Today’s Scripture
Reading (June 25, 2014): Zechariah 10
On May 22,
896, Steven VI rose to the Papacy. The events surrounding his election are
unclear, but it is likely that Steven’s election had more to do with knowing
the right people than it did with his accomplishments as a priest. Steven VI
reign as pope lasted just a little more than a year, but it would be a year
that would catch the imagination of all historians. It is likely that Steven’s
political friends placed him in the papacy for a reason. They had had a disagreement
with one of the Steven’s predecessors and they had decided to make an example
of him. In one of the strangest trials in history, Steven VI exhumed the body
of Pope Formosus, a pope that had died just over a month before Steven had
taken office. (However, there was a Pope that ruled between Formosus and Steven
VI. Pope Bontiface VI reigned for sixteen days in April 896 before dying under mysterious
circumstances. Officially the cause of death was gout, but it is thought that
he may have been killed to make room for Steven as Pope.) Steven dressed the body
of the dead Formosus in the robes of the papacy and then put the dead body on
trial. Formosus was found guilty, the garments of the papacy were removed from
Formosus along with three of his fingers – the fingers used to pronounce the
blessing - and then the body of the former pope was thrown into the Tiber
River. The trial has become known as the “Cadaver Trial.”
Zechariah’s
prophecy stood against those who ruled over the nations. He likens the kings and
rulers of his day to shepherds who are responsible for the sheep under their
care. But, instead, those that ruled seemed to simply want to use the people
that they ruled over to make their own lives more comfortable. But that was not
their purpose. Leaders who rose to power were supposed to take care of the people
in the jurisdictions. In the words of Zechariah, the rulers were the shepherds
and the people were the sheep whose care had been entrusted to them. It was a
sacred trust, and the kings and rulers had failed at the task.
But some
have seen another prophecy in Zechariah words – an extension of the prophecy
into a different time. For them, the words of Zechariah are not limited to just
the kings of Zechariah’s day. They extend to leaders of the Christian Church
who have failed at their task – to Pope’s who have seemed to be more interested
in the intrigue of the palace and the politics of the office than their
responsibility for the people. All of these leaders qualify as the shepherds
against whom the anger of God burns.
The trial of
Formosus caused quite a stir. While Formosus was not a loved Pope, the Cadaver
Trial seemed to stretch the bounds of incredulity. Steven, evidently having
served his purpose, was imprisoned and then strangled in August of 896. Steven
VI had been Pope for just over a year – in the end he was just another shepherd
who had failed his sheep.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Zechariah
11
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