In the two thousand years since Christ walked the earth and founded one of the most influential religions in the world, church history has been documented by an incredibly diverse collection of stories that speak to mankind of blessings, curses, and everything in between. Millions have found hope because of Christianity – but millions have also been slaughtered in the name of God.
Starting with St. Peter, the world has seen a total of 265 official popes. While many of the holy fathers have indeed shown themselves to be saintly men worthy of trust and respect, there are a few whose names must go down in the archives of infamy, because they chose to hold the things of the world above the things of God. Others, while not as blatantly wicked, simply made bad choices that adversely affected the people they were supposed to be saving.
The life stories of these popes now serve to illustrate the sinful side of human nature and remind us that even God’s own representative can lose his way. Here are ten of those stories, revealing some of the most power-hungry, sexually immoral, and ungodly men that have ever held the papacy – the worst popes.