This chronological list of popes of the Catholic Church corresponds to that given in the Annuario Pontificio under the heading "I Sommi Pontefici Romani" (The Roman Supreme Pontiffs), excluding those that are explicitly indicated as antipopes. Published every year by the Roman Curia, the Annuario Pontificio no longer identifies popes by regnal number, stating that it is impossible to decide which pope represented the legitimate succession at various times. The 2001 edition of the Annuario Pontificio introduced "almost 200 corrections to its existing biographies of the popes, from St Peter to John Paul II". The corrections concerned dates, especially in the first two centuries, birthplaces and the family name of one pope. The term pope is used in several churches to denote their high spiritual leaders (for example Coptic pope). This title in English usage usually refers to the head of the Catholic Church. The Catholic pope uses various titles by tradition, including Summus Pontifex, Pontifex Maximus, and Servus servorum Dei. Each title has been added by unique historical events and unlike other papal prerogatives, is not incapable of modification. Hermannus Contractus may have been the first historian to number the popes continuously. His list ends in 1049 with Leo IX as number 154. Several changes were made to the list during the 20th century. Christopher was considered a legitimate pope for a long time but was removed due to how he obtained the papacy. Pope-elect Stephen was listed as Stephen II until the 1961 edition, when his name was removed. The decisions of the Council of Pisa (1409) were reversed in 1963 in a reinterpretation of the Western Schism, extending Gregory XII's pontificate to 1415 and classifying rival claimants Alexander V and John XXIII as antipopes. A significant number of these popes have been recognized as saints, including 48 out of the first 50 consecutive popes, and others are in the sainthood process. Of the first 31 popes, 28 died as martyrs.

Chronological list of popes

1st millennium

1st century

The chronology of the early popes is heavily disputed. The first ancient lists of popes were not written until the late 2nd century, after the monarchical episcopate had already developed in Rome. These first lists combined contradictory traditions, and even the succession of the first popes is disputed. The first certain dates are AD 222 and 235, the elections of Urban I and Liberius. The years given for the first 30 popes follow the work of Richard Adelbert Lipsius, which often show a 3-year difference with the traditional dates given by Eusebius of Caesarea. These are also the dates used by the Catholic Encyclopedia.

2nd century

c. 199/200 (1 year) NATALIVS

3rd century

(18 years) HIPPOLYTVS (7 years) NOVATIANVS

4th century

22 November 365 (10 years, 3 days) FELIX Secundus 16 November 367 (1 year, 46 days) VRSINVS

5th century

3 April 419 (97 days) EVLALIVS Aug 506/8 (7 years, 253 days) LAVRENTIVS

6th century

14 October 530 (22 days) DIOSCORVS

7th century

8th century

25 March 752 (3 days) (Never took office as pope) STEPHANUS

9th century

10th century

January 904 (92 days) CHRISTOFORO 26 February 964 (82 days) LEO Octavus July 974 BONFATIUS Septinus 20 July 985 (334 days) BONFATIUS Septinus February 998 (306 days) IOANNES Sextus Decimus

2nd millennium

11th century

31 December 1012 (202 days) GREGORIVS Sextus 24 January 1059 (295 days) BENEDICTVS Decimus 1072 (10 years, 187 days) HONORIVS Secundus 8 September 1100 (20 years, 79 days) CLEMENS Tertius January 1101 (115 days) THEODORICVS

12th century

February 1102 (1 year, 31 days) ADALBERTVS O.S.B. 11 April 1111 (5 years, 155 days) SILVESTER Quartus 20 April 1121 (3 years, 42 days) GREGORIVS Octavus 16 December 1124 COELESTINVS Secundus 25 January 1138 (7 years, 347 days) ANACLETUS Secundus O.S.B. 29 May 1138 (75 days) VICTOR Quartus 20 April 1164 (4 years, 227 days) VICTOR Quartus 22 September 1168 (4 years, 148 days) PASCALIS Tertius 29 August 1178 (9 years, 335 days) CALLIXTVS Tertius O.S.B. January 1180 (124 days) INNOCENTIVS Tertius

13th century

14th century

25 July 1330 (2 years, 74 days) NICOLAVS Quintus O.F.M. 16 September 1394 (15 years, 357 days) CLEMENS Septimus 23 May 1423 (28 years, 243 days) BENEDICTVS Tertius Decimus

15th century

3 May 1410 (307 days) ALEXANDER Quintus O.F.M. 30 May 1415 (5 years, 6 days) IOANNES Vicesimus Tertius 26 July 1429 (6 years, 38 days) CLEMENS Octavus 1429 1437 7 April 1449 (9 years, 156 days) FELIX Quintus

16th century

17th century

18th century

19th century

20th century

3rd millennium

21st century

Longest-lived pope on record. Died on 31 December 2022, in Vatican.

Religious orders

51 popes and 6 antipopes (in italics) have been members of religious orders, including 12 members of third orders. They are listed by order as follows:

Numbering of popes

Regnal numbers follow the usual convention for European monarchs. The first pope who chooses a unique name is not usually identified by an ordinal, John Paul I being the exception. Antipopes are treated as pretenders, and their numbers are reused by those considered to be legitimate popes. However, there are anomalies in the numbering of the popes. Several numbers were mistakenly increased in the Middle Ages because the records were misunderstood. Several antipopes were also kept in the sequence, either by mistake or because they were previously considered to be true popes.

Lists

Sources