Partisan politics and polarization have been around since Abel and Cain. That's why Jesus said Matthew 16:18. Jesus knew the pope would be attacked and the pope, himself, could be a degenerate, yet Jesus wins in the end.
The church has been through crazy times. I'm thinking of financial, immoral, sexual, scandals and whatever. I often think it must have been really confusing when there were two popes!
While looking up how that happened, I found that it involved "a slap." Much more than that--the pope was kidnapped and brutally beaten and never fully recovered. He died soon after being released.
The pope was Boniface VIII. Dante put him in hell. But others called him "magnanimus pontifex". In contemporary times, think President Trump's supporters and detractors. Now in Boniface VIII's time, leaders had a lot more power than rulers do today, and the pope had absolute power. So, when the pope's detractors opposed him, refused to pay taxes, donations and contribute in anyway, the pope placed injunctions on them. One of the most powerful enemies was Philip of France. Another was in Italy--the Colonna family. These powerful enemies opposed the pope. Hostilities came to a head and the pope was attacked in the papal palace, led by Sciarra Colonna. Sciarra faced the pope and slapped him! The pope was taken away and beaten.
This marked the end of the absolute power of the pope. It was also marked the beginning of the pope eventually going to France because he wasn't safe in Italy. History tells that story. My little post intended to show how fast power can change.
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