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Question
#97898. star_gazer
asks:
How many popes have abdicated, please name them?
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BRY2K 
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My count is six Popes that have abdicated or are believed to have abdicated, they include:
Pope Celestine V
Pope Marcellinus
Pope Liberius
Pope Benedict IX
Pope Gregory VI
The last pope to abdicate was Pope Gregory XII in 1409.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_abdication
Jul 24 08, 12:50 PM
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zbeckabee 
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Determining just which popes have resigned is actually difficult because the records of church history are in such disarray for so many centuries. Some place the number as high as 10, some as low as four — it all depends upon how one defines a “resignation” and how the data is interpreted.
Pontian (230-235) was the first pope to resign and his case is clear.
Marcellinus (296 - 304) didn’t actually resign, but his actions probably caused him to cease being pope.
Silverius (536 - 537), son of Pope Hormisdas, was deposed and exiled by empress Theodora of Constantinople, brought back by emperor Justinian to stand trial, convicted, and forced by his successor Pope Vigilius to abdicate again.
John XVIII (1003 - 1009) didn’t do much that survived in the records, but it is believed that he resigned and lived out the last years of his life in a monastery.
Benedict IX easily had the most confusing pontificate in history. He served as pope three times: he was elected, ejected, returned, abdicated, deposed, returned again, ejected again, and eventually excommunicated.
Celestine V (1294) tried to rule while under the control of Charles II of Sicily, something he quickly determined wouldn’t be possible. Rather than serve as little more than a figurehead for secular powers, he simply abdicated the papal office after only 5 months.
Gregory XII (1406 - 1417) was another pope who resigned for the greater good of the church.
http://atheism.about.com/od/popesandthepapacy/a/resignations_2.htm
Jul 24 08, 4:15 PM
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