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Popes
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome and is leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. The Pope is also head of state of the Vatican City, a sovereign city-state entirely enclaved by Rome.
2,799 Questions
When was St. Benedict II canonized?
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.
How is the pope's ring destroyed?
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.
How many popes have taken their predecessor's name?
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.
What is the name of the pope of the Philippines 2012?
Pope Francis is the pope of the Universal Church. The Philippines do not have their own pope.
What did pope urban vi hope to accomplish when he called for the first crusade in 1095?
The Church, finally, after years of being able to do nothing, was able to turn her attention to the embattled Christians in the Holy Land and send aid. She hoped to be able to save the survivors and liberate the Holy Land from its destroyers.
The Muslims invaded the Holy Land and killed people by the thousands, they killed all the men, and enslaved the women and children. They burned the Churches and shrines. The Crusades were formed for the task of rescuing the survivors from the brutal conditions that they were barely surviving under, and to liberate the Holy Land itself. Pope Urban II made a very public and urgent plea in 1095 to all of Christendom after receiving a letter from the Byzantine Emperor Alexis describing the increasing danger from the Seljuk Turks, Tartars from Asia, who had already conquered the caliphate of Baghdad in 1055 and now were seeking to expand their empire into the Holy Land.
from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon,
S.J.
Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980
Crusades. The military expeditions undertaken by Christians in the eleventh through fourteenth centuries to recover the Holy Land from the Moslems.
The name comes from the cross that the crusaders bore on their clothing. There were eight principal Crusades: the first (1096-99) and the eight (1270). However, the term is also applied in a wider sense to all expeditions blessed by the Church against heretics and infidels. (Etym.
French croisade;
Spanish cruzada
; Latin cruciata
, a marking with the cross.)
All of the history you have heard about the Crusades is so much hogwash:
from Seven Lies About Catholic History, by Diane Moczar
Unprovoked Muslim aggression in the seventh century brought large parts of the southern Byzantine Empire, including Syria, the Holy Land, and Egypt under Arab rule. Christians who survived the conquests found themselves subject to a special poll tax and discriminated against as an inferior class known as dhimmi.
Often their churches were destroyed and other harsh conditions imposed. For centuries their complaints had been reaching Rome, but Europe was having its own Dark Age of massive invasion, and nothing could be done to relieve the plight of eastern Christians.
By the eleventh century, under the rule of a new Muslim dynasty, conditions worsened. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, site of the Crucifixion was destroyed, along with a large number of other churches, and Christian pilgrims were massacred. In 1067 a group of seven thousand peaceful German pilgrims lost two-thirds
of their number to Muslim assaults. By this time the popes, including St. Gregory VII, were actively trying to rally support for relief of eastern Christians, though without success. It was not until the very end of the century, in 1095, that Pope Urban's address at Clermont
in France met with a response-though
not quite the one he had hoped for. But the response was what we now call the First Crusade.
"The general consensus of opinion among medievalists . . . is that the Crusades were military expeditions organized by the peoples of Western Christendom, notably the Normans and the French, under the leadership of the Roman Popes, for the recover of the Holy Places from their Muslim masters." This seems to sum up most neatly what the Crusades really were and how their participants actually viewed them. The Crusades were not colonialist or commercial ventures, they were not intended to force Christianity on Jews and Muslims, and they were not the projects of individual warlords. Their primary goal, in addition to the defense of the Eastern Empire, was the recovery of the Holy Land for Christendom, and they acknowledged the leadership of the Popes. As French historian Louis Brehier
wrote, 'the popes alone understood the menace of Islam's progress for christian civilization.'"
Pope Paul V was pope from May 16, 1605, until January 28, 1621.
Why did Pope Gregory send Saint Augustine to England?
Saint Augustine of Canterbury was a monk and abbot of Saint Andrew's abbey in Rome, Italy. He was sent by Pope Saint Gregory the Great with 40 brother monks, including Saint Lawrence of Canterbury, to evangelize the British Isles in the year 597.
No, God and his son Jesus are the most holiest. The Pope was born with a sinful nature just like the rest of us. To be holy, one would have to be perfect in all ways.
In what endeavor was Pope Gregory especially active?
Throughout the Middle Ages he was known as "the Father of Christian Worship" because of his exceptional efforts in revising the Roman worship of his day.
How many years was Pope Pius X a pope?
Pius X was pope from August 4, 1903, until his death on August 20, 1914.
Why did emperor Alexius Comnenus ask pope Urban ll for help?
Pope Urban II granted the Byzantine emperor help against the Seljuk Turks in order to liberate churches of God in eastern regions. Pope Urban II passed away before receiving news of the fall of Jerusalem.
Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation as Pope, from the Vatican today 11th February, 2013. His speech intimating his resignation, was given in Latin, he will leave office on 28th February, 2013. His announcement was greeted with shock from all corners of the world. Benedict XVI, who is 85, was appointed Pope in 2005, following the death of the then Pontiff, Pope John Paul II. BenedictXVI was 78 on his appointment and was the oldest Pontiff to be elected for 300 years. A Conclave (meeting) of College of Cardinals of the Catholic Church took place to "elect" the then Cardinal Ratzinger as the new Pontiff. Cardinal Ratzinger, then took the name of Benedict XVI. He will have held office for only eight years. A Pope, once elected does not normally resign from "office" and has not done so in living memory. Only after the death of a pontiff, does this "trigger" an election for a new Pontiff. Benedict XVI now makes history, since the last Pontiff to resign and not to die in office was Pope Gregory XII, who resigned his pontifical office in 1415 A.D. BenedictXVI indicated the reason for his resignation was on health grounds, although no immediate health concerns were cited. A "conclave" will now be called and a new Pontiff elected by the College of Cardinals of the Catholic Church, which is due to commence on the 18th March, 2013 with a new pontiff being elected by Easter, 2013.
Who is the present pope and which country does he come from?
Benedict is the name he chose as Pope, his real name is Ratzinger, and he grew up in Germany
Some claim Pope Benedict IX was only 1 years old when he became pope but most now believe he was 20.Pope Benedict IX born Theophylactus of Tusculum in Rome, was Pope on three occasions between October 1032 and July 1048. Aged approximately 20 at his first election, he is one of the youngest popes in history. He is the only man to have been Pope on more than one occasion and the only man ever to have sold the papacy.
Were any Catholic Popes murdered?
Yes many catholic popes were murdered. Here is the list: * Stephen VI (896-897) - Strangled * Stephen VII/(IX)(939-942) - Mutilated * John XII (955-964) - Murdered by cuckolded husband * Benedict VI (973-974) - Strangled * John XIV (983-984) - Either by starvation, ill-treatment or direct murder * Gregory V (996-999) - Poisoned * Boniface VIII (1294-1303) - Death possibly (though unlikely) from the effects of ill-treatment one month before * John VIII b - Allegedly poisoned and then clubbed to death * Adrian III(884-885)- Allegedly poisoned * Leo V (903) - Allegedly strangled * John X (914-928) - Allegedly smothered with pillow * Stephen VII/(VIII) (928-931) - Allegedly murdered * Sergius IV (1009-1012) - Allegedly murdered * Clement II (1046-1047) - Allegedly poisoned * Damasus II (1048) - Allegedly murdered * Benedict XI (1304-1305) - Allegedly poisoned; no evidence provided * John Paul I (1978) - Surprising death just 33 days after Papal election prompted scrutiny and birthed a myriad of conspiracies theories; no evidence provided
Why was Rome chosen for the pope?
In the early years of the Church, Rome ruled most of the known world and Rome was, in a sense, the center of the universe. Catholic tradition holds that St. Peter, the first pope, traveled to Rome to minister to the Church from that city but was taken prisoner and crucified under Emperor Nero. Since that time Rome has been the traditional home of the pope except for about 70 years when it was moved to Avignon, France.
What are the steps to sainthood?
In the bible it is written that all Christians are saints. Saints ( as we know it ) have no power to bless us because they are dead already.'
The Catholic Church has a process whereby it investigates the life of one of its members. This process of scrutiny is called the "canonization process", whereby the Church seeks to determine if the candidate's life was of such virtue and Faith as to merit imitation and emulation from the Church community. The canonization process can take from years to decades if not centuries as evidence is compiled and discussed. If the candidate is successful they will go through graduated degrees of recognition, first determined "Venerable" then "Blessed" and finally "Saint."Was there any married catholic popes in the past?
Yes, there have been married popes, including St. Peter, the first pope.
Who was the last pope to resign 600 years ago?
Pope Benedict XVI resigned officially on February 28, 2013. The most previous pope to resign was Gregory XII who resigned on July 4, 1415.
What do many Catholics believe was the ultimate source of authority?
Many Catholics believe the Pope is the ultimate source of authority, while others believe this is really church tradition as compiled and collected in the 'Magisterium' since the Pope and Cardinals must obey it: it is the ultimate source of authority for Catholics and is the church's interpretation of both secular and non-secular matters and takes precedence over everything else including the Bible.
Who was the pope before Pope John Paul II and how long was he the pope?
Pope John Paul I (was only Pope for 33 days in 1978, and had initially declined nomination)
He was first Pope to use the dual name, and it was in his honor that John Paul II took the name.
