Dante speaks to Pope Nicholas III, committed to the Inferno for his simony, in Gustave Doré's wood engraving, 1861. (portrait of the Third Bolgia of the Eighth Circle of Hell)
"The whole world had fallen into malignity. Sanctity had disappeared, justice had perished, and truth had been buried. Evil reigned, avarice dominated. Simon Magus possessed the Churches. Priests did not blush to take wives, entering into abominable marriages and giving legitimacy to those with whom, according to the law, they must not even live together in a single house.… But worst of all, hardly any cleric could be found who was not a simoniac, or who had not been ordained by a simoniac.… Such was the Church, such were the bishops and priests, such were some of the Roman pontiffs, who had the obligation to enlighten everyone else. All salt had gone flat, and there was nothing with which it could be restored, 24 and if the Lord had not left us a seed, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah. 25,26" -St. Bruno, Bishop of Segni.
That brings back memories.
ReplyDeleteAs a child, our home library included beautiful antique editions of "Dante's Inferno" and John Milton's "Paradise Lost", both fully illustrated with Gustave Dore's engravings.