Simon bar-Jonas; given the name Peter (Aramaic Kepha, meaning 'rock') by Jesus; married but did not live with his wife after becoming pope. (UZ p. 94)

There is no evidence to support the story that Clement I was sentenced to hard labor in Crimea, and there was martyred by being lashed to an anchor and thrown into the sea, but from this he became a saint of mariners. (ADS)

Born in Greece. Of the fourteen bishops of Rome after Peter, martyrs all, historical verification of martyrdom exists only for Telesphorus, and even for him the circumstances are not known. (ADS)

Born in Greece.

Moved Easter from Nisan 14 to the following Sunday.

Excommunicated Eastern churches that continued to observe Easter on Nisan 14 "Quartodeciman" (PH)

Born in Rome. He was the slave of a Christian master, and was involved in some financial matters that led to him being sentenced to hard labor in the Sardinian quarries. After being released, he was freed and taken into the church by Pope Zephyrinus. Callistus I was strongly opposed by the rigorist party (including the future pope Hyppolytus) because of his gentle treatment of sinners. (ADS)

He ordained married clergy, including some who had been married two or three times. He insisted that sex was normal and healthy, and that abortion (even induced) was natural and not a sin. (UZ p. 101)

Born in Rome.

An antipope. Bishop of Rome 217-236 (PH) "Logos" sect.

Born in Rome. Reigned to 236 (PH)

Born in Greece. 236-237 (PH)

Born in Rome. From 237 (PH)

The First Persecution: Emperor Decius (249-251). And the Edict of 250; an effort to restore public unity by compelling Christians to sacrifice to their "old Gods." (UZ p.9)

Born in Rome. The leader of the party that wanted to forgive apostasy (receive back into the church those who had lapsed because of the persecutions, and then repented). (ADS)

An antipope. He led the party that regarded apostasy as unforgivable, later rejected by the bishops. (ADS)

Born in Rome.

Born in Rome. A major schism over re-baptizing heretics and apostates.

The Second Persecution: Emperor Valerian (257-258) against those who refused to support the state with tax payments and military service. (UZ p.9) Valerian executes all bishops, priests, and deacons. (PH)

Born in Greece. Saint Sixtus (Xystus) II was seized while addressing the faithful in the cemetery of Prastextatus on the Appian Way; he was either killed on the spot or taken away for examination and returned for execution. He was killed by a sword. (ADS)

Birthplace unknown.

The Peace of Emperor Gallanius (260-268) returned the property of the Christians. Lasted until 303.

Born in Rome.

Born in Luni. Decreed that only beans and grapes be blessed at mass. (PH)

Born in Dalmatia.

Born in Rome. An apostate who offered pagan sacrifice for Diocletian (PH)

Born in Rome.

Tried to remove Marcellinus from official records for apostacy; exiled from Rome by emperor Maxentius for disturbing the peace. (PH)

Born in Africa.

Born in Rome.

Born in Rome.

Born in Rome.

Born in Rome; the earliest of the popes not regarded now as a saint by the Church.

Popular with the ladies, but also probably gay or bisexual. He appointed several "angelic young men" to special church posts, but was browbeaten by Constantius to accept the Arian creed and opposition to homosexuality (ca.360). On the death of Constantius Liberius set aside Arianism and returned to the "Nicene orthodoxy," and restored his "angelic young men" to church offices. (UZ p. 157)

An antipope. Felix II ? 355-365; Arianist; Supported by Eastern emperor (until 361) Constantius II (PH)

Born in Spain.

Son of a priest. A pontificate marred by brutality, murder, and a sordid struggle in the Lateran Palace in quest for supremacy. A pontificate lamented by St. Jerome in Libellus for "the abundance of sexual license," sexual "corruption," and "personal debasement." (UZ p. 71, 95)

The first pope to live with the princely panoply of ceremonial that has characterized the Vatican in post-Constantinian times. (AES p. 90-91)

Hired thugs to massacre rival Ursinians (Liberians) (PH)

An antipope. Leader of the supporters of the former pope Liberius. (PH)

The first pontiff to use decretals--flowery authoritative declarations--demanding celibacy ("perpetual chastity") in the priesthood. (UZ p. 95)

Born in Albano. Decreed Roman custom the norm for Christianity. (PH)

The son of Anastasius I; acknowledged that a bishop could have one wife. (UZ p. 95)

Born in Greece.

