9. Leo X created an atmosphere in the Church which led to the birth of Protestantism
Pope Leo X was born of the famed Italian dynasty of the Medici family, the son of Lorenzo de Medici, who ruled in Florence. Leo liked to spend money, and in order to obtain it he either borrowed using the holdings of the Vatican to secure the loans, extorted it from those who he knew were susceptible to blackmail, or obtained it through the sale of indulgences. Indulgences were and are viewed in the Catholic Church as a means of reducing the amount of time required to pay for the sins of life. In order to receive an indulgence something must be done to earn it, an action rewarded by the Church, “which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and all of the saints” (Catechism of the Catholic Church).
Leo has been condemned as being amoral, sexually involved with both men and women, in documentation going back to his own lifetime, though many of the accusations were discounted by others as being created by his political enemies. Martin Luther wrote of the pope’s amoral behavior, as did members of the papal court. Luther later wrote letters which praised the pope on a personal level, at a time when he (Luther) was under attack for heresy. Leo’s sale of indulgences in order to fund his vast spending sprees was his chief contribution to the corruption of his office. Leo lived a life of worldliness which he used the office of the papacy to support, at the expense of the Church which he nearly bankrupted.