mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

Eleanor Herman
because unlike other nations, the Papal States had never slaughtered its
Jews; embarrassment because just a short walk from the Vatican lived a
stubborn population of nonbelievers.
Jews had lived in Rome since at least the time of Jesus. In 1555, Pope
Paul IV had crammed all Jews into an eight-acre walled ghetto in Trastevere
on the Tiber. During Innocent’s reign, the population had risen to
some four thousand. Jews were not permitted to own property or work
in the government or the military. They were only allowed to sell used
goods, run small shops, and lend money. They were also expected to
pay enormous taxes to the Roman government. The purpose of these
punitive measures was to induce the Jews to convert, and each convert
was given his choice of career—possibly a high office in the Vatican itself—a
generous pension, and the right to move out of the ghetto. Unmarried
female converts were given ample dowries and strapping
Christian husbands.
But converts from the ancient, closely knit community were few.
Frustrated by this, in 1584 Pope Gregory XIII decreed that 155 Jews
over the age of twelve had to attend a church service every Saturday—
the Jewish holy day—in which a Dominican friar preached to them of
their theological errors. If fewer than the required number showed up,
the community was forced to pay a heavy fine. And so they attended, but
some stuffed their ears with cotton and others used the opportunity to
catch up on their sleep. The church hired a bailiff to patrol the sermon
stick in hand and whack those who were not listening. This, too, had
little effect.
On January 7, 1645, John Evelyn attended such a service and left us a
priceless description of it. “A Sermon was preach’d to the Jewes at Ponte
Sisto,” he wrote, “who are constrained to sit till the houre is don; but it is
with so much malice in their countenances, spitting, hum’ing, coughing,
and motion, that it is almost impossible they should heare a word
from the preacher.” He added, “A conversion is very rare.” 17
Wherever the poor pope looked, whether in his family, in his city,
across Europe, or around the globe, there was scandal, war, famine,
slaughter, and humiliation. It was enough to give anybody kidney
stones.
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