By Owen Phelps, Ph.D.
Director, Yeshua Institute
As the world’s Catholic cardinals gather in Rome today, May 7, to elect a new pope, the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics can be grateful the church has such an orderly and civilized process for picking its next leader. It wasn’t always that way.
As luck (or Providence) would have it, I spent some time during Lent reading Fr. Richard McBrien’s Lives of the Popes. It’s been a fascinating, sometimes eye-popping journey across the last 2000-plus years that the world has had such a thing as popes. Spoiler alert, especially for those Catholics who sincerely believe “the church never changes:” There is practically nothing about today’s orderly process that was in evidence for much of the church’s history.
The list of 264 popes is seemingly simple, clear and straightforward. But that simple list hides a lot of the obscure, messy, disputed and bloody reality of history. It’s been quite a ride.
In the beginning
We all know how Peter, our first pope, was “elected.” Jesus chose him. It’s in the Bible. You can look it up. (Hint: go to Matthew 16:18-19.) No, Jesus does tell Peter he is pope. He tells him: “… you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (NABRE)
Fog of history
But after Peter’s appointment the details of history get a little foggy. We have our official list, but we know almost nothing about the first several popes. In fact, it was not until the late second or early third century that Peter came to be regarded as the first Bishop of Rome, so the earliest lists began with Linus, now listed as the second pope, who served from 67-76 in the Vatican’s official list.
Anacletus, also known as Cletus, followed, serving from 76-88 in the official list. Clement (88-97) came next, and is believed to be the author of 1 Clement, the first document known to be issued by a pope and the most important first century Christian document outside of the New Testament. But Tertullian and St. Jerome claimed that Clement was consecrated by St. Peter as his immediate successor – indicating just how obscure the early history of the papacy is.
Chosen by Romans
Apart from uncertainty about specific details, the broad picture shows that for the first millennium of the church’s life, the pope was elected by the priests and people of Rome. He was, after all, first and foremost Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Peter. Initially it was the common practice everywhere for bishops to be elected by local clergy and church members, and in that regard Rome was no different.
A couple of a hundred years later neighboring bishops got into the process. Pope Leo the Great (440-461) wrote: “No consideration allows making bishops of those who have not been chosen by the clerics, sought for by the people and consecrated by the provincial bishops with the consent of the metropolitan.” He based his judgment on the principle: “He who is in charge of all should be chosen by all.”
That said, emperors – lay, civil leaders – frequently forced choices and/or had to approve them. Benedict I, for example, had to wait 11 months from the time of his election in July 574, until imperial approval for his consecration arrived from Constantinople. That practice prevailed for centuries. Meanwhile, the church’s internal process has been variable. For example, it was not until the reign of Nicholas II (1058-61) that it was decreed that only cardinal-bishops could vote in papal elections.
Bishops disqualified
When Marinus was elected on 882 it caused a problem because he was already the bishop in another diocese. Why, you ask, was that problematic? Turns out such a thing was explicitly forbidden by canon 15 of the First Council of Nicaea (325).
It was such a serious issue that the body of Pope Formosus was dug up by a successor, Stephen VI (or VII), dressed in papal regalia and put on trial in January 897 for among other things having been bishop of Porto when he was elected bishop of Rome. Back then, because of that rule, electing someone who was not a bishop to be pope was the norm, not the exception.
By the way, Stephen VI is also Stephen VII because of a long story not put to rest until 1961, when the first Stephen II’s name was expunged from the Anuario Pontifico (official Vatican directory), giving every Stephen who followed him dual numbers. Seems that even the official list has speed bumps.
More than one pope?
To get a sense of how things have changed – and how deeply they devolved – consider the period preceding the reign of Pope Stephen III (IV), from Aug. 7, 768 to Jan. 24, 772.
The story begins with a lay aristocrat who had his brother Constantine, also a layperson, acclaimed pope by a mob of soldiers. Constantine was installed at the Lateran, ordained a subdeacon and deacon, and then consecrated pope by three bishops in St. Peter’s Basilica on July 5, 767. But then Constantine’s brother was killed in street fighting. Constantine fled but was soon arrested.
The Lombards saw an opportunity in the chaos and had their own choice, Philip, declared pope. But he was quickly rejected and expelled from the Lateran. It was not until a year later that Stephen III (IV) was canonically elected and consecrated pope, Meanwhile, Constantine was persecuted, his eyes dug out by a gang, and his election and ordination declared invalid.
