An Outright Criminal Holy Father
The real life Young Pope was uninterested in his spiritual duties and papal obligations. His father, Duke Alberic, the only person who might have checked him, had died. The teenaged John XII thus found himself in a position of great power, and with access to great wealth, riches, and resources, without any adult guidance or supervision. He reacted like many teenagers would in similar circumstances, and dove headfirst into a life of depravity and the pursuit of pleasure. He liked to hunt, gamble, drink, and womanize. He also toasted the devil and invoked pagan gods during dice games.
As one historian put it, John XII’s pontificate: “became infamous for the alleged depravity and worldliness with which he conducted it“. Among other things, he sold church offices and titles to help defray the costs of his lavish lifestyle, and on one occasion, he ordained a ten-year-old as a bishop. He had such little respect for the dignity of church offices, that he once ordained a deacon in a stable. He was also a violent and criminal psychopath, who castrated a deacon before he ended him. When his own confessor angered him, he blinded him before he murdered him.
