The Pope is the continuation of the Roman Empire, by other means.
I had a reason to look up some stuff about a Pope and just wanted to say this out loud for anybody who never gronked it before.
Yes, I am a guy and I am thinking about the Roman Empire again.
But when the last Emperors turned Christian, lost the support of any democratic body, and periodically lost control of the city as troops abandoned their posts - they fell back on "We are still in charge because God told us".
@silverfish @Urban_Hermit It's called the Curia for a reason. That was the Roman administrative state. And they speak Latin. So yeah the Catholic Church is the surviving remnant of the Roman Empire.
Although I think this Pope is a Freemason. There was a long covert struggle between the Vatican and the Freemasons, and the Freemasons seem to have won decisively.
@mike805 @silverfish thanks for the word Curia, I had to look it up, and that is always good.
I was raised Catholic, but I didn't know that there was a huge and period struggle between the Catholic church and Freemasons. I knew a Freemason, he didn't talk about it until I brought it up, as is their way, and I could have joined except I don't see much point in a fraternal lodge, which seems to be all it is nowadays.
But apparently the Catholics declare Freemasonry a "grave sin" every few years.
@Urban_Hermit @silverfish High level Freemasonry is strange. There are a lot of people who believe they follow "Lucifer." But that Lucifer is not the Biblical devil, but rather the light-bringer or enlightener. He is here to lead humanity out of the darkness of unthinking obedience and teach us to think for ourselves.
Of course the other side will say "That has been the devil's argument all along since the Garden."
The Freemasons definitely had a hand in the French and American revolutions.
Urban Hermit
desperadosilverfish
mike805