The
list of Popes chronologically lists the men who have been given the title Pope (or Bishop of Rome) by the
Catholic Church. While there is actually no official list of popes, the
Annuario Pontificio, published every year by the
Vatican, contains a list that is generally considered to be the most authoritative. The
Annuario Pontificio lists
Benedict XVI as the 265th Bishop of Rome. That list is the one given here; it lists 263 men serving 265 pontificates (periods of Papal office), if
Pope-elect Stephen is excluded (see below). The difference in these numbers is due to the fact that
Benedict IX reigned during three non-consecutive periods between 1032 and 1048.
The term
Pope (
Latin:
papa "father'") is used in several Churches to denote their high spiritual leaders (for example
Coptic Pope). This title in English usage usually refers to the head of the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic pope officially uses the title of
Pontifex Maximus. This title was first used by the
Ancient Romans as the title of the high priest of the
College of Pontiffs. Emperor
Augustus later subsumed the office into his Imperial office but
Gratian dropped the title on the advice of
Ambrose.
Hermannus Contractus may have been the first historian to number the popes continuously. His list ends in 1049 with
Pope Leo IX as number 154. Several changes were made to the list during the 20th century.
Antipope Christopher was considered legitimate for a long time. Pope-elect Stephen was considered legitimate under the name
Stephen II until the 1961 edition, when his name was erased. Although these changes are no longer controversial, a number of modern lists still include this "first Pope Stephen II". It is probable that this is because they are based on the 1913 edition of the
Catholic Encyclopaedia, which is in the public domain. In the year 2001 a rigorous study was made by the Catholic Church into the
history of the papacy which "prompted almost 200 corrections to the existing biographies of the Popes, from St. Peter to John Paul II.".
The title
Episcopus Romanus means
Roman Bishop in
Latin.
Chronological list of popes
1st–5th Centuries
1st Century
2nd Century
3rd Century
4th Century
5th Century
6th–10th Centuries
6th Century
7th Century
8th Century
9th Century
10th Century
11th–15th Centuries
11th Century
12th Century
13th Century
14th Century
15th Century
- This pope resigned his office.
- The exact birth date of Innocent VIII and almost all popes prior to Eugene IV is unknown, therefore the lowest probable age has been assumed for this table.
16th–20th Centuries
16th Century
17th Century
18th Century
19th Century
20th Century
21st Century
Religious Orders
33 popes have been members of religious orders. These have included:
- 16 Benedictines (Gregory I, Boniface IV, Adeodatus II, Leo IV, John IX, Leo VII, Stephen IX, Gregory VII, Victor III, Urban II, Paschal II, Gelasius II, Celestine V, Clement VI, Urban V, and Pius VII)
- 4 Dominicans (Innocent V, Benedict XI, Pius V, and Benedict XIII)
- 1 Canon Regular of S. Maria di Reno (Honorius II)
- 1 Canon Regular of St. John in Lateran (Innocent II)
- 1 Canon Regular of S. Frediano di Lucca (Lucius II)
- 1 Canon Regular of St. Martin in Laon (Gregory VIII)
Notes on numbering of popes
A number of anomalies in the list given above need further explanation:
- The numbering of popes named Felix has been amended to omit antipope Felix II. However, most lists still call the last two Felixes Felix III and Felix IV. Additionally, there was an antipope Felix V.
- There has never been a pope John XX as a result of confusion of the numbering system in the 11th century.
- Pope-elect Stephen, who died before being consecrated, has not been on the Vatican's official list of popes since 1961, but appears on lists dating from before 1960.
- When Simon de Brion became pope in 1281, he chose to be called Martin. At that time, Marinus I and Marinus II were mistakenly considered to be Martin II and Martin III respectively, and so, erroneously, Simon de Brion became Pope Martin IV.
- Pope Donus II, said to have reigned about 974, never existed. The belief resulted from the confusion of the title dominus (lord) with a proper name. (Pope Joan also probably never existed; however, legends about her may have originated from stories about the pornocracy.)
- The status of Antipope John XXIII was uncertain for hundreds of years, and was finally settled in 1958 when Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli announced his own name as John XXIII. Baldassare Cossa, who was Antipope John XXIII, served as a Cardinal of the reunited church before his death in 1419 and his remains are found in the Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence).
See also
