GREATEST POPES

POPE SIXTUS IV

GENOAN/ITALI AN, 1414-1484

Born Francesco della Rovere, the Sistine Chapel was built under his papacy. He also helped found the Vatican Library.

But when it came to politics, Sixtus was unlucky. He waged war to gain Ferrara for his nephew, but lost, and he piled money and titles on his family.

In religion, he opposed the Waldensian heresy and founded the Spanish Inquisition. It’s a shame, then, that his nepotism is credited with beginning the papacy’s moral decay.

POPE PAUL III

ITALIAN, 1468-1549

Paul III was the last of the Renaissance popes