The early Italian medieval writer Petrarch — the first humanist — had a lifelong quest that was never truly fulfilled. He wanted the Papacy to return to Rome from its “Babylonian Exile” in France. Like his de facto predecessor, the early Italian poet Dante, he believed the Pope should be concerned only with spiritual matters.

Even after the Papacy returned to Rome in 1377, it remained a political and military power. The Vatican oversaw the Papal State in Italy, including four major regions on the Italic peninsula. It wasn’t until 1870, when the nascent monarchic Italian state defeated the Vatican’s forces and took control of Rome, that the Vatican’s forces stood down once and for all.

But that didn’t stop the Vatican from being an aggressively active political power.

It was stunning to hear the vice president of the U.S. arrogantly advise the Pope that he should stay in his own lane. In one widely cited quote, he essentially tells the Pope that he is a liar (his statements should be “anchored in truth,” the VP admonished!).

As a convert to Catholicism, he should be finely aware of the Catholic Church’s history and its role in shaping world events. Ever since the 4th-century “Donation of Constantine” (look it up), leading thinkers have argued that the Papacy should limit itself to spirituality while others have lobbied for it to remain temporal (earthly) in its scope.

But the fact of the matter is that the Vatican has always been politically focused.

The only thing more stunning is hearing Trump-supporting Catholics complain this week about Trump’s blasphemous comments and imperatives. Where were those same Christians when Trump mocked a disabled journalist, when he denigrated a U.S. war hero and senator, when he scolded a TV anchor for having “blood coming out of her wherever”?

Are they finally getting the message that Trump won’t know Jesus until he finally meets him after his death? After all that’s happened, how can they even call Vance a Catholic and Trump a Christian?

I’m sticking with the Pope’s message to the world: “G-d’s heart is torn apart by wars, violence, injustice, and lies.” Nothing political about that!

Image via the Catholic Church England and Wales Flickr.