Popes

Pope John Paul I was elected on the 4th ballot.
Pope John Paul II was elected on the 8th ballot.

Pope Stephen II died on 757-04-26.

The popes were chosen almost immediately after the death of the sitting pope. The earliest popes were chosen by consensus of the clergy and people of Rome. In 1059 it was ruled that the cardinals should elect the pope. In 1274 the Church ruled that the cardinals should be locked away (Latin: cum clave) until a new pope has been chosen. From that came the English word conclave.

The "Papal shoes" are the shoes the Pope wears outdoors. Traditionally they were plain red Morocco leather. This is consistent with the color of the Papal Slippers the Pope used to wear indoors (which were red silk or velvet). The current Pope, Pope Francis, has chosen to wear simple black shoes, forgoing the tradition for his papacy.

The Sistine Chapel is where the Cardinals meet to elect a new Pope.

Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

Please specify one of the 266 popes.

The three tiered crown has not been used since Pope Paul VI. There is no answer as to why the first designer had the 3 crowns or rings on the papal tiara that have remained a feature of papal tiaras ever since. As a design it is very old and it may have had some connection with the holy Trinity. Later explanations of the design usually have been given to fit the design as it already was, such as "it is a reflection of the Pope's pastoral, jurisdictional and temporal powers". But these and other explanations are basically guesswork.

Nicholas V is the pope that emerged at the end to the confusion of the Great Western Schism. He thus restabilized the papacy. He was also the great patron of the Renaissance and encouraged its growth and spread throughout Christendom; it was his personal mandate to beautify Rome.

Pope Gregory I, also known as Gregory the Great, asserted that the pope held supreme authority over the Church and was the spiritual leader of all Christians. He claimed the right to intervene in secular matters, emphasizing the pope's role as a moral and spiritual guide for rulers. Gregory also reinforced the concept of papal supremacy, arguing that the pope was the ultimate authority on doctrinal and ecclesiastical issues, thereby solidifying the church's influence in both religious and political spheres.

The pope is the bishop of Rome and successor of Peter. As such, he is the leader of the college of bishops, who are collectively the leaders of the Catholic Church, who carry on the leadership of the apostles to assure continuity of the leadership and teachings of Christ.

There were two:

The 9th century BCE (commonly thought of as BC) was 900-801 BCE.

The 9th century CE (commonly thought of as AD) was 801-900 AD.

Now, many will tell you that the century begins with the zero year (100, 1000, etc.). Not so. Consider that when you count to ten, you start with one, not zero (as in 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10); the same is true with calendars.

The pope is the ruler of Vatican City (which is a country).

Pope John Paul died a Catholic.

However, a cousin of Pope Benedict the XVI is a Jehovah's Witness.

The pope makes two weekly appearances when he is in Rome. On Sundays at noon he appears from a window in his apartment for the Angelus Prayer and Papal Blessing. On Wednesdays at 10:30 AM (sometimes 10 AM on hot summer days) the pope holds a general audience. The audience is generally held in St. Peter's Square, otherwise it is held in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican. Tickets are required for the event although there is sometimes standing room available in St. Peter's Square.

Yes and no. All popes are priests (bishops) but not all priests are popes. There is one pope but many priests. The pope is the leader of the Catholic Church, chosen in a secret election by the College of Cardinals.

Certain rites in the Catholic Church allow priests to be married. Married priests were men who got married before being candidates for the priesthood, for once a priest, the man is not permitted to marry. There is a restriction put on married priest, for they are not promoted to the episcopacy. The pope is a bishop and so he would never have a wife.

