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Unexpected exchange of gifts -

In 1967, President Johnson and Pope Paul VI exchanged gifts. The US President was gifted a nice 15th-century painting. As for the Pope...he received a bust of President Johnson.

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Urban VI was the last pope to be elected that wasn't a priest or cardinal -

Contrary to popular belief, one doesn't have to be a cardinal, or even a priest, to be elected pope. Any baptized man can actually be elected pope, although this hasn't happened since 1378.

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Pope Gregory IX deemed cats evil -

In 1232, Pope Gregory IX wrote a letter to the king of Germany expressing his concerns about witches in Germany, whose rituals included cats. Mass killings of cats reportedly followed, which may have had an impact on rat population and the spread of the Plague. 

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Pope Francis once worked as a bouncer -

Before devoting his life to God and becoming Pope Francis, Jorge Mario Bergoglio worked as a nightclub bouncer in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

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An independent republic was born of a papal land deal -

The Republic of Cospaia declared independence in 1440, when a small piece of land was left out of a land deal with the city of Florence. The small state was independent from 1440 to 1826!

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Pope Francis blessed Pokémon -

The Pope blessed the franchise after concerns that Pokémon was the work of the devil. So much so that the Catholic Church then launched its own version of Pokemon Go.

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There is such thing as an antipope -

There have been a few antipopes in the history of the Church. This is a person who believes to be the legitimate pope and opposes the elected pope.

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Pope John Paul II studied at an underground seminary during World War II -

In 1942, Karol Józef Wojtyła entered an underground seminary run by Cardinal Sapieha, the archbishop of Kraków, during the Nazi occupation of Poland.

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Why drive when you can fly? -

Pope Benedict XVI didn't have a driver's license and couldn't drive a car. He did, however, pilot his own helicopter on a regular basis. 

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Pope Benedict IX sold his papacy -

Not only was Benedict IX elected pope more than once, but he's also the only pope in history to have ever sold his papacy. 

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Popes can keep the names of new cardinals a secret -

The pope can elect a new cardinal and not make it public. There is a Latin term used to describe these decisions that are kept in secret: it's In pectore.

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Only the pope can forgive a priest who breaches the seal of confession -

If a priest breaches the seal of confession, he's excommunicated from the Catholic Church. The only person who can forgive him is the pope. 

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Pope Pius XII supported the compatibility of the Big Bang with Catholicism -

In 1951, Pope Pius XII declared that the Big Bang didn't conflict with the Catholic concept of creation. 

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One pope spoke for the Native Americans -

In 1537, Pope Paul III made a decree that Native Americans were "rational beings with souls" and condemned their enslavement. 

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Pope Paul VI watched the first moon-landing through a telescope -

While people from all over the world were tuning in to see the first moon landing on TV, Pope Paul VI did so live through the telescope of the Vatican Observatory.

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German monks went on a pope-approved beer bender -

The 17th-century Paulaner monks in Bavaria, Germany, sent some of their famous beer to Rome for the pope to taste. It went bad on the journey and the pope thought it was a horrible drink. As such, he decided it was okay to drink beer during Lent, the 40-day period of abstinence and fasting. The Paulaner monks must have had a merry Lent that year! 

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Some papal orders of knighthood allow for members to enter St. Peter's Basilica on horseback -

Two of the five orders of knighthood by the Pope are allowed to do this, namely The Papal Order of Saint Sylvester and the Papal Order of Saint Gregory the Great. 

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Pope John XXIII gives an honest answer to a controversial question -

When a journalist asked Pope John XXIII  how many people worked in the Vatican, he replied: "about half of them."

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Pope Pius XII had a controversial position during the Holocaust -

Pious XII's failure to recognize eyewitness reports of the Holocaust was heavily criticized. On the other end, he was also responsible for saving the lives of nearly 1 million Jewish people.

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Some believe the Pope is the antichrist -

For many years, numerous people and religious groups have believed that the pope is indeed the antichrist.

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Pope Benedict XII was elected by accident -

During the Middle Ages, some cardinals would choose randomly in the first round of voting so they could see who the others were leaning towards. This went wrong in 1334 when they accidentally all voted for the same man and he was elected pope. 

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Pope Clement VIII refused to ban coffee -

Pope Clement VIII was under pressure to ban coffee because it was believed by some to be the drink of the devil. However, after trying it, the pope liked it so much that he blessed coffee beans and said "it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it."

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There was a woman pope...maybe -

Pope Joan (855–857) is said to have reigned during the Middle Ages after disguising herself as a man. Legend has it that Joan gave birth to a child in the middle of a procession. This gave her away and she was killed. 

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A pope once exhumed a dead pope and put him on trial -

Pope Stephen VI ordered the exhumation of Pope Formosus and put his corpse on trial for crimes allegedly committed while he was alive. It became known as the Cadaver Synod or Synodus Horrenda.  

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Popes aren't always celibate -

Popes have had numerous relationships throughout the years, and many had illegitimate children.

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Popes are not really infallible -

Papal infallibility is a Catholic Church dogma. Though this only refers to the pope speaking in an official capacity as the Church leader, and not that the pope is without sin or error, ever. 

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When the Pope asked the US President for immunity -

In 2005, the lawyers of Pope Benedict XVI asked US President George W. Bush to grant the pope immunity against accusations that he conspired to cover up sexual abuse in the Catholic church. 

Sources: (Grunge) (List25) (Aleteia) (The Sydney Morning Herald) (VinePair)

See also: The most shocking Catholic Church scandals

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