Alexander VI (or: How did they stop worry about a "bad pope")

[Tis_Bearself]

I believe there needs to be a stepping up to the plate. Own what has been corrupt and begin to make amends. Point out what is good but don’t brush the dirt under the rug, or worse yet, rewrite history. You will have much more respect from those of us on the outside.

I don’t think the Church has been doing much sweeping under the rug in modern times of the stuff that happened back in the Borgia era, etc. Since Pope Alexander VI, there have been two councils where the Church was reformed, and many reforms on things like selling indulgences and selling relics that caused a lot of corruption in the past.

The major issue that the Church needs to face up to these days is the sex abuse scandals. In the past the Church did not do enough to face these head-on. I would like to think we are making some progress there. However, the Church today is in a vastly different situation than it was back in the days of Pope Alexander VI; as others have noted, the Pope and hierarchy today are under a public microscope in the international media, and their congregation does not consist of illiterate peasants in fear of speaking up. So you can’t really compare the eras.