Hallowed Ground is linked to an excellent article by Dr. John C. Rao about the Zouaves of "Pio Nono" in the days of the Italian "Risorgimento." It is a sad story but worth reading. People often use the fact that there were once papal states to ridicule the papacy, accusing the Pope of being just another prince. However, the papal states assured the liberty of the Church in the days when the popes were forced to have lands and troops in order to survive. The Holy See would have been taken over by some king in the Middle Ages (as it almost was at times) had the popes not had the temporal powers and means of resistance.
I don't know how I had forgotten the reasons and necessities for the pope's armies and the Papal States. Good point.
ReplyDeleteWarren Carroll's History of Christendom makes this point quite dramatically, in laying out in exquisite detail the exact circumstances that led to the creation of the original Papal States.
ReplyDeleteI had been aware of the reasons in a general way. I was stunned to discover many of the particulars.