For the record, it was not unusual for the Romans to chase popes from Rome under threat of death, and some popes feared even going to Rome even though they held the title of Bishop of Rome. Often their fears were well-grounded. Although there is no formal procedure for removing a pope from office, 26 popes have been deposed, temporarily or permanently, or excommunicated by some faction of the church.
Five popes and possibly as many as eight were killed while in office, and two others died after brutal treatment in prison.
Roman ‘plaything’
During the tumultuous 10th century, McBrien says “the papacy became the plaything” of several prominent and powerful Roman families, and indeed, there were 25 popes and antipopes in that single century. Antipopes?
Overall, there were 39 of them – men who claimed the title and often even reigned as pope in some portion of the world. Sometimes their claims to the throne overlapped so that at various times there were at least two of them in addition to the actual pope. Imagine having three men claiming to be pope at once. It happened.
Winners write history, so today it’s clear who was a pope and who was an antipope. But when they claimed the title, no doubt all of them were held in high esteem as head of the church by some sincere believers.
Indeed, the first of them is even a saint. Go figure. St. Hippolytus was a prominent biblical scholar and theologian who had serious theological issues with popes who served during his time. At some point a certain faction elected him Bishop of Rome, making him an antipope. But later he was reconciled with church leaders and honored as a saint by the church after his death.
Keep it in the family
There have been three occasions when a pope fathered a pope. Anastasius (399-401) fathered Innocent I (401-417), who succeeded him. Hormisdas (514-23) fathered Silverius (536-37), although there were five popes in the 13 years between their reigns. All four men were declared saints. And why not? Clerical celibacy was not made the law of the Western Church until 1139.
The third father-son pairing was Sergius III (904-13) and his illegitimate son John XI (931-35/36). Four popes served between their reigns.
Meanwhile, two sets of brothers succeeded each other as pope: Stephen II (III) (768-772) followed Paul I (757-67), while John XIX (1024-32) followed Benedict VIII (1012-24).
Laymen elected popes
While electing non-bishops as pope was once commonplace, it was less common – but not entirely unknown – for a layman to be elected pope. In fact, it is believed that four popes were laymen at the time of their election, and that three of them served consecutively. They are Felix III (483-492), Benedict VIII (1022-1024), John XIX (1024-1032) and Benedict IX (1032-1044 with interruptions).
However, they did not actually serve as lay popes because they were quickly ordained priests before being consecrated Bishop of Rome. Gregory X (1272-76) and Leo X (1513-1521) were deacons when elected, but like the others were quickly ordained priests after their elections.
Worth the wait?
As we watch for white smoke to emerge from the latest conclave, it serves our patience to remember that the longest conclave was 33 months. It happened in 1268-1271 after the death of Pope Clement IV. It culminated in the election of Pope Gregory X – but not until after local authorities in Viterbo, where it was held, locked the cardinals into a building, cut their rations to bread, water and wine, actually removed the roof of the building in which they were meeting, and then threatened to starve them.
Change continues
In the wake of that ordeal, some reforms were adopted with the aim to speed the process. But in fact, reforms in how the pope is elected have continued almost to this day. Brief and recent examples:
- After Alexander III decreed in 1179 that a two-thirds majority was necessary to elect the pope, in 1945 Pope Pius XII changed that to two-hirds plus one. In 1996 Pope John Paul II changed it back to two-thirds, with the stipulation that after 33 inconclusive ballots a simple majority is sufficient.
- Gregory X had decreed that a conclave must begin with 10 days of a pope’s death, but that has since been changed to between 15 and 20 days, with the exact date set at the discretion of the College of Cardinals.
- In 1970 Pope Paul VI decreed that only cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote in papal elections, with the maximum number of cardinals set at 120 – although with regular deaths and occasional consistories to appoint new cardinals, the number moves frequently. As of the start of this month, there were 252 cardinals, of whom 135 are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. The current conclave is the first to have more than 120 electors – quite a contrast from the seven cardinals who elected Pope Benedict XI in 1303.
Spirit led
As the cardinals gather to pray, interact and vote, we Catholics believe – despite all the changes in the process and more than a few awkward incidents -- that the Holy Spirit is somehow active in their process, ultimately choosing the proper man to lead the church and represent it and its founder in and to the world.
Although the papacy has lost nearly all of its temporal power over the centuries, the sight of so many world leaders at the funeral of Pope Francis tells us the papacy has retained no small degree of historical and spiritual significance. No doubt that is the measure of both the office and the man filling it.
The office persists. The cardinals now go prayerfully in search of the next man to fill it.
As for change, it’s clearly a constant – the very way the Holy Spirit shapes history. The process continues with the selection of the church’s 265th pope. Prayers for him and the people, church and world he is elected to serve.