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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 60 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Popes
Pius IX. His reign lasted from 1846 to 1878. During his reign he initiated the First Vatican Council, during which he made papal infallibility a dogma of the Church.
Adrian VI. The Dutch-born Pope was elected way back in 1522! He, along with Marcellus II are the only Popes who, by 2002, had retained their baptismal names.
Leo XIII. He was also been the oldest Pope to have served by 2002, passing away at age 93 in 1903. He created colleges for ecclesiastical Armenians and also created nearly 250 episcopal or archepiscopal sees.
Urban VI. It doesn't happen often, but it did happen in 1378. Urban VI was a very cruel Pope, excommunicating and executing many people. Legend has it he was poisoned by the Romans for this reason.
Gregory XIII. Ugo Buoncompagni had one son when he was voted in, in 1572. He founded 23 colleges for training priests, most of which were run by the Jesuits.
| Popes today are generally somewhat advanced in age when elected, but this isn't always the case. What was the age of the youngest Pope, elected more than 1100 years ago? | Do You Know Your Popes?
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18. Despite all those trivia websites saying the youngest Pope was 11,
it was John XII, who was 18 when elected in 955. Late in his reign, he was accused of murder, incest and sacrilege and his ordination was declared invalid on February 26, 964, just 3 months before his death.
Adrian IV. He was born Nicholas Breakspear and was elected in 1154.
9. Nine men held the office of Supreme Pontiff during the 20th Century. They were: Leo XIII (1878-1903), St. Pius X (1903-1914), Benedict XV (1914-1922), Pius XI (1922-1939), Pius XII (1939-1958), Blessed John XXIII (1958-1963), Paul VI (1963-1978), John Paul I (1978) and John Paul II (1978-2005). Leo XIII is included on this list because his papacy overlapped into the early 20th Century.
| Which 20th Century Pope declared "Modernism" to be a heresy against the teachings of the Church? | 20th Century Popes
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St. Pius X. In 1907, Pius X declared that "Modernism" was incompatible with Church teachings, and was therefore heresy. "Modernism" stems from the notion that due to advances in scientific technology and the development of new schools of thought, the concept of truth is ever-changing. At the time, the Church held to the belief that truth is constant and cannot be changed. Priests were required to take a vow against Modernism until 1967.
John XXIII. John XXIII (Angelo Giusseppe Roncalli) was elected to the Chair of Peter in 1958 upon the death of Pope Pius XII. He was seen at first as a "Transitional Pope", due to his old age (77) and quiet demeanor. It was thought that he would do little during his pontificate, serving only as a figurehead while the Church awaited its next long-term leader. He surprised the world when he convened the Second Vatican Council in 1962. The Council revolutionized the Catholic Church, opening it to the world and allowing a new sense of openness and growth to occur. The most obvious change was the shift from Mass being celebrated in Latin to the use of local languages.
| Who was the only Pope of the 20th Century to issue a declaration based upon the Dogma of Papal Infallibility? | 20th Century Popes
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Pius XII. In 1950, Pope Pius XII declared under the Dogma of Papal Infallibility that the "Assumption of Mary into Heaven" was an article of faith. (Mary was taken body and spirit into heaven after her death.) Papal Infallibilty, which was declared Church Dogma in 1870, states that when speaking on matters of faith relating to the whole of the Church ("ex cathedra"), the Pope is incapable of the possibility of error. It should be remembered that the Pope's infallibity extends ONLY to matters of faith in which the ENTIRE church is bound to. It applies to his position as the head of the Church, not simply as a theologian.
1954. St. Pius X (Giusseppe Melchior Sarto) was proclaimed a saint by Pope Pius XII in 1954. He is the first pope to achieve sainthood since Pius V was canonized in 1712 by Pope Clement XI . Upon his canonization, his body was removed from its crypt and is on display in the nave of St. Peter's Basilica. His face is covered with a death mask and his hands are covered with gloves.
33 days. Pope John Paul I (Albino Luciani) has one of the shortest papacies in history, with just over one month as Pope. He was elected on August 26, 1978 and died on September 28 of the same year. A very humble man, he was the first Pope to assume a dual name, in honor of his two predecessors. He also refused to be coronated with the three-tiered Papal Crown ("triregnum"), and instead wore a bishop's miter upon his accession to the Chair of Peter. He died of a heart attack after only 33 days as Pope.
Pius XI. Pius XI reigned from 1922-1938. He was Pope as Europe recovered from the first World War and sadly, prepared for the second. He witnessed the rise of Fascism in Italy and Nazism in post-war Germany.
