AHC: Destroy the Papacy

How can the claims of the Bishop of Rome to the papacy - that is, to not merely be Bishop of Rome or Patriarch of the West, but to be preeminent over all churches wherever - be ended?

Details:
* There needs to actually be a Bishop of Rome who is not making this claim. Simply ending the line of Bishops of Rome (e.g. by a Muslim invasion, or by destroying Christianity) doesn't count.
* Simply moving the Papacy elsewhere while keeping their claims to apostolic succession through Rome (e.g. by an extended Babylonian Captivity) doesn't count either. Having another bishop (e.g. Ravenna) take up those claims on a totally separate basis, however, does count.
* Having there still be someone in Rome making those claims does count, as long as very few people are listening to him. For instance, in OTL, there're now five different Patriarchs of Jerusalem, including one who pays allegiance to Rome - but no one would say "the Patriarch of Jerusalem acknowledges the Roman primacy."

For easy level, do this with a PoD after the Council of Nicaea. For medium level, do this with a PoD after Charlemagne's coronation. For hard level, do this with a PoD after the Ninety-Five Theses.
 
To dismantle the Roman Curia as you are wanting would be ASB (too much money and power).

That said:
Oddly enough I think the best time would be after Luther has published the 95 not before. The Lutherian movement could (possibly) take stronger hold than it did and see political (i.e. Kings) pressure for the church to split into regional (or counrty) sections with no central control.
 
How can the claims of the Bishop of Rome to the papacy - that is, to not merely be Bishop of Rome or Patriarch of the West, but to be preeminent over all churches wherever - be ended?

Details:
* There needs to actually be a Bishop of Rome who is not making this claim. Simply ending the line of Bishops of Rome (e.g. by a Muslim invasion, or by destroying Christianity) doesn't count.
* Simply moving the Papacy elsewhere while keeping their claims to apostolic succession through Rome (e.g. by an extended Babylonian Captivity) doesn't count either. Having another bishop (e.g. Ravenna) take up those claims on a totally separate basis, however, does count.
* Having there still be someone in Rome making those claims does count, as long as very few people are listening to him. For instance, in OTL, there're now five different Patriarchs of Jerusalem, including one who pays allegiance to Rome - but no one would say "the Patriarch of Jerusalem acknowledges the Roman primacy."

For easy level, do this with a PoD after the Council of Nicaea. For medium level, do this with a PoD after Charlemagne's coronation. For hard level, do this with a PoD after the Ninety-Five Theses.


*Thinking* I'll try post-Nicaea for starters, with maybe some post-Charlemagne suggestions too.

There were several Arian emperors after Constantine, so make one of them meddle with the church more. It wouldn't be "Catholicism" any more if the idea of Jesus as God is denied. Many of the Germanic peoples were also Arian by the time of the Roman Empire's fall. I imagine they would still keep a Bishop of Rome, but not as important as the Pope.

Greater Byzantine influence in the West is another POD. The Popes were effectively subordinate to Constantinople during the early Middle Ages. If Justinian is not overextended, and focuses more on Italy than reclaiming the whole Western Empire, then the papacy will be weakened.

A larger Donatism movement could be another possibility. They hated the Roman church, as they thought it was being tainted by the corruption of the empire. If they get big enough, it could lead to a Christian divorce from Rome.

For a late POD, have the Western Schism of the 14th and 15th centuries last longer. Catholicism might be discredited altogether if there are too many Popes.

A REALLY late POD could be a pope who is so radical for his time that he alienates all the traditionalists. The result would be more movements like sedevacantists and Old Catholics.

I consulted Justo Gonzáles's The Story of Christianity Volume 1 for these.
 
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