POPE JULIUS III

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 Pope Julius III adopted a 13-year-old boy and began to have homosexual relations with him, and when he turned 18 he named him a Cardinal, a fact that led to one of the biggest scandals in the Catholic Church.

Throughout history, not all Popes have shared the ideas they promulgated in their writings. Among these, Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, known as Julius III, stood out for an unprecedented sex scandal.

Giovanni was born on September 10, 1487 in Rome and was appointed Cardinal Priest by Paul III in 1536. In this way, the future Pope participated directly in the preparations for the Council of Trent, which he would preside over. Finally, in the year 1550, and despite the opposition of Emperor Charles I, he was elected Pope in a conclave attended by forty-eight cardinals. From the beginning of his papacy he tried to put an end to the conflict between Catholics and reformers, an event that divided Europe.

However, despite the important role he played in the council, his five years as the head of the Catholic Church were tainted by his homosexual behavior with Innocenzo Ciocchi Del Monte, a young Cardinal whom he himself had taken as his 'adopted son'. Del Monte was a young man of just 18 years old —some historical sources affirm that he was a minor— and little by little a rumor appeared about the relationship between the two ecclesiastics. The Pope had met him when he was 13 and historians say that the relationship began from that first contact.

" He fell madly in love with the boy (...) and as a benefit for his prostitution he was elevated to the position of cardinal ", writes the Australian-American historian Robert Aldrich. On the other hand, academic and professor Louis Crompton explains in Homosexuality and Civilization that Del Monte was not particularly attractive. Thus, the authors of the time nicknamed him "the new Ganymede", making a satirical allusion to the figure of the beautiful Trojan prince who was kidnapped by the god Zeus. Likewise, the theologian Thomas Beard commented that the Pope only appointed new positions if he had previously slept with the clerics.

Criminal and Rapist

It would not be until 1555 when the Catholic Church was able to put order back in its own house. Julius III passed away and Innocenzo's possessions were taken from him. Dejected, the 23-year-old lost his way to God, in case he hadn't already, and was banished after the murder of two men who had insulted him and for raping two women .

Innocenzo died in 1577 at the age of 45 and his body was buried in the Del Monte chapel of the San Pietro in Montorio church together with his forbidden love Julius III, meeting again two decades later.

Written by Martina Braum, 20 September, 2019, in "Quora".Digitized, adapted in illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.