| |
| | CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: States of the Church |
 | | Two years later the papal chair, which had last been occupied by seven Oriental popes, was filled by a Roman, Gregory II, who was destined to oppose Leo III the Isaurian in the Iconoclastic conflict. |
 | | The papal dignity sank to a still lower level under the nephew of John XIX, Benedict IX, whose elevation to the papal throne at the age of twenty was secured by his family through simony and violence. |
 | | To protect itself against the remonstrances, Italy on 13 May, 1871, issued the so-called law of the Papal Guarantees (see GUARANTEES, LAW OF), which was to secure to the pope his sovereignty, the inviolability of his person, as well as the freedom of the conclave and of the cumenical councils. |
| www.newadvent.org /cathen/14257a.htm (12122 words) |
|