Next Time, For Sure

Franz looked at the beautifully crafted letter and couldn't help wondering what Pius IX was thinking. To be honest, the British attitude toward the Great Famine of Ireland had already sent Franz's blood pressure soaring. He didn't want to know what other filthy little schemes His Holiness might have in mind.

Just releasing all the Liberals who had imprisoned Gregory XVI was already enough to give Franz a headache.

Though the leper wasn't a good person and his methods weren't particularly clever, at least he wouldn't do something so suicidal.

Franz couldn't imagine how those shrewd cardinals had pushed such a man onto the papal throne. What he didn't know was that they were already regretting it bitterly.

As soon as Pius IX took office, he released the Vatican's most serious criminals. Then, in his second move, he turned his blade on the very cardinals who had put him in power.

The status of a cardinal was in fact extremely exalted. Even kings generally had no right to depose one, and often lacked the power to do so.

But even the strongest fortress was vulnerable from within. These men, who were usually scarcely bound by worldly rules, were powerless to resist the Pope's will.

It wasn't that no one had thought of bringing the Pope down. But deposing him required convening an Ecumenical Council attended by all the cardinals.

That brings us to Pius IX's methods. It was hard to say whether he had foreseen this day or simply stumbled into a lucky move, but as soon as he took office, he appointed a large number of cardinals from regions outside Europe. To avoid paying tithes, they all chose to refuse his summons.

With some cardinals absent, the Ecumenical Council could not be convened—or, at least, it could not command