To add a little context to the wider debate surrounding Benedict XVI’s visit to the UK on 16 September, we profile 11 christians (one for each disciple, less the paradoxically condemned Judas) that have provoked controversy, shaped the course of history, and given rise to important questions about the role of religion in society.
And they are:
1. Martin Luther – The original protestant
Related
2. Henry VIII – The Tudor megalomaniac
3. Pope Urban II – Eleventh century Dr. Death
4. Guy Fawkes – Britain’s number one conspirator
Content from our partners
5. Joan of Arc – The bad-girl of French Catholicism
6. Thomas Cranmer – The craftsmen of royal supremacy
7. Pope Urban VIII – Inquisitor extraordinaire
8. Thomas More – Enemy of the State
9. Pope Pius XII – Hitler’s Pope
10. Pope Pius IX – The Anti-semite
11. Jerry Falwell – The televangelist