Vatican City is the last real absolute monarchy in the world. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Oman, and Swaziland technically have all-powerful rulers as well, but none compare to the power of the Pope. Recently on Frontline's "Secrets of the Vatican" the inner workings of the tiny country were publicly revealed to the outside world, revealing the Vatican's most sinister subjects during the reign of Pope Benedict XVI.
What many people do not realize however is just HOW MUCH power the pope has. We prefer to think of popes more as figureheads than the all-ruling medieval harbingers they once were, but the truth is, the power of the papacy has not changed very much. The pope has the ability to instantly cast people out of the church, he has power over the Vatican treasury, and he has access to the hearts of 1.2 billion people worldwide. The pope is in many ways just like 17 & 18 century monarchs like Louis XIV or Charles II, and often he lets this power go to his head
.
But not all popes rule using their divine right to promote themselves. Our most recent pope, Pope Francis, has spurned the riches that came with his power and used it instead to help others, and to change the Vatican from a traditional Religious center into a more modern, accepting one. Many people are worried about the new pope, because his relationship with more traditional Catholics has soured, and his actions have caused threats from the Italian mafia to surface. All we can hope for is that the pope will have a long and glorious career.
All this recent pope-talk has reminded me of our study of Absolutism, and when I watched Frontline's "Secrets of the Vatican" I heard a man mention the term "Absolute monarchy." The pope is one of the best examples to use in class for an absolute monarch, and I hope Frontline will return with more stories about the Vatican.
Thomas, Antony. "Secrets of the Vatican." Frontline. PBS. 25 Feb. 2014. Television.
http://communio.stblogs.org/pope-benedict-xvi/2013/04/ "Benedict XVI, Bishop of Rome emeritus on his 86th birthday."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pope_Clement_IX.jpg "Pope Clement IX" 1669, oil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pope_Francis_2013.jpg Papa Francisco en marzo del año 2013. , 12:01:28 Casa Rosada
Is Pope Francis the first Absolute Monarch on twitter? I had never thought of the Pope as an Absolute Monarch because he is not the ruler of a country, but you have opened my eyes and I can see that he does in fact fit the definition.
ReplyDeleteA very interesting technicality. When we think of absolute rulers, we think of controlling people who rule a massive nation with an iron fist. Although the pope is a position of great power, and many popes have abused that power, he generally isn't the first to come to mind when we say "absolute ruler". However, he certainly is. A very well done blog post, Mr. Habel.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest i'm disappointed the title wasn't Vatican city: The Last Airbender. That being said I love how you showed that monarchs, which we learned existed a long time ago, still exist today. I also like how you compare the pope today with the popes that lived long ago. Finally, you did a good job driving home how important the pope is.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mark that having a more modern title would have been better, but overall I think that you had a great connection to the modern world. This blog post made me realize that Absolute Monarchs still existed today and that people could still have that power. My preconception, proved wrong a first time in class, was that Absolute Monarchs are bad, and this post just provided another great example. This is an overall great post, so good job!
ReplyDelete