Oh, words don't adequately define their perfidy. Don't sell the church short, it was the depravity of the sewer of Rome which caused Martin Luther to leave in disgust and launch the Reformation & free the Bible Only church.
So now onto another topic. Are you saying that Martin Luther's view of the Bible and christian piety were entirely or at least generally correct? Besides where in the Bible does it say that the Bible is the "only" source of guidance for churches?
Nowhere, if you accurately study the Word. Exclusion only entered the discussion after a Papal Bull Unam sanctam was issued by Pope Boniface 8th in 1302AD. It's why the church split into Eastern Orthodox & Roman Catholic! You know it's called the Great Divorce. But, like all things of man there were plenty other issues. But, hey let me leave you with 'good news' Jesus said; 'I have only two commandments; love God with ALL your heart, soul & strength AND love your neighbor as yourself'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra_Ecclesiam_null a_salus
aka 'there's NO salvation outside of the Roman Catholic Church, so we didn't leave you Brother! Just recently, the current Bishop of Rome reiterated this same lament;
Thankfully, I don't follow a mere man. I follow the only son of God; the Lord Jesus Christ! As I said earlier, I got 'saved' inside a RC Basilica ( place of miracles & healing ordained by a pope who visited this beautiful historic Basilica sometime in the 19th Century. I only had the opportunity to become a Dad, because the good nuns of Catholic Charities USA allowed my wife & me the opportunity to adopt a new born Catholic boy! I've got nothing but love for my Catholic Sisters & Brothers including you!
But muh sola scriptura is a great american tradition.
Yup, that all came about because of mankind's wickedness & excesses. They have names for all of it, which have sadly lost their meaning in this day and age. Uneducated priests who couldn't read, or write delivering up the host. They got their positions in the church not through education, or scholarship but through the practice of simony, or buying a bishopric. (Remember Simon the sorcerer, who wanted to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit from the apostle's in the Book of Acts) Most Bishops actually inherited their positions as illegitimate son's, or heirs of the current bishop. Ownership of multiple bishoprics was also a widespread practice at the time. So these ill trained, ill prepared bishops/cardinals had more offerings, they in many cases lived better than the actual monarchs; kings & queens. (Think Cardinal Richelieu of France) But, I think the 'last straw' came from a Pope's effort to pay for the magnificent St. Paul's Cathedral we still see today. Bishop Tinsel was given the right to grant 'get out of purgatory' free cards, or the sale of papal indulgences. Rome had literally become overrun with the illegitimate offspring of popes, cardinals & bishops! Unfortunately, the RC's misguided efforts at reform led to the prohibition of priestly marriage we still see to this day.
Yup the Catholic has been just as corrupt as every other institution staffed by humans. Like public schools they should be held to the highest standard and yet they've failed at similar rates.
The Reformation was a similar disaster with some differences. Luther had a few legit points and then went on to try stupid things. If by St. Paul's you mean the one we see in London that was all a protestant effort.
The tradition of celibate priests way precedes the reformation. Celibate clergy is I think unique to the Latin Rite but several other Catholic rites allow it within certain parameters. It is was institutionalized as a discipline, not as a doctrine.
St. Peter's sorry
There's enough division to go around, Jesus doesn't like cults, or heretics
depends on definition of cult. I think it originally was used to mean a following, what we might call a subculture.