A history of the Papacy
Jesus founded the papacy in the first century, when he chose St. Peter, the leader of the apostles, to be his earthly representative. “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church,” he states in chapter 16 of Matthew. “I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”
Those words, which now circle the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, serve as the biblical mandate for the papacy.
The list below charts this long history from St Peter to the current Pope.
Apostle of Jesus from whom he received the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, according to Matthew 16:18 and 19 . Executed by crucifixion upside-down; feast day (Feast of Saints Peter and Paul) 29 June, (Chair of Saint Peter) 22 February. Recognized by the Catholic Church as the first Bishop of Rome (Pope) appointed by Christ. Also revered as saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 29 June
Feast day 23 September. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 7 June.
Martyred; feast day 26 April. Once erroneously split into Cletus and Anacletus
Feast day 23 November. Issued 1 Clement which is said to be the basis of apostolic authority for the clergy. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 25 November.
Said to have divided Rome into parishes, assigning a priest to each. Feast day of 26 October.
Inaugurated the custom of blessing houses with holy water. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 16 March.
Feast day of 6 April. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 10 August.
Feast day of 5 January. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 22 February. Church Father St. Irenaeus called him a great martyr.
Tradition holds he was martyred; feast day 11 January
Martyred by sword; feast day 11 July. Decreed that Easter should only be celebrated on a Sunday.
Tradition holds he was martyred; feast day 17 April. Decreed that priests are not allowed to have long hair.
Tradition holds he was martyred; feast day 22 April. Declared that marriage was valid as a sacrament blessed by a priest; formally inaugurated Easter as an annual festival in Rome.
Tradition holds he was martyred; feast day 6 May
Known for excommunicating Theodotus of Byzantium. Quartodecimanism controversy.
Combated against the adoptionist heresies of the followers of Theodotus the Byzantium who were ruled by Theodotus, the Money Changer and Asclepiodotus. Although not physically martyred, he is called a martyr for the suffering he endured.
Martyred; feast day 14 October.
Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 25 May.
First to abdicate after exile to Sardinia by Emperor Maximinus Thrax. The Liberian Catalogue records his death on 28 September 235, the earliest exact date in papal history
Feast day 3 January. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 5 August.
Divided the communities of Rome into seven districts, each supervised by a deacon. Feast day 20 January. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 5 August.
Died a martyr through extreme hardship; feast day 16 September.
Feast day 5 March.
Martyred by beheading; feast day 2 August. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with the same feast day.
Martyred by beheading. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 10 August.
Feast day 26 December
Martyred (according to legend) Feast day 22 April. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 11 August.
Feast day 26 April. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 7 June.
Banished from Rome under Maxentius (309).
Banished by the emperor Maxentius, and died in exile.
First pope after the end of the persecution of Christians through the Edict of Milan (313 AD) issued by Constantine the Great. Presided over the Lateran council of 313.
Feast day 31 December. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 2 January. First Council of Nicaea (325). Under him was built: the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme and Old St. Peter's Basilica. Donation of Constantine.
Feast day 7 October
Arian controversy. Credited with splitting the birth of Christ into two distinct celebrations: The Epiphany stayed on the traditional date, and the Nativity was added on 25 December.
Earliest pope not yet canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 27 August
Patron of Jerome, commissioned the Vulgate translation of the Bible. Council of Rome (382).
Instructed priests to stand and bow their heads as they read from the Gospels.
Visigoth Sack of Rome (410) under Alaric
Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 8 April.
Convinced Attila the Hun to turn back his invasion of Italy. Wrote the Tome which was instrumental in the Council of Chalcedon and in defining the hypostatic union. Feast day 10 November. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 18 February.
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The last pope to have been born on the continent of Africa. The first pope called the "Vicar of Christ"
Tried to end the Acacian schism but it resulted in the Laurentian schism.
Father of Pope Silverius. Acacian schism.
Sometimes called Felix III. Built Santi Cosma e Damiano.
Changed the numbering of the years in the Julian Calendar from Ab Urbe Condita to Anno Domini.
First pope not to use his personal name (Mercurio). This was because of the Roman god, Mercury.
Feast days 22 April and 20 September. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 17 April.
Exiled; feast day 20 June, son of Pope Hormisdas
Credited with the construction of the basilica of Santi Apostoli.
Ordered the construction of the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura.
The first formally to employ the titles Servus servorum Dei and Pontifex Maximus. Established the Gregorian chant. Feast day 3 September. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 12 March. Known as "the Father of Christian Worship". Known as "St. Gregory the Dialogist" in Eastern Orthodoxy.
