In an outspoken attack, Dr Starkey said the election of a new Pope was simply
“theatre” which would mean nothing those outside the faith.
In 2011 the historian was accused of racism after he suggested black culture
was a cause of the 2011 riots.
He appeared on Radio 4’s Broadcasting House this past Sunday morning alongside Eamon Duffy, Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Cambridge, to discuss the election of Pope Francis I.
Dr Starkey said: “The plain truth is that this is an institution, as we all remembered before Benedict XVI resigned, retired, this is an institution that is corrupt and riddled with corruption, irredeemably corrupt from top to bottom and we are just deceiving ourselves.”
Professor Duffy responded by saying Christians do not believe that anything is irredeemable.
When asked what the new Pope meant for non-Catholics in Britain, Dr Starkey
replied: “Nothing at all. It is simply part of the great world theatre of
entertainment. It is up one minute with a new papal election and down the next with the next
lot of revelations about the turpitude of the clergy.”
He risked further offence by claiming that Thomas Becket, the murdered medieval Archbishop venerated as a saint by many Catholics, should be the "patron saint" of child abusers.
The main scandals within the Catholic Church occurred in areas such as Ireland and America where they acted “outside the law” - as King Henry II accused the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket of doing in the 12th Century, prior to his killing.
Dr Starkey said: “I want to have a new patron saint. I want to declare that Thomas Becket is the patron saint of child abusers.”
When asked if he wanted to respond to the claims Professor Duffy, a Catholic, replied: “Well, no.”
Dr Starkey is widely regarded as one of Britain's leading constitutional historians, and has presented series for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is to host a new series on how the British monarchy has influenced classical music for the BBC this year to mark the anniversary of the Queen's coronation.
However, he was widely criticised in 2011 when he claimed, in a debate on the causes of the riots, that "the whites have become black."
He risked further offence by claiming that Thomas Becket, the murdered medieval Archbishop venerated as a saint by many Catholics, should be the "patron saint" of child abusers.
The main scandals within the Catholic Church occurred in areas such as Ireland and America where they acted “outside the law” - as King Henry II accused the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket of doing in the 12th Century, prior to his killing.
Dr Starkey said: “I want to have a new patron saint. I want to declare that Thomas Becket is the patron saint of child abusers.”
When asked if he wanted to respond to the claims Professor Duffy, a Catholic, replied: “Well, no.”
Dr Starkey is widely regarded as one of Britain's leading constitutional historians, and has presented series for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is to host a new series on how the British monarchy has influenced classical music for the BBC this year to mark the anniversary of the Queen's coronation.
However, he was widely criticised in 2011 when he claimed, in a debate on the causes of the riots, that "the whites have become black."