Before I begun my opinion about Pope Alexander VI and why it differs a little bit from that of Catholic Encyclopedia, I am presenting the facts as they are related in the Chronicle Encyclopedia of History.
AUGUST 18, 1503 ROME
Romans are rejoicing today following the
news of the death of Pope Alexander VI.
Pope Alexander VI whose baptismal name was Rodrigo Borgia was disliked
not because he was a Spaniard and a libertine but because
he was a first-rate administrator with enormous energy. He policed
Rome and the countryside; he filled the papal treasury by stopping
officials from diverting funds, and he used the money to help
his son, Cesare, to carve out a state in the Romagna, thereby
angering nobles whose power he curbed.
Before Alexander other popes had departed from celibacy, but
none so flaunted his reputation as a great lover. He had a portrait
of his chief mistress, dressed as the Virgin Mary, painted over
the door of his bedchamber.
He publicly acknowledged his three bastards, two of whom have
become notorious figures in their own right. His daughter, Lucrezia,
had two husbands while still in her teens, although she probably
did not have the excessive sex life that Roman gossips suggest.
Cesare, was ruthless in supporting his father's aims. He lured enemies
to the castle of Sinigaglia and had them murdered. He is also
said to have had his brother and his sister's second husband
killed.
The Catholic Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia. Thus it has to observe some neutrality and has to relate the facts as they are and draw some impartial conclusion. I have consulted the Catholic Encyclopedia a year ago and have some reservation about its view on this.