First pope to bear the same name as his immediate predecessor. Member of the Order of Saint Benedict.
Sometimes called Deusdedit, as a result Pope Adeodatus II is sometimes called Pope Adeodatus without a number. The first pope to use lead seals on papal documents, which in time came to be called Papal bulls.
Named a heretic and anathematized by the Third Council of Constantinople (680)
The last pope from Palestine. Planned the Lateran Council of 649, but died before it could open.
Last pope recognized as a martyr. Feast day of 12 November. Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 14 April.
Sometimes called Pope Adeodatus (without a number) in reference to Pope Adeodatus I sometimes being called Pope Deusdedit. Member of the Order of Saint Benedict.
Also revered as a saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 20 February.
Feast day 3 July
Feast day 7 May
Introduced the singing of the Lamb of God at mass
The second pope to bear the same name as his immediate predecessor.
Last pope to visit Greece while in office, until John Paul II in 2001.
Feast day 11 February. Held the Synod of Rome (721).
The third pope to bear the same name as his immediate predecessor. Was previously the last pope to have been born outside Europe until the election of Francis in 2013.
Feast day 15 March. Built the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.
Sometimes known as Stephen II. Died three days after his election; never receiving episcopal consecration. Some lists still include him. The Vatican sanctioned his addition in the sixteenth century; removed in 1961. He is no longer considered a pope by the Catholic Church.
Sometimes called Stephen III. The Donation of Pepin.
Sometimes called Stephen IV. The Lateran Council (769).
Crowned Charlemagne Imperator Augustus on Christmas Day, 800, thereby initiating what would become the office of Holy Roman Emperor requiring the imprimatur of the pope for its legitimacy.
Sometimes called Stephen V.
Credited with finding the body of Saint Cecilia in the Catacomb of Callixtus, building the basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere and the church of Santa Maria in Domnica.
Rebuilt the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica and in the newly decorated chapel transferred the body of Gregory I.
Member of the Order of Saint Benedict.
Encouraged missionary activity.
Sometimes called Stephen VI.
Posthumously ritually executed following the Cadaver Synod.
Sometimes called Stephen VII. Held the infamous Cadaver Synod.
Member of the Order of Saint Benedict.
"Saeculum obscurum" begins. The first pope to be depicted with the Papal Tiara.
Sometimes called Stephen VIII.
Member of the Order of Saint Benedict.
Sometimes called Stephen IX.
Deposed in 963 by Emperor Otto invalidly; end of the "Saeculum obscurum".
Elected by the people of Rome, in opposition to the Antipope Leo VIII who was appointed by Emperor Otto; he accepted his own deposition in 964 leaving Leo VIII as the sole pope.
Appointed antipope by Emperor Otto in 963 in opposition to John XII and Benedict V. He became the true pope after Benedict V was deposed.
Chronicled after his death as "the Good".
Deposed and murdered.
The first pope to formally canonize a saint.
First German Pope
The first French pope.
1st Term
Validity of election questioned; considered Anti-Pope; deposed at the Council of Sutri.
2nd Term; deposed at the Council of Sutri
Deposed at the Council of Sutri
Appointed by Henry III at the Council of Sutri; crowned Henry III as Holy Roman Emperor.
3rd Term; deposed and excommunicated
In 1054, mutual excommunications of Leo IX and Patriarch of Constantinople Michael I Cerularius began the East–West Schism. The anathematizations were rescinded by Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras in 1965
Sometimes called Stephen X. Member of the Order of Saint Benedict.
In 1059 the College of Cardinals was designated the sole body of pope electors in the document In nomine Domini. (Papal conclave).
Authorised the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
Initiated the Gregorian Reforms. Restricted the use of the title "Papa" to the Bishop of Rome. Member of the Order of Saint Benedict. Political struggle with German Emperor Henry IV, who had to go to Canossa (1077).
Member of the Order of Saint Benedict.
Preached and started the First Crusade. Member of the Order of Saint Benedict.
Member of the Order of Saint Benedict. Ordered the building of the basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati.
Member of the Order of Saint Benedict.
Opened the First Council of the Lateran in 1123
Canon Regular of S. Maria di San Reno. Approved the new military order of the Knights Templar in 1128.
Canon Regular of Lateran; Convened the Second Council of the Lateran, 1139
Canon Regular of S. Frediano di Lucca
Member of the Order of Cistercians. Announced the Second Crusade.
