“Wage wars,” said Pope Leo X in 1515

“Wage wars,” said Pope Leo X in 1515

And we also know that Pope Pius XI had once said that the principal duty of the papacy was to plant the church in all countries of the world.

 

The Church came to the East in dramatic circumstances. Pope Leo X had the following words to say to king Manoel of Portugal in 1515:

 

« Receive this warlike sword in your always victorious and warlike hands. With this you will wage wars under the most happy auspices you will subject the enemies of the Faith, as you have done up to now […] [May] you use your force, strength, and power against the fury of the infidels may you consecrate, not only your most religious spirit, but also the kingdom itself, and the forces of the kingdom, to the giver of them, to God the best and the greatest, so that having received through this gift the help of heaven in battles, you may bring back abundant spoils and most famous triumphs »2.

 

Source: http://www.lusotopie.sciencespobordeaux.fr/borges.pdf