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Pope Paul Iii: Roman Empire
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Paul IV, given name Giovanni Pietro Caraffa, Roman Catholic Pope from 1555 to 1559, was born on the 28th of June 1476, of a noble Neapolitan family. His ecclesiastical preferment he owed to the influence of an uncle, Cardinal Oliviero Caraffa. Having filled the post of nuncio in England and Spain, he served successive popes as adviser in matters pertaining to heresy and reform. But he resigned his benefices, and, in conjunction with Cajetan, founded the order of the Theatines (1524) with the object of promoting personal piety and of combating heresy by preaching. In 1536 Pope Paul III made him cardinal-archbishop of Naples and a member of the reform commission. After the failure of Contarini's attempt at reconciliation with the Protestants (1541) the papacy committed itself to the reaction advocated by Caraffa; the Inquisition and censorship were set up (1542, 1543), and the extermination of heresy in Italy undertaken with vigor.
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Pope John-Paul of the Roman Catholic Church is continuing to enhance his legacy of attempts to unify the Christian world with a controversial visit to Athens, Greece. The Pope will spend just two days in Greece, visiting the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Dionysos in Athens, performing Mass at the Olympic basketball stadium, and participating in a reading of St. Paul's letters at Pnyx Hill.
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Around 1540 in the history of the church there were three great Christian leaders: Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Pope Paul III. On earth they never met each other. In fact, the Lutherans, Calvinists, and Roman Catholics they represented often struggled violently against each other.
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