First and only English pope; purportedly granted Ireland to Henry II, King of England. Canon Regular of St. Rufus Monastery .
Convened the Third Council of the Lateran, 1179
Canon Regular Premostratense. Proposed the Third Crusade
Convened the Fourth Council of the Lateran, 1215. Initiated the Fourth Crusade but later distanced himself from it and threatened participants with excommunication when it became clear that the leadership abandoned a focus on conquest of the Holy Land and instead intended to sack Christian cities.
Initiated the Fifth Crusade. Approved several religious and tertiary orders.
Canonized Elisabeth of Hungary (1235). Initiated the Inquisition in France and endorsed the Northern Crusades.
Died before coronation.
Convened the First Council of Lyons (1245). Issued the bull Ad extirpanda that permitted the torture of heretics (1252).
Established an Inquisition in France.
Instituted the feast of Corpus Christi (1264).
Almost 3 year period without a valid pope elected. This was due to a deadlock among cardinals voting for the pope.
Convened the Second Council of Lyons (1274). Responsible for regulation all papal conclaves until the 20th century.
Member of the Dominican Order.
Annulled Gregory X's papal bull on the regulations of papal conclaves.
Due to a confusion over the numbering of popes named John in the 13th century, there was no John XX. There has never been a John XX, because the 20th pope of this name formerly when elected, decided to skip the number XX and be counted as John XXI instead. He wanted to correct what in his time was believed to be an error in the counting of his predecessors John XV to XIX
Member of the Franciscan Order.
2 year period without a valid pope elected. This was due to a deadlock among cardinals voting for the pope.
One of the few popes who resigned voluntarily. Member of the Order of Saint Benedict. Founded the Celestines.
Formalized the Jubilee in 1300. Issued Unam Sanctam (1302) which proclaimed papal supremacy and pushing it to its historical extreme.
Member of the Dominican Order. Reverted Boniface VIII's Unam Sanctam.
Pope at Avignon. Convened the Council of Vienne (1311–1312). Initiated the persecution of the Knights Templar with the bull Pastoralis Praeeminentiae under pressure from King Philip IV of France.
2 year period without a valid pope elected. This was due to a deadlock among cardinals voting for the pope.
Pope at Avignon. Controversial for his views on the Beatific Vision.
Pope at Avignon. Member of the Order of Cistercians. Known for issuing the Apostolic constitution Benedictus Deus (1336).
Pope at Avignon. Reigned during the Black Death and absolved those who died of it of their sins.
Pope at Avignon. Through his exertions the Treaty of Brétigny (1360) was brought about.
Pope at Avignon. Member of the Order of Saint Benedict. Reformed areas of education and sent missionary movements across Europe and Asia. His pontificate witnessed the Alexandrian and Savoyard crusades.
Pope at Avignon; returns to Rome. The last French pope.
Western Schism. Last pontiff to be elected outside the College of Cardinals.
Western Schism.
Western Schism
Western Schism; abdicated during the Council of Constance, which had been called by his opponent John XXIII.
Two-year period without a valid pope elected.
Convened the Council of Basel (1431). Initiated the Hussite Wars.
Member of the Augustinian Order. Nephew of Martin V. Crowned Sigismund emperor at Rome in 1433. Transferred the Council of Basel to Ferrara. It was later transferred again, to Florence, because of the Bubonic plague.
Member of the Dominican Order. Held the Jubilee of 1450. Crowned Frederick III emperor at Rome (1452). Created a library in the Vatican which would eventually become the Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana.
The first Spanish pope. Ordered the Feast of the Transfiguration to be celebrated on 6 August. Ordered the retrial of Joan of Arc, in which she was vindicated.
Displayed a great interest in urban planning. Founded Pienza near Siena as the ideal city in 1462. Known for his work on the Commentaries.
The nephew of Eugene IV. Built the Palazzo San Marco (now Palazzo Venezia). Approved the introduction of printing in the Papal States.
Member of the Franciscan Order. Commissioned the Sistine Chapel. Authorized an Inquisition targeting converted Jewish Christians in Spain at the request of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand.
Appointed Tomás de Torquemada. Endorsed the prosecution of witchcraft in the bull Summis desiderantes affectibus (1484).
Nephew of Callixtus III; father to Cesare Borgia and Lucrezia Borgia. Divided the extra-European world between Spain and Portugal in the bull Inter caetera (1493). No Alexander V due to the antipope.
Nephew of Pius II. Founded the Piccolomini Library adjourning the Siena Cathedral.
