Today in papal history: A pope who was first an antipope, and Eisenhower meets John XXIII...

[Michie]

963 A.D.

Today in Papal History marks the date that a future pope – Leo VIII – started his anti-papacy.

Yes, you read that right.

Leo VIII is indeed the 131st pope of the Roman Catholic Church, but his is an interesting case: before becoming the rightful pontiff, Leo was first an illegitimate one – a pretender to the papal throne.

As the story goes, many in those days sought to get Pope John XII out of office – the man…or should we say boy…who as its youngest claimant in history was basically gifted the papacy by dear old dad, the patrician of Rome at the time, when he was a mere 18(ish) years old.

To paraphrase Dr. Watson, John’s depravity knew no bounds, and as a result Emperor Otto I of Germany, who John himself had crowned, soon grew tired of his antics and sought to have him deposed.

Continued below.

The death of a pope who survived the Black Plague

Also: A pope who was first an antipope, and Ike meets Good Pope John

popes.substack.com

 

[WarriorAngel]

Pope John began his address of greeting to the president of the United States. After a time, the reporters who were present looked up from their notes, puzzled. What they saw was an amazing sight: both pope and president had their heads thrown back in raucous laughter. It seemed that the pontiff, in speaking his few words of greeting for his prestigious visitor, had stumbled in that part of his address which he had studied and rehearsed for so long. Pope John burst out in comfortable Italian: “Era di Belli!” which in English came to: “That was a beauty!” or “That was a beaut!”​

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President Eisenhower, listening attentively, caught the drift of the pope’s Italian, threw his head back and laughed heartily, appreciating the Italian version of American slang. Pope John, seeing Ike’s reaction, did the same. So the entire company in the papal apartments erupted in happy laughter, a rarity for those solemn Vatican halls. But it was welcome nevertheless, and the cameras clicked to record this historic moment. A photograph immediately went all over the world of pope and president engaging in a moment of levity. No doubt those entrusted with papal and presidential protocol were left less than amused at what had happened.​