis, the Vatican’s librarian, wrote that one of the faces was female: Joan the Pope. He also wrote that when the Pope decreed that the statue be destroyed, the local archbishop could not bear to see a good statue go to waste. “The statue was transformed,” Donna Cross believes. “…literally, it’s [the name, John Anglicus] it was scraped off…” and in its place was written “Papa Zachary”.

In the Basilica of Saint Peter’s Square there are carvings by Bernini, one of the most famous artists of the 17th century. Among the carvings are eight images of a woman wearing a papal crown, each face of hers increasingly contorted as if she were a woman suffering in childbirth. Seven of the carved images seem to tell the story of a woman giving birth, the eighth being the unmistakable carving of a smiling baby.

Many other papal stories are undeniably true. In many cases, the sins of the flesh were the least publicized. In the Middle Ages, many popes were elevated to office after the assassination of their predecessors. During a particularly sad pope period (882 to 1046), there were 37 popes, some of whom served less than a month. For example, Leo V (903) had been Pope for only a month before being imprisoned and tortured by Cristoforo, who later enthroned himself. Both men were assassinated in 904 by order of Pope Sergius III (904-911). That pope later had a son with his teenage mistress Marozia who became Pope John XI (931-935). In 914, according to one chronicler, Marozia’s mother, Theodora, installed her mistress on the papal throne as John X (914-928). (Theodora and Marozia effectively controlled the papacy through their lineage and, according to some, may be the source of the Pope Joan stories.) John XII (955-963), who became pope at age 19, was accused, perhaps falsely, of sleeping with his father’s mistress, committing incest with his niece, and castrating a deacon. “The popes … killed each other, hammered each other to death,” says Mary Malone, a former Catholic nun. “There were 12-year-old popes… We are aware of a 5-year-old archbishop… It was a very strange time in history.”

In later years, murder gave way to bribery as the path down the “Roman way.” Some 40 popes are believed to have bought their seats in the Vatican. But the lax attitude towards celibacy remained unchanged. In large part this was because the Roman Catholic Church was an important route to wealth and power. The sons of influential families were pushed into Church careers as much as a wealthy and powerful Ivy League alumnus could pull some strings to get his son to his Alma Mater. Nobles with lovers saw no reason to adjust their lifestyles just because they had taken spiritual vows. Unfortunately, even today too many ministers of all denominations view their position as a job rather than a calling; a call from God himself.

Cardinals and popes finding comfortable jobs for their relatives in the Vatican were the source of many a joke in Rome for centuries. Innocent VIII (1484-1492) had a son and a daughter who lived with him in the Vatican. The notorious Alexander VI (1492-1503), born Rodrigo Borgia, had at least four illegitimate children while he was still a cardinal, including the assassin Cesare Borgia and the reputed poisoner Lucrezia Borgia. Clement VII (1523-1534), himself illegitimate, had a son whom he attempted to make Duke of Florence. Paul III (1534-1539) had four children; two teenage grandsons who made bruises. Pius IV (1559-1565) had three children, etc., ad nauseam. As far as papal sons and their holy fathers are concerned, there is a tradition that Pope Hormisdas (514-523) was the father of Pope Silverius (536-537). It may not be appropriate to call Silverio illegitimate, since the rule of clerical celibacy was not firmly established in the early Church. It is likely impossible to determine exactly how many “holy fathers” there were, due to the lack of documentation for such things.

The Catholic Church has been quite open about these mischievous popes, opening up the Vatican archives to historians in the 19th century. The Church acknowledges that the office has been held by unworthy men, but maintains that their papal functions were not affected by their carnality, something we might hear more often in connection with politicians. Unfortunately, the doctrine of papal infallibility applies only to certain formal pronouncements on faith and morals, so it is argued that the bad popes did not lead the church astray. Regarding papal infallibility, the Encyclopedia Britannica says: “The definition of the first Vatican Council…sets out the conditions under which a pope can be said to speak inerrantly, or ex cathedra. It is a prerequisite that the pope have the intention to require the irrevocable assent of the whole church in some aspect of faith or morals”. The ordinary teachings of the Church, by contrast, are not infallible. The Pope can say what he wants about birth control, for example, and Catholics are required to comply, at least from a conservative point of view. But until he makes an infallible pronouncement on the issue, he has the option of one day changing his mind.