The Hated Pope Formosus on This Day in History

This Day In History: Formosus was elected pope on this day in 891. 

Pope Formosus (891-896) was a man who excited strong feelings amongst many in his time. You could say he was the Donald Trump of his day. Some saw him as pious, others saw him as ineligible for the papal throne...and accusations of bribery were also floated.

One pope who was extremely triggered by Formosus was Stephen VII. He dug up the remains of Pope Formosus who by then had been dead for over nine months. In what came to be known as the Cadaver Synod, there, before a group of bishops and cardinals, the former pope was dressed in the rich apparel of the papacy with a crown upon his loose scalp, and the scepter of the holy office in the stiff fingers of his rotting hand!

A terrified young deacon was placed there to ineffectively reply on behalf of the dead Formosus.

Inevitably the dead Pope was found guilty and was stripped of his garments, and several fingers of his right hand that were used in bestowing the benediction were amputated, the body was then dragged through the streets and eventually thrown into the Tiber river.

This was not the end of poor Pope Formosus. 10 years later, Pope Sergius III, had Formosus exhumed and condemned again. He also had his corpse beheaded and then removed three more fingers before again casting him into the Tiber river. The headless remains eventually became entangled in a fisherman’s net, and then returned a second time to the ground at St Peter’s.

See also The Roman Catholic Controversy - 310 Books on DVDrom and 110 PDF Books on DVDrom on Catholic Theology and Doctrine and Defending the Catholic Faith - 200 PDF Books on DVDROM

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