Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Papal Trivia

There's lots of love flowing in regards to the Holy Father right now.

With that in mind, a few questions regarding Papal Trivia:

1) Prior to John Paul I, when and who was the last pope to be the first to take a particular name?

2) Pope Benedict XVI is the 263rd legitimate pope, how many unique names have been used by popes?

3) After St. Peter, who is the longest reigning pope?

4) Which century has had the fewest popes? (Not counting the present one, that's cheating!)

5) Which century has had the most popes?

6) Which name has gone the longest between the first and second iterations?

7) Before John Paul II, who was the last non-Italian pope?

8) How many popes were there during the Avignon Captivity?

9) What is the name of the first pope, alphabetically?

10) What is the name of the last pope, alphabetically?

All answers, given tomorrow, to be verified by 'The Popes, Twenty Centuries of History" by the Pontifical Administration of the Patriarchial Basilica of St. Paul.

5 comments:

Michael said...

1. Lando - Can you imagine such a name? Neither could anyone else....... still no Lando II....

2. On this question, you say that B16 is the 263rd legitimate pope. I guess it depends on how you do the counting. He might be the 263rd individual to be pope. Many sources count him as #266, the 265th successor of Peter. Stephen II died before being consecrated, so some omit him from the list. Also, Benedict IX was twice removed, and twice restored, and others sat in the chair between his papacies. He is usually counted three times, not once. One of those popes, Sylvester III is considered an antipope by some, but he is usually counted. All of which makes for interesting history.........but I don't know the answer to your question....... I'll guess about 75.

3. Blessed Pius IX - 32 years. He gave us the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and Papal Infallibility(through Vatican Council I).

4. Probably the first, since Peter didn't become pope until a third of the way into the century. Second guess would be the 19th century, when Blessed Pius IX reigned.

5. Probably the eleventh century, when they were playing musical chairs. Benedict IX was pope three separate times.

6. I'm pretty sure it's Pius. Second guess is Paul.

7. I think a German or Dutch guy, 500 years ago, in the 16th century.

8. 5 or 6 -- about 75 years, I think.

9. Adrian

10. Urban


OK, Father, this will really put you on the spot. If elected Pope, what name will you choose???

Anonymous said...

Addendum: I thought of a "Z" name for question #10. There has to have been a pope Zosimus.

Adoro said...

Re: #8 we discussed this weekend, although we weren't that specific in our history so I don't know how many Popes...I want to say 2 or 3 and it was also called the "Babylonian captivity", which was brought to an end thanks to a great Doctor of the Church, St. Catherine of Siena. She wrote letters to the Pope and told him that