Benedict XV's birth name was Giacomo della Chiesa, Paul VI was born Giovanni Battista Montini, and John Paul I was christened Albino Luciani.
| Which 20th Century Pope is often accused of ignoring the Jewish people during the Holocaust? | 20th Century Popes
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Pius XII. Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli) is quite often berated by various organizations and people for what many deem to have been turning a blind eye to the horrors of the Holocaust. While he did attempt to protect Italian Jews from persecution, he is primarily blamed for simply not speaking out openly to condemn Hitler and Nazism.
| Pope John Paul II was the first non-Italian Pope since 1522, when Pope Adrian VI was elected to the papacy. What country did John Paul II call home? | 20th Century Popes
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Poland. He was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland on May 18, 1920. He was elected Pope on October 16, 1978. John Paul II carried the Church into the Third Millenium with grace and undying love for his flock. All of the other men who reigned during the 20th Century were born in Italy. Since he is mentioned, I should add that Adrian VI was Dutch.
| During his reign, Pope Pius X lowered the age at which one could receive First Holy Communion. He lowered the age from ______ to ______? | 20th Century Popes
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13 to 7. He felt that introducing children to the Sacraments at an earlier age would allow for positive growth in the Church. He also advocated frequent Communion for all Catholics.
| Benedict XVI is the second non-Italian pope in the row. What nationality was the last pope of foreign origin before John Paul II? | Foreign Popes
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Dutch. Adrian VI was a Dutchman, even if some count him among the German popes. He was born in Utrecht, which at that time belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. He was pope for a short time, from January 1522 till September 1523.
| Karol Wojtyla, who would later become Pope John Paul II, was born in which Polish town? | Foreign Popes
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Wadowice. Wadowice is a town in southern Poland, 50 km from Krakow. Karol Wojtyla was born there on May 18, 1920. He died in Rome, on April 2, 2005.
| How many Slavic popes were there in the history of the Catholic Church (till the year 2005)? | Foreign Popes
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1. There was only one Slavic pope: John Paul II (1978 - 2005) from Poland. The papacy of John Paul II was one of the longest and most important in history.
| Alexander VI, a 15th-century pope, was a member of which notorious family? | Foreign Popes
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Borgia. The Borgias were an Italian family of Spanish origin. Two popes came from this family: Callistus III (Alfonso Borgia) and Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia, his nephew). Rodrigo Borgia was the father of nine children, among them the infamous Lucrezia Borgia.
| Joseph Ratzinger is the seventh pope of German origin in the history of the papacy. But who was the first? | Foreign Popes
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Gregory V. Gregory V was appointed pope in 996 by the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, his cousin. He reigned only three years. He was succeeded by his tutor, a famous scholar, who became the first French pope under the name of Sylvester II.
yes. There were three African Popes who came from North Africa. However, there is no evidence that they were black. Their names are: Victor (183-203), Gelasius (492-496), and Mechiades or Militiades (311-314). All of them became saints.
Leo IX. Leo IX (1049-1054) was a nobleman from Alsace (today France). He became known for his fight against simony (the sale of clerical positions).
| Popes from which country dominated the Church during the so-called Avignon period? | Foreign Popes
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France. All seven popes during the period (1305-1378) were French. The whole period was characterized by financial corruption. It was Clement V who moved the papal court to the city of Avignon. In 1378 the seat was moved back to Rome.
Adrian IV. Adrian IV was pope between 1154–59. He allegedly donated Ireland to Henry II of England. He crowned Frederick I (nicknamed Frederick Barbarossa) as Holy Roman Emperor in 1155 in Rome.
| Which French pope was such a well learnt scholar that he was believed to be a sorcerer, in league with the devil? | Foreign Popes
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Sylvester II. Sylvester II (999–1003) was the first French pope, who succeeded Gregory V. Widely educated, he studied mathematics and astronomy at Arab schools in Spain. On May 12, 2003 - the 1,000th anniversary of his death - began the year-long celebration of Pope Sylvester as an ideal of the "European man."
| In 1978 Karol Wojtyla of Poland became Pope John Paul II, but the great majority of popes have been Italian. Before his election, for how many years had the papacy been held by an Italian? | A Pot-pourri of Popes
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455. Before John Paul II, the last non-Italian was Pope Adrian VI (1522-1523) who was Dutch. John Paul II was the 264th Pope and a whopping 217 of his predecessors were Italian.
| There is a story (almost certainly untrue) that a woman disguised as a man once became pope. What name is she usually known by? | A Pot-pourri of Popes
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Pope Joan. The legend of Pope Joan is first recorded in the middle ages and told of a pope in the ninth century who was only discovered to be a woman when she gave birth during a papal procession. Historians today believe that this was merely an anti-papal satire.
| Up to and including Pope Benedict XVI, which name was used by more popes than any other? | A Pot-pourri of Popes
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John. According to the official list just after Pope Benedict XVI's election, the name John has been used by 23 popes, Benedict and Gregory by 16, and Clement by 14.
13 days. He died on September 27 1590 of malaria, setting a record for the shortest reign. Some say that Stephen, a priest who was elected pope in March 752 AD, had the shortest reign at only two days, but he is not generally counted in the list of popes as he had not even had chance to be ordained a bishop, a vital step before he could officially become pope. He is referred to as "Pope-elect Stephen" rather than Pope Stephen II as he would have become.
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