By this time, too, Christian bishops had learned to use for their own purposes no only ecclesiastical censure but also imperial power... Augustine's friend and fellow African bishop Alypius brought eighty Namibian stallions as bribes to the imperial court and successfully lobbied there against Pelagius. The result gratified Augustine; in April 418 not only did the pope excommunicate Pelagius but the emperor Honorius condemned the newly declared heretic and ordered him fined, expelled from office, and exiled along with his intransigent supporters. (AES p. 129-130)

The son of a priest. Born in Rome.

An antipope.

Born in Campania. He is chiefly remembered for his energetic measures against the heresies of Pelagius and Nestorius. (ADS)

Born in Rome.

Born in Tuscany. Known as Pope Leo the Great.

Leo I, unlike his predecessors, resisted the incursions by Vandals. A man of the sword. He is credited with the popular saying in defense of papal offspring; Petri dignitas etiam indigno herede non defecit. "The dignity of Peter is not lacking even in an unworthy heir." He pronounced against the marriage of nuns because they were married to Jesus. (UZ p. 38)

Born in Sardinia.

Born in Tivoli.

Born in Rome. *(The FELIXes are sometimes misnumbered because of an error on an early Pope-list.)*

Son of a priest, a Roman aristocrat whose election was forced by Basilius, the praetorian prefect of Ordoacer, King of Italy (476-493). Authoritarian and harsh as a pope. Opposed clerical and papal marriages, he had at least two children who were buried with him and his wife in St. Paul's Basilica (UZ p. 94)

Probably born in Africa, although possibly a North-African born in Rome. He asserted the primacy of the Roman See, and the subordination of the temporal to the spiritual. (ADS) The first "Vicar of Christ" (PH)

He pronounced against the marriage of nuns on grounds that they were married to Jesus. (UZ p. 127)

The son of a priest. Born in Rome. The second-earliest pope not now regarded as a saint by the Church.

A Sardinian; a convert from paganism. Unpopular, he was known during his papacy not only to be unchaste, but to be a thief and a brigand who misused church property and wealth. Possibly homosexual. He pronounced against the marriage of nuns because they were married to Jesus. (UZ p. 102, 127, 157)

An antipope. Bishop of Nuceria (Campania), supported by Odoacer to overthrow Symacchus and imprison him. He claimed superiority over Symacchus because his life was blameless. He had "no boys" in his household. (UZ p. 158)

Born in Frosinone. Married before he was ordained; the father of Silverius.

An aged and infirm Tuscan; declared a "saint" by the Church; relished magnificent processions and splendid demonstrations to the vexation of Emperor Theodoric. (UZ p. 17)

Born in Samnium. Gained the papacy through the royal favor of widowed queen Amalasuntha, regent for Athalaric (526-534). Especially fond of young men, he ordained an excessively large number as priests "bringing the best into the house of God." His favorite was Boniface, his archdeacon, whom he designated as his successor (a grievous breach of canon law). (UZ p. 158)

Born in Rome. The third-earliest pope not now regarded as a saint by the Church.

Archdeacon to Felix III; the first pope of Germanic stock; corrupt, overbearing, violent, brutal, and as venal as his predecessor. He, too, had a favorite, Vigilius, whom he designated as his successor, but this alienated the clergy so that Boniface II was required to revoke the nomination and burn the sealed document. Upon his death, the church rested, taking two and a half months before designating a successor. (UZ p. 159)

An antipope.

Born in Rome. The fourth-earliest pope not now regarded as a saint by the Church.

Mercury by name, an elderly priest of Saint Clement, undertook hostile actions against homosexuals. (UZ p. 159)

The son of a priest. Born in Rome.

Born in Campania.

Son of Hormisdas. Deposed and exiled to Patar in Anatolia by Justinian (r.527-565). Died 2 Dec 537.

