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Did Pope Leo X say "It has served us well, this myth of Christ"?

The Church

The short answer

There is no documentation for it. The quote is believed to come from a satirical work, "The Pageant of the Popes," by the Protestant controversialist John Bale (1495–1563).

Undocumented

The quote is commonly attributed to Leo X without any source documentation.

Its origin

It is believed to come from The Pageant of the Popes, a satirical piece by Protestant controversialist John Bale, who wrote that the pope answered Cardinal Bembo contemptuously that all ages could testify how profitable "that fable of Christ" had been to him and his company.