A Primer on the Persistant Myth of Pope Joan

[Eucharisted]

Have you heard that the Catholic Church is covering up the existence of a female pope? Don’t worry, if you haven’t yet, you will be hearing a lot about that in the coming months. I did a lot of research on this subject, including spending considerable time in Rome tracking down all the claims contained in this legend, and I can assure you that there never was a Pope Joan.

It’s worth your time, though, to become familiar with the basic claims of this legend because, as I say, you will be hearing your friends and family and the world at large chattering about it — much like you heard all the crazed (and wildly inaccurate) chattering about the Catholic Church in The Da Vinci Code, through the book and the movie by that name. So here is the basic outline of the myth. Please share this info with your family and friends. Inoculate them.

The legend of Pope Joan can be summarized this way:

In the middle ages, there was a “Pope Joan,” a woman who hid her gender and rose through the ranks of the Church, became a cardinal and was elected pope. No one knew she was a woman until, during a papal procession through the streets of Rome, she went into labor and gave birth to a child. She and the baby were killed on the spot by the mob, enraged at her imposture.

Read the rest here.

List of the Popes

 

[OriginalJS]

Also, there is some kind of papal chair the Vatican has that has an opening or hole cut in the front of the seat which was supposedly used for prelates to look at a papal candidate to make sure he had testicles. I have seen some drawings of this and reports that Protestants had a field day with the chair. I understand it is now kept out of sight from the public and researchers. Supposedly the magic words to pass were “testitulos habet.” This may have contributed to the Pope Joan story.