Thank you, Trimalchio, for that piece of information. A bit of research does indeed confirm that Innocent XI (Benedetto Odescalchi) was fully behind William of Orange's ambition to reign in England as far back as the mid 1680's. In fact, that William would be the next king seems to have been regarded in Rome not as an "if" - but a "when".

This particular pope seems to have been an enlightened and pragmatic man who, on the one hand, viewed the Stuarts as tools of Louis XIV (who was very much at odds with the Church at this time) and, on the other, the misguidedness of trying to turn England back to Roman Catholicism. He felt that religion could not, and should not, be imposed. Besides, William, unlike the perceived view of the Stuarts, promised religious tolerance.

Innocent XI

William of Orange, funded by the pope

As well, there's a new book out, "Imprimatur", that covers in novelistic form the period in question. Not popular with the Church at the moment...

"The story turns on the enmity between the pope of the time, Innocent XI, and Louis XIV of France; and on the fact – Monaldi and Sorti insist that they have established beyond doubt that it is a fact – that Innocent XI bankrolled the invasion of England by William of Orange; leading to the downfall of James II and the (Catholic) Stuarts, the triumph of the Protestants, and the end of Catholicism as a force in English politics.

That is the hinge of the story; and 320 years later – because Rome is the eternal city, and the powers that control it are eternal – it became the hinge of the lives and careers of these novelists, too.

Because their claim that Innocent XI, Benedetto Odescalchi before he was enthroned, financed the Protestant invasion of England is a sensational claim, and one the Church cannot accommodate, even today."

The rest of it, from The Belfast Telegraph:

Did the pope finance the Protestant Invasion of England?

Most interesting!