Obtained the papacy by imprisoning and starving to death Silverius. A greedy, weak, vacillating man, he apparently paid the Empress Theodora and the electors 770 pounds of gold to confirm the office. Committed murder several times. (UZ p.58)

Pope Vigilius, involved in the death of Silverius, conspired with Justinian (527-565) and Theodora, and was excommunicated by North African bishops in 550. (PH)

Born in Rome. Not regarded as a saint by the Church. Selected pope by Justinian for his support of Vigilius' favorable "Iudicatum" (anti- Origen) (PH)

Born in Rome. Not regarded as a saint by the Church. Authorized by Justinian (PH)

Born in Rome. Not regarded as a saint by the Church. Authorized by Justin II (565-578) (PH)

Born in Rome. Not regarded as a saint by the Church. Died of plague.

"Pope Gregory the Great" Born to a wealthy, patrician background in Rome; irascible, greedy, unscrupulous; he gathered wealth and power to the Church; he was hostile to culture and learning; and burned the only collection of books which remained in Rome from pagan days and had the marble statues which remained broken. According to both Honorable Bede and the chronicler of Whitby, Gregory I had an unusual interest in young, blond, fair-skinned, smooth-bodied boys from the northern regions of Europe and Scandinavia. He is now regarded as a saint by the Church. (UZ p. 16, 35)

A Tuscan, born in Volterra, elected in reaction to Gregory I. Profit was the sole motive of his papacy. (UZ p. 86) Not regarded as a saint by the Church.

Born in Rome. Not regarded as a saint by the Church.

The title of pope (bishop of the universe) is given to Boniface III by Emperor Phocas. (GC)

Born in Marsi. Now regarded as a saint by the Church. Authorized for pope by emperor Phocas (PH)

Born in Rome; a.k.a. Saint Adeodatus I, son of a subdeacon Stephen.

Born in Naples. Not a saint. Authorized by emperor Heraclius. (PH)

Born in Campania. Not a saint. Devoted to converting Jews.

Born in Dalmatia. Not a saint.

A Greek born in Jerusalem, the son of a bishop; occupied by theological orthodoxy. (UZ p. 100)

Not a saint.

Born in Rome. Elected during the exile of St. Martin I, who endorsed him as pope. Regarded as a saint by the Church.

Born in Segni. Regarded as a saint by the Church.

Born in Rome. Not a saint.

Born in Rome. Not a saint.

Born in Sicily. Regarded as a saint by the Church.

Born in Sicily. Regarded as a saint by the Church.

Born in Rome. Regarded as a saint by the Church.

Born in Syria. Not a saint.

Birthplace unknown. Not a saint.

Born in Syria. Regarded as a saint by the Church.

An antipope.

An antipope.

Born in Greece. Not a saint.

Born in Greece. Not a saint.

Born in Syria. Not a saint.

Born in Syria. Not a saint.

Born in Rome. Regarded as a saint by the Church.

He pronounced against the marriage of nuns because they were married to Jesus. (UZ p. 127)

Born in Syria. Regarded as a saint by the Church.

Born in Greece or at San Severino, Calabria. Regarded as a saint by the Church.

He pronounced against the marriage of nuns because they were married to Jesus. (UZ p. 127)

Died before he could be consecrated Bishop of Rome. Subsequent STEPHENs are confusingly numbered.

Born in Rome. Not a saint.

Born in Rome. Regarded as a saint by the Church. Died from heat exposure.

An antipope.

An antipope.

Born in Sicily. Not a saint.

Born in Rome. Not a saint.

Born in Rome. Regarded as a saint by the Church.

This pope's philandering was more than common gossip. He was possibly homosexual. Under pressure from the papal purse keeper Paschalis and his followers, he looked for and found support in Karl der Grosse (Charlemagne), and reciprocated by crowning him (25 Dec 800) King of the Franks in St. Peter's. This pope ultimately had his eyes gouged out and his tongue cut off by two nephews he had promoted who would no longer tolerate his perfidy, adultery, or perjury. (UZ p. 60, 83, 103, 160)

Born in Rome. Not a saint.