Nephew of Sixtus IV; convened the Fifth Council of the Lateran (1512). Took control of all the Papal States for the first time. Commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Proposed plans for rebuilding St Peter's Basilica.
Son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Closed the Fifth Council of the Lateran. Remembered for granting indulgences to those who donated to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica; excommunicated Martin Luther (1521). Extended the Spanish Inquisition into Portugal.
The only Dutch pope; last non-Italian to be elected pope until John Paul II in 1978. Tutor of Emperor Charles V. Retained his baptismal name as his regnal name.
Cousin of Leo X. Rome plundered by imperial troops (1527). Forbade the divorce of Henry VIII; crowned Charles V as emperor at Bologna (1530). His niece was married to the future Henry II of France. Ordered Michelangelo's painting of The Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel.
Opened the Council of Trent (1545). His illegitimate son became the first Duke of Parma. Decreed the second and final excommunication of Henry VIII. Appointed Michelangelo to supervise construction of St. Peter's Basilica (1546).
Established the Collegium Germanicum (1552). Reconvened the Council of Trent. The Innocenzo Scandal.
The last to use his birth name as the regnal name. Instituted immediate economies in Vatican expenditures. The Missa Papae Marcelli composed in his honour.
Member of the Theatines. Established the Roman Ghetto in Cum Nimis Absurdum (1555) and established the Index of Forbidden Books. Ordered Michelangelo to repaint the nudes of The Last Judgement modestly.
Reopened and closed the Council of Trent. Ordered public construction to improve the water supply of Rome. Instituted the Tridentine Creed.
Member of the Dominican Order. Excommunicated Elizabeth I (1570). Battle of Lepanto (1571); instituted the feast of Our Lady of Victory. Issued the 1570 Roman Missal.
Reformed the calendar (1582); built the Gregorian Chapel in the Vatican. The first pope to bestow the Immaculate Conception as Patroness to the Philippine Islands through the bull Ilius Fulti Præsido (1579). Strengthened diplomatic ties with Asian nations.
Member of the Conventual Franciscan Order. Known for fixing and completing building works to major basilicas in Rome. Limited the College of Cardinals to 70 in number; doubled the number of curial congregations.
Shortest-reigning pope; died before coronation. Set the first known worldwide smoking ban, banning smoking in and near all churches.
Modified the constitution Effraenatam of Sixtus V so that the penalty for abortion did not apply until the foetus became animated (1591). Made gambling on papal elections punishable by excommunication.
Supported the cause of Philip II and the Catholic League against Henry IV in the French Wars of Religion. Prohibited the alienation of church property.
Initiated an alliance of European Christian powers to partake in the war with the Ottoman Empire known as The Long War (1595). Convened the Congregatio de Auxiliis which addressed doctrinal disputes between the Dominicans and Jesuits regarding free will and divine grace
The nephew of Leo X. Called "Papa Lampo" (Lightning Pope) for his brief pontificate.
Known for various building projects which included the facade of St Peter's Basilica. Established the Bank of the Holy Spirit (1605); restored the Aqua Traiana.
Established the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (1622). Issued the bull Aeterni Patris (1621) which imposed conclaves to be by secret ballot. Issued the constitution Omnipotentis Dei against magicians and witches (1623).
Trial against Galileo Galilei. The last pope to expand papal territory by force of arms. Issued a 1624 bull that made the use of tobacco in holy places punishable by excommunication.
The great-great-great-grandson of Alexander VI. Erected the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi in Piazza Navona. Promulgated the apostolic constitution Cum occasione (1653) which condemned five doctrines of Jansenism as heresy.
Great-nephew of Paul V. Commissioned St. Peter's Square. Issued the constitution Sollicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum that set the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception almost identical to that of Pius IX centuries later.
Commissioned the colonnade of St. Peter's Square. Mediated in the peace of Aachen (1668).
Canonized the first saint from the Americas: Saint Rose of Lima (1671). Decorated the bridge of Sant' Angelo with the ten statues of angels and the two fountains that adorn the piazza of St. Peter's. Established regulations for the removal of relics of saints from cemeteries.
Believed to have secretly funded William III's Glorious Revolution to overthrow James II. Condemned the doctrine of mental reservation (1679) and initiated the Holy League. Extended the Holy Name of Mary as a universal feast (1684). Admired for positive contributions to catechesis.
Condemned the so-called philosophical sin (1690).
Issued the bull Romanum decet Pontificem to stop nepotism (1692). Erected various charitable and educational institutions.
