Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Two Hundred Thirty-ninth Pope: Clement X - 1 comments



Clement seems like a good guy. He served most of his life in the lower ranks of church service, getting passed up for or declining major advancement. Just before his predecessor died, Clement IX made Clement X a cardinal - this was pretty rare, as the cardinals were career churchmen who usually rose quickly through the ranks and fought for power. Clement (X) was over eighty years old when he finally became a cardinal.

When Clement IX died, the college of cardinals couldn't reach an agreement on the next pope. The struggle between the two major candidates lasted four months. Finally, the cardinals agreed to take the usual approach: elect a very, very old man. They nearly unanimously chose Clement X.

Clement didn't want the job, however - he protested his old age, and finally had to be dragged from his bed to the papal throne, reportedly screaming, "I don't want to be Pope!" along the way.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Clement looks a little like Anthony Hopkins to me? I like Clement... the whole kickin' and screamin' all the way to the throne thing...

Clement X... sounds like the name of a radical leader of the hillbilly power upraising of the 1960's...

Wednesday, 20 June, 2007  

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