Born in Rome. Regarded as a saint by the Church.

Quoted as saying "to show mercy" would be "to betray Christ," before blinding and beheading his enemies. (UZ p. 60)

Born in Rome. Not a saint.

Born in Rome. Not a saint.

Born in Rome. Not a saint.

Born in Rome. Not a saint.

Died suddenly while mediating a dispute between Patriarchs Venerius of Grado and Andrew of Aquileia. Indications point to a poisoning. (UZ p. 60)

An antipope.

Born in Rome. Regarded as a saint by the Church.

"Anyone dying in battle for the Church would receive a heavenly reward."

Born in Rome. Not a saint.

Kept detailed records of clerical sexual exploits. (UZ p. 98)

An antipope. The brother of Anastasius in 867 raped and murdered both the daughter and wife of Hadrian II, at which time Hadrian II removed him from his chancery (he was restored in 868). (UZ p. 98)

Born in Rome. A deacon at the time of election. Known as Saint Nicholas the Great.

Born in Rome in 792 and elected pope at age 74. Forged documents, raped nuns in convents, poked out the eyes of cuckolded husbands, and had those women who refused his sexual advances stripped naked and whipped as they were dragged through the streets behind asses. He fathered at least one child while a bishop. (UZ p. 60, 98) Not a saint.

Born in Rome. Not a saint.

Was praised by the curia for his disregard of pleas for mercy by the damned. He claimed that, as Vicar of Christ he had to "sit in judgment and correct humankind of all errors regardless of cost." Poisoned by his entourage for his constant intervention in episcopal nominations, his refusal to allow the dissolution of marriages, and rumored "heresy and sexual laxness." When the poison did not work fast enough, he was clubbed to death. (UZ p. 60, 71)

Born in Gallese; the son of a priest. Not a saint.

Born in Rome. Regarded as a saint by the Church, (the last pope-saint until St. Leo IX in 1049).

Delighted having noble women whipped naked through the streets. Beaten to death as part of a vendetta, so badly that his remains were buried where they were; the abbey of Nonantula. (UZ p. 61)

Born in Rome.

Born in Portus.

Disinterred by Stephen VI (VII) and clad in papal vestments and propped up on the throne, Formosus' corpse was tried for perjury and violation of various canons; convicted; having three (swearing) fingers of his right hand removed and thrown into the Tiber. (UZ p. 100)

Born in Rome.

An unfrocked priest, the son of a Bishop, ruled only for the month of April 896; immoral; bribed the populace of Rome to force his election. Church records condemn him as "a man who loved money and women more than prayers" and whose "crimes" were "too hideous to mention." He was possibly homosexual. His papacy lasted 15 days. (UZ p. 18, 160)

Born in Rome.

Son of a presbyter. Accused of perjury, violating canons, cupidity, and mutilating the corpse of Formosus (whom he had disinterred for trial). He never denied the charge of having sex with corpses. He was deposed, stripped of his papal insignia, and thrown into gaol. Shortly afterwards he was strangled. (UZ p. 61)

Born in Gallese.

Deposed by dissidents, spent his remaining years confined to a monastery. (UZ p. 71)

Born in Rome.

Born in Tivoli.

Born in Rome.

Born in Ardea.

Died in early 904, in prison, strangled by Sergius III.

Not recognized by the Church. Died in early 904, in prison, strangled by Sergius III.

Born in Rome.

Father of John XI by Senatrix Marozia (15 yr-old daughter of Empress Theodora). Used violence to maintain orthodoxy. Personally strangled both Leo V and Christopher after confessing them and blessing their necks. When the eastern prelate Nicholas I Mysticus refused to accommodate the wish of emperor Leo VI (886-912) to divorce and remarry, Sergius III did; Leo VI removed and exiled Nicholas I. (UZ p. 61, 101, 104)

Born in Rome.

Dominated by Theophylact and his ambitious, energetic wife Theodora the Elder (d. after 916). (UZ p. 113}

Born in Sabina.

