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- Yea, that’s the way I heard it!
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- Yea, that’s the way I heard it!
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All shall tremble before the might of the hamster.
Ever noticed that it’s always OP’s like this that get eaten? They never eat “let’s discuss that bon jovi concert.” It’s always something you just have to see. Now we all have to wait until this guy comes back to see what outrageous thing the pope might’ve said 
Which is why I saved my OP! 
I’ve read that one of the popes said, “It has served us well, this myth of Christ.” Did one of them really say that and what was the context? (Note: I’m betting that there’s no real evidence one did.)
Supposedly said by Pope Leo X:
http://hamsa.org/StThomas_Chapt_1.htm
I don’t know anything about the context of the statement, but there ya go.
Keep in mind that if he did say it, he probably said it in Italian. And “myth” might not be the exact, or the appropriate, translation of the Italian word he used.
I know Leo did say, when he was made pope, “G-d has given us the papacy, let us enjoy it!”
Looking for the original context, all I could find was an alternate version along with a defense. This is from the Catholic Encyclopedia:
“His piety cannot truly be described as deep or spiritual, but that does not justify the continued repetition of his alleged remark: ‘How much we and our family have profited by the legend of Christ, is sufficiently evident to all ages.’ John Bale, the apostate English Carmelite, the first to give currency to these words in the time of Queen Elizabeth, was not even a contemporary of Leo.”
Interesting that the supposed quote was first recorded by an English guy. Up until quite recently, Catholics and Protestants were apt to make up all sorts of slanderous stories about each other. The Spanish Inquisition is a case in point: some abuse of power certainly occurred, but the tales of torture and death were mostly invented whole-cloth by Protestant mud-slingers. This “quote” is pretty tame compared to some others.
yep, that Spanish Inquisition thing’s been blown all out of proportion by them mud-slinging Protestants…
cite?
Well, the Inquisition deserves its own thread, and although I haven’t done a search, I’d wager the subject has been covered in detail on the SDMB. I agree the Inquisition has gotten a bad rap.
All I know is that no one ever expects it!
Maybe he drunk at the time.
Popes have gotten drunk, haven’t they?
In any event, the line doesn’t strike me as shocking. Given the possible translation problem, I find it easier to believe he was referring to the great many stories and legends surrounding the history of Jesus, rather than admitting he believed it was a cynical fraud.
But it’s the kind of thing a rabid Protestant just loves, even more than a Republican leaping on the “It depends on what your definition of ‘is’ is.”
Either way, if that’s the only shocking Pope quote you can find, you’re just not trying very hard.
Hell yeah. What do you think they do with all the leftover Communion wine?
I wasn’t looking for shocking quotes, I’d read in a book once that, “Even one of the Popes said, ‘It has served us well, this myth of Christ.’” with no reference as to which Pope it was, nor the context under which it was said. Notice in the OP, I state
And from the looks of things, I’d say I was right.
Didn’t some archbishop or someone high up in the church in England say something similar only a few years ago? May not have been a Catholic clergyman, I get confused not having my own religion! Wow, how much more vague can you get!?