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Pope, information about the popes
The pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church. He is also
Bishop of Rome, in a direct line, Catholics believe, from St Peter,
the first Bishop.
The pope usually lives in Rome in the Vatican, which he rules as
an independent state. He has spiritual authority over millions of
people throughout the world. Sometimes the pope makes pronouncements
on faith and morals ex cathedra — that is, from the chair of St
Peter. Roman Catholics believe that such pronouncements are
infallible and that the pope cannot then be wrong. Protestants,
however, do not accept the pope's infallibility.
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Pope, information about the popes:
In 1965, Paul VI became the first pope to visit the Americas. He and his interpreter (left) are seen here meeting President Lyndon Johnson in New York City (click to increase a picture) |
Pope, information about the popes:
Three popes of the early 1900's. Top: The coronation of John XXIII in November, 1958. The pope is on the open balcony of St. Peter's Church, Vatican. Above left: Pius XII, pope during World War II. Above right: Paul VI, who became pope in 1963 (click to increase a picture) |
The pope has the assistance of a large administration called the
Curia Romana. The most important advisory body is the Sacred College
of cardinals to whom the pope delegates considerable responsibility.
They elect new popes from their own number, and while considering
their choice are shut away from the outside world. The pope's
personal guard, known as the Swiss Guards, dress in fine Renaissance
uniforms.
By
popes information, in the very early Christian
Church, the Bishop of Rome was pre-eminent only in prestige. But
when Leo the Great became pope in the 400's, the emperor recognized
his authority over the Western Church as the defender of the true
faith. Moreover, Leo twice helped to save Rome from destruction.
Pope Gregory I increased Rome's prestige and power and sent
Augustine to England in 597.
By the 800's the pope was the virtual ruler of Italy. In 800, Leo
III crowned Charlemagne in Rome and formed a close alliance with the
Frankish empire. When Innocent III was pope, from 1198 to 1216,
almost every European king accepted his authority. Some rival popes
were set up in opposition to the pope in Rome, and this led to the
Great Schism, which eventually ended in 1417. The Protestant
Reformation during the 1500's was followed by a counter-reformation.
But the papacy was weakened when the Papal States were confiscated
by Italy in the mid-1800's. In protest, Pius IX refused to leave the
Vatican. The dispute was settled in 1929, when Pius XI emerged amid
great rejoicing after his agreement with Mussolini to establish the
Vatican as a separate state.
List of
Popes
|
Date of Reign |
Information about Popes names |
Events in the Papacy |
|
to
about 67 |
Peter |
Believed to have been the first Bishop of Rome. |
|
217
-235 |
Hippolytus |
Began a schism and set up as an antipope. |
|
314
-335 |
Silvester I |
Emperor Constantine gave official recognition to
Christianity. |
|
526
-530 |
Felix
IV |
Extreme unction introduced as a sacrament. |
|
590
-604 |
Gregory
I |
Sent Augustine to convert Anglo -Saxon England. |
|
604
-606 |
Sabinian |
Believed to have introduced church bells. |
|
795
-816 |
Leo III |
Crowned
Charlemagne in 800. |
|
999
-1003 |
Silvester II |
Said to have introduced Arab numerals into Europe. |
|
1049
-1054 |
Leo IX |
In his last year, the East broke away to set up the
Eastern Orthodox Church. |
|
1073
-1085 |
Gregory
VII |
Excommunicated Emperor Henry IV and humiliated him at
Canossa. |
|
1088
-1099 |
Urban
II |
Began the Crusades against the Muslims. |
|
1130
-1143 |
Innocent II |
Condemned heresies vigorously. |
|
1154
-1159 |
Adrian
IV |
The
only English pope. |
|
1187
-1191 |
Clement
III |
Proclaimed the Third Crusade. |
|
1198
-1216 |
Innocent III |
Made the papacy stronger. Excommunicated King John of
England. |
|
1227
-1241 |
Gregory
IX |
Brought the Inquisition under papal control. |
|
1254
-1261 |
Alexander IV |
Established the Inquisition in France. |
|
1378
-1389 |
Urban
VI |
The cardinals elected another pope while he was still in
office. Nearly 40 years of schism followed, with
sometimes two or three popes claiming office. |
|
1492
-1503 |
Alexander VI |
Appointed from the Borgia family. |
|
1513
-1521 |
Leo X |
Appointed from the Medici family. Martin Luther rebelled
against the sale of indulgences and the Reformation
began. |
|
1523
-1534 |
Clement
VII |
Another Medici pope, he refused to annul the marriage of
Henry VIII of England. |
|
1534
-1549 |
Paul
III |
Approved the Jesuits. |
|
1555
-1559 |
Paul IV |
Set up the Index, a list of prohibited books. |
|
1559
-1565 |
Pius IV |
Founded
the Vatican's press. |
|
1572
-1585 |
Gregory
XIII |
Replaced the Julian calendar with the Gregorian. |
|
1585
-1590 |
Sixtus
V |
Excommunicated Henry III and Henry IV of France. |
|
1592
-1605 |
Clement
VIII |
Published the Vulgate, a revised edition of the Bible. |
|
1769
-1774 |
Clement
XIV |
Suppressed the order of Jesuits. |
|
1775
-1799 |
Pius VI |
Dethroned by Napoleon Bonaparte. |
|
1800
-1823 |
Pius
VII |
Officiated at Napoleon's coronation. Restored the
Jesuits. |
|
1903
-1914 |
Pius X |
Church and state separated in the French Republic. |
|
1914
-1922 |
Benedict XV |
Active
in foreign affairs. |
|
1922
-1939 |
Pius XI |
Signed the Concordat with Italy, recognizing Vatican
City as papal territory. |
|
1939
-1958 |
Pius
XII |
Pope during World War II. |
|
1958
-1963 |
John
XXIII |
Introduced several reforms into the Church. |
|
1963 -
1978 |
Paul VI |
Traveled to the Holy Land and to India. |
|
1978 |
John
Paul I |
First pope to use 'the First' in his regnal name |
|
1978 -1975 |
John
Paul II |
First non-Italian pope and first Polish pope in 455
years |
|
2005 -present |
Benedict XVI |
German pope. Oldest to become pope since Clement XII in
1730 |
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