The weakness of this pope made Theodora's power almost absolute. (UZ p. 113)

Born in Tossignano.

More warrior than pope, he lost the trust of Rome over a plot by his brother to bring in Magyars and was forced into hiding. While imprisoned in Castel Sant'Angelo he was suffocated at the hand of his mother Marozia, doyenne of the house of Theophylact, (whose ambition was said to be without bounds.) It was said of Marozia that she "controlled by the hinge (cardio) that stands out in front of the cardinals (cardinale)." (UZ p. 62)

Born in Rome.

Completely dependent on Marozia Theophylact (called "a great whore" by Cardinal Baronius). (UZ p. 110)

Born in Rome.

Born in Rome.

The illegitimate son of Sergius III and Marozia; he officiated at the third marriage of his mother to Hugh of Provence, king of Italy (926-948). Alberic II (ca905-954) (Marozia's son by her first marriage) was offended at the wedding and stormed Castel Saint'Angelo to end the liaison. Alberic II then deposed John XI and put him under house arrest (ecclesiastical functions only) and kept him as a, according to chronicler Flodoard, personal slave. He was possibly homosexual. (UZ p. 71, 101, 107, 160)

Born in Rome.

Born in Rome.

A learned man and a reformer, he obtained the throne by Alberic II, a son of Marozia. Determined "to purge inequities" out of Rome, he conspired against Alberic II. The plot failed, and Alberic II personally killed him by slow torture, taunting Stephen VIII (IX) with the cup of poison meant for him. (UZ p. 62)

Born in Rome.

Born in Rome.

Son of the priest Gordianus; refused Arian Christians permission to live near or communicate with Latin Christians. He delighted in calumniating and libeling those who opposed him, forbidding rejoinders or declamations. (UZ p. 33)

Born in Rome. His papal legitimacy was unclear until the death of John XII.

A layman, chief notary of the church; elected by the Synod and rushed through lower orders in a single day. Fled John XII when he quashed the Synod (Feb 26) and advanced. (UZ p. 109)

Born in Rome.

Born in Rome.

Strangled by a priest named Stephen who hoped (wrongly) to succeed him. (UZ p. 63)

A Roman aristocrat; uneventful reign. (UZ p. 55)

Born in Pavia.

Son of a priest named Leo; so unpopular with the people of Rome that Boniface VII, who ultimately poisoned him, was able to return. (UZ p. 63)

Also pope Jun-Jul 974, when he strangled Benedict VI and ran off with part of the papal treasure, with Count Sicco in pursuit. On his return to Rome in April 984 (provisioned with Byzantine gold) he had John XIV imprisoned, deposed, and four month later executed. He was a deceiver and thief of no equal, and used the Vatican treasury frequently to supply his own needs. He was assassinated 20 July 985, and his corpse was stripped of its vestments, dragged through the streets, exposed naked beneath the statue of Marcus Aurelius in front of the Lateran, and trampled and speared. His name, Bonifatius, was perverted into Malefatius. The Church, to cleanse itself, in 1904 reclassified Boniface VII as an antipope. (UZ p. 55) He is not now recognized by the Church.

Born in Rome.

The son of a priest. Died violently. (UZ p. 64)

Born in Saxony.

A 24 year-old named Bruno; one-time chancellor to Emperor Otto III; German, insensitive to Rome, unpopular from the beginning. The "Foreign Pope" was stripped of everything (including clothing) and driven from Rome. He vowed to return and did so, mutilating the substitute pope. On the verge of death from disease, he was poisoned by a court priest. (UZ p. 63)

John Philogathos, a Greek scholar and friend of both eastern and western emperors; became pope to counter Gregory V, but fell to him. Gregory V deposed, castrated, and imprisoned John XVI in a monastery where he died 26 August 1001. (UZ p. 64) An antipope, leading to confusion over the JOHN numbers, (John XX is unused).

998; The practice of fasting on Fridays and during Lent begins. (GC)

1050; Attendance to mass becomes obligatory. (GC)

1054; Permanent division of the Church into Eastern Orthodox and Western Rite (Roman Catholic)