The Papal Schism Lore Books

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How two popes came together on the papal throne and what it means for Christianity.

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The Papal Schism

The Holy Church is the home of all Christians on the Earth, and at its head stands its shepherd, that is, the Pope. The Pope is the leader of all Christianity and the successor to the seat of Saint Peter, which was established by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. But it has transpired that not one, but two, holy fathers sit upon the papal seat, and good Christians can only argue over which is the true one and which one should be respected and which shall be eternally damned. It all began when Pope Boniface VIII refused to crown King Philip the Fair of France as emperor, to which the latter refused to acquiesce and in the year 1309 he had the Holy See removed to Avignon, where he could keep it under his watchful eye. Thus, for many years the Holy Father sat upon the papal throne not in Rome, but in France.

In 1377 Pope Gregory decided to leave Avignon and return the papacy to Rome, but after his untimely death, two conclaves met to elect a new pope, in both Rome and Avignon. And thus, it came to be that there was a Pope Urban in Rome and a Pope Clement in France, and both received great support from the rulers of Europe, who favoured one pope over the other as they saw fit. These two popes excommunicated each other and proclaimed each other to be an arch-heretic and the antipope, and thus, a great schism and decline within the Holy Church did arise, and now many do criticize it and demand remediation, for how can the Pope fulfil his duties as our shepherd when there are in fact two popes who claim to be the true representative of God and their rival to be a messenger of Satan? Whose words should a good Christian heed and whom should they entreat for intercession? Which Pope’s hand may anoint a king?

As long as there are two popes, hunger and pestilence shall plague the entire world and much strife and suffering does await us…