The Pope Who Schooled the Politicians

Piety, intellectual acumen, and political savviness are three characteristics necessary for popes to succeed on the religious and diplomatic stages. Possessing all three is extraordinarily rare. Papal history shows that more than a few of the 266 Roman pontiffs have lacked all three of these—to say nothing about other failures in virtue. Benedict XVI, who just passed away after reigning for eight years and then living in retirement for an unprecedented nine years, had the first two skills in abundance while being out of his depths in the third.