The "Chinese Rites" controversy. The last pope with Albanian origin. Patronized the first archaeological excavations in the Roman catacombs and made the feast of the Immaculate Conception universal.
Prohibited the Jesuits from prosecuting their mission in China ordering that no new members should be received into the order.
Member of the Dominican Order; third and last member of the Orsini family to be pope. Originally called Benedict XIV due to the antipope but reverted to XIII. Repealed the worldwide tobacco smoking ban set by Urban VII and Urban VIII.
Completed the new façade of the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran (1735). Commissioned the Trevi Fountain in Rome (1732). Condemned Freemasonry in In eminenti apostolatus (1738).
Reformed the education of priests and the calendar of feasts. Completed the Trevi Fountain and affirmed the teachings of Thomas Aquinas; founded academies of art, religion and science.
Provided the famous fig leaves on nude male statues in the Vatican. Defended the Society of Jesus in "Apostolicum pascendi" (1765).
Member of the Conventual Franciscan Order. Suppressed the Society of Jesus in the brief "Dominus ac Redemptor" (1773).
Condemned the French Revolution; expelled from the Papal States by French troops from 1798 until his death. The last pope to be a patron of Renaissance art.
Six-month period without a valid pope elected. This was due to unique logistical problems (the old pope died a prisoner and the conclave was in Venice) and a deadlock among cardinals voting.
Member of the Order of Saint Benedict. Present at Napoleon's coronation as Emperor of the French. Briefly expelled from the Papal States by the French between 1809 and 1814.
Placed the Catholic educational system under the control of the Jesuits through Quod divina sapientia (1824). Condemned the Bible societies.
Accepted Louis Philippe I as King of the French. Condemned the masonic secret societies and modernist biblical translations in the brief Litteris altero (1830).
Member of the Camaldolese Order; last non-bishop to be elected to the papacy. Opposed democratic and modernising reforms in the Papal States.
Opened the First Vatican Council; lost the Papal States to Italy. Defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and defined papal infallibility. Issued the controversial Syllabus of Errors. Longest serving pope in history.
Issued the encyclical Rerum novarum; supported Christian democracy against Communism. Had the fourth-longest reign after Pius IX, Saint Peter and John Paul II. Promoted the rosary and the scapular and approved two new Marian scapulars; first pope to fully embrace the concept of Mary as mediatrix.
Encouraged and expanded reception of the Eucharist. Combatted Modernism; issued the oath against it. Advocated the Gregorian Chant and reformed the Roman Breviary.
Credited for intervening for peace during World War I. Issued the 1917 Code of Canon Law; supported the missionaries in Maximum Illud. Remembered by Benedict XVI as a "prophet of peace".
Signed the Lateran Treaty with Italy (1929) establishing Vatican City as a sovereign state. Inaugurated Vatican Radio; created the feast of Christ the King. Opposed Communism, Nazism and Fascism.
Invoked papal infallibility in the encyclical Munificentissimus Deus; defined the dogma of the Assumption. Eliminated the Italian majority of cardinals. Credited with intervening for peace during World War II; controversial for his role in the Holocaust.
Opened the Second Vatican Council; called "Good Pope John". Issued the encyclical Pacem in terris (1963) on peace and nuclear disarmament; intervened for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962).
Last pope to be crowned in a coronation with the tiara. First pope to travel to the USA and Australia; first pope since 1809 to travel outside Italy. Closed the Second Vatican Council. Issued the encyclical Humanae vitae (1968) condemning artificial contraception.
Abolished the coronation opting for the Papal Inauguration. First pope to use 'the First' in papal name; first with two names for two immediate predecessors. Last pope to use the Sedia Gestatoria.
First Polish pope and first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI (1522–1523). Associated with the fall of Communism in Europe. Traveled extensively; first pope to travel to Canada. Third longest reign after Pius IX and Saint Peter. Founded World Youth Day (1984). Canonized more saints than all his predecessors.
Oldest to become pope since Clement XII (1730). Elevated the Tridentine Mass to a more prominent position and promoted the use of Latin; re-introduced several disused papal garments. Established the Anglican Ordinariate. First pope to renounce the papacy on his own initiative since Celestine V (1294), retaining regnal name with title of Pope Emeritus.
First pope to be born outside Europe since Gregory III (731–741) and the first from the Americas; first pope from the Southern Hemisphere. First religious pope since Gregory XVI (1831–1846); first Jesuit pope. First to use a new and non-composed regnal name since Lando (913–914)