The "bad" Pope - Alexander VI - not all bad?

Cesare Borgia, Pope,Alexander VI

Another gem from Fr Clement Tigar's book, Papist Pie.

The question is given as follows:-

"At work, a Protestant handed me a weekly paper which contained a horrible reference to Pope Alexander VI. What should I say?"

Answer:

"The less said about the private life of Pope Alexander VI the better - it was anything but edifying. But we must distinguish between the man and his office. Popes are infallible in the exercise of their prerogative as teachers of the Universal Church, but as individuals they are by no means impeccable, or incapable of sin.

Alexander VI was guilty of moral lapses, but he taught no false doctrine, and he laid down no principles which would lead men to believe wrong was right.



 

In matters purely concerning the Church, he never did anything which justly deserves blame. In the long line of 262 Popes (as of 1944), stretching over nineteen centuries, 257 of them were men of virtuous and edifying lives. Out of the twelve Apostles, only eleven were good.

Our Lord never said to His Apostles: "He that doeth as you do, doeth as I do and pleases Me," but only "He that heareth you heareth Me, and he that despiseth you despiseth Me."