Celibacy is a sacrifice. Any man beginning the path towards ordination knows this is asked of him. The reason bishops of the Church are not allowed to marry is because they are metaphorically married to the Church, the bride of Christ and spend all their time and energies in Its service. Priests in general, if it is not a precept of their rite, are encouraged to be chaste and celibate that they might offer their bodies and time solely to God. A celibate priesthood is firmly founded in Catholic tradition, beginning with Its founder, Jesus Christ, who never married. In the 2nd century evidence of this tradition is already apparent as the Apostolic Constitutions gave the law, "If a priest or deacon is not already married, he can never contract marriage." Also, the priesthood is symbolically always ready for the Second-Coming of Christ and so does not engage in even permissible activities for the children of this world. Many of the reasons priests do not marry are also practical. It allows them to set a moral example when preaching chastity to as yet unmarried youth since he shows it is possible through his own life, he is unhampered by domestic cares so that he may better serve the altar and parish, being able to dispense the sacraments to the sick and dying without worry he shall bring home contagion to a family and he inspires confidence in the confessional since he has no one at home he might be tempted to tell. All these reasons apply even more to the pope, who is the servant of the servants of God, and whose time is given solely to God's children.

St. Benedict had been considered a saint for centuries and that was confirmed in the year 1220 by Pope Honorius III when he was canonized. He was not beatified first.

The ring is destroyed for two reasons:

1) as a holdover from medievil traditions of sealing wax in order to legitimize a document against forgery, the papal ring was destroyed so that no extras would ever be available to create forged documents (generally of heresies) and present them as official teachings of the Pope.

2) The power of EACH pope is vested in the fact that they are the successor of St Peter, the first bishop of Rome and a fisherman. Each pope's succession is marked, therefore, by the possession of a unique fisherman's ring, which is presented upon apointment to the papacy and destroyed upon death. It is one office (ring design) with many (iterations) who have sat in the Cathedros (Chair) of Rome/Peter

Vatican City, officially Vatican City State, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome. It has an area of approximately 44 hectares (109 acres), and a population of around 840.

There have been 21 Pope Johns.

The short answer is John XVI was an antipope not a pope. John XX never existed.

This long answer is as follows. This discrepency came about is largely due to a series of antipopes by that same name. These antipopes were John (a local who was briefly antipope in 844 AD because a mob effectively put him there. He ended up stepping down without ever being given a papal number. ), John XVI ( who came to power in a palace revoution in 997 AD. He was ousted the following year) , and John XXIII (who became antipope during the closing years of the Great Schism in what was meant to be an attempt to replace two rival Popes currently sitting in Rome and Avignon. The attept failed and only resulted in three Popes sitting. The antipope John XXIII should not be confused with the 20th century Pope John XXIII ).

After John XVI was ousted from power and his chief backer Crescentius II of Rome executed, John XVII was elected Pope in 1003. Instead of calling himself John XVI, to in effect override the antipope John XVI, he called himself John XVII instead , probably to avoid confusion with antipope John XVI. Whatever the reason, he died just a few months after becoming Pope, thus creating a discrepency. The next two Pope Johns, John XVIII and John XIX continued the numbering discrepency.

Then in 1276, a new Pope rose to power who wanted to be called John. He wanted to know what number he should call himself with. Some poor medieval research uncovered not only John XVI but also the antipope John of 844 AD, and apparently accepted them both as popes! The new Pope thus became John XXI. He died the following year, having only obscured the papal numbering of Pope Johns further.

Pope John XXII came and went after a long papacy between 1316 and 1334.

The came the Great Schism of the late 14th/early 15th century. It's a long story that will be glossed over here. Briefly , the Roman Catholic church split up into two camps , one based in Rome, the other in Avignon, France. Each camp had its own Popes - the ones based in France are now regarded as antipopes.

In 1408, an attempt was made to set up a third papacy , independently of Rome and Avignon, to effectively replace both these camps. This camp was based in Pisa. These Pisan Popes are likewise regarded today as antipopes. One of these antipopes was John XXIII, elected by the Pisan authorities in 1410. The whole attempt fell through, and John XXIII fell from power in 1415, having being charged with numerous crimes in the bargain, including murder, debauchery and incest.

That was the last time anyone aspiring to be pope would call himself John, until 1958, when Angelo Roncalli was elected Pope and called himself John XXIII, thus 'overriding' the 15th century Pisan antipope John XXIII.

The end result of all this: there were 21 popes called John, even though the numbering system states 23. This discrepency will always remain, unless two future Popes call themselves John XVI and John XX.