Pope john xii biography books
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The pope on his part swore to keep faith with Otto and to conclude no alliance with Berengarius and Adalbert. The latter received all the orders uncanonically without the proper intervals (interstitia), and was crowned pope as Leo VIII. His given name, evoking Augustus, was a clear indicator of how the family saw themselves and his destiny.[2]
Sometime before his death in 954, Alberic administered an oath to the Roman nobles in St.
Peter's providing that the next vacancy for the papal chair would be filled by his son Octavian, who by this stage had entered the Church.[3] With his father's death, and without any opposition, he succeeded his father as prince of the Romans, somewhere between the ages of 17 and 24.[4]
With the death of Pope Agapetus II in November 955, Octavian, who was the cardinal deacon of Santa Maria in Domnica, was elected his successor on 16 December 955.[5] His adoption of the apostolic name of John XII was the third example of a pontiff taking a regnal name upon elevation to the papal chair, the first being John II (533–535) and the second John III (561–574).
Drawing upon secret Vatican and Jesuit archives to which he had exclusive access, Cornwell tells the full, tragic story of how narcissism, longstanding personal antipathy for the Jews, and political and spiritual ambition combined to make Pius the most dangerous churchman in history. If he was the son of Alda, he would have been 18 when he became pope, but if the son of a concubine he could have been up to 7 years older.[1] He was born in the region of the Via Lata, the aristocratic quarter that was situated between the Quirinal Hill and the Campus Martius.
The authenticity of the contents of this much-discussed document is certain, even should the extant document be only a duplicate of the original (Sickel, "Das Privilegium Ottos I, für die römische Kirche", Innsbruck, 1883). Otto sent an embassy to refute this accusation. A firm and final indictment of Pius XII's papacy, Hitler's Pope is also a searing exploration of its lingering consequences for the Catholic church today.
Pope John XII
With the imperial consent the synod deposed John on 4 December, and elected to replace him the protoscriniarius Leo, yet a layman. John began secret negotiations with Adalbert, son of Berengarius, and sent envoys with letters to Hungary and to Constantinople for the purpose of inciting a war against Otto. He was related to the counts of Tusculum, a powerful Roman family which had dominated papal politics for over half a century.
Refusing to recognize the synod, John pronounced sentence of excommunication (ferendæ sententia) against all participators in the assembly, should they elect in his stead another pope. In 960, he clashed with the Lombards to the south. Most of the imperial troops now departing from Rome, John's adherents rose against the emperor, but were suppressed on 3 January, 964, with bloodshed.
He became pope in his late teenage years or early twenties. In Hitler's Pope, award-winning journalist and Roman Catholic John Cornwell shows that, even well before the Holocaust, Pope Pius XII was instrumental in negotiating an accord that helped the Nazis rise to unhindered power--and sealed the fate of the Jews in Europe.
John XII's pontificate became infamous for the alleged depravity and worldliness with which he conducted his office. 930/937 – 14 May 964), born Octavian, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 16 December 955 to his death in 964. On 26 February, 964, John held a synod in St. Peter's in which the decrees of the synod of 6 November were repealed; Leo VIII and all who had elected him were excommunicated; his ordination was pronounced invalid; and Bishop Sico of Ostia, who had consecrated him, was deprived forever of his dignities.
On 31 January, 962, Otto reached Rome. John XII's pontificate became infamous for the alleged depravity and worldliness with which he conducted his office.
This proceeding was aginst the canons of the Church, and the enthroning of Leo was almost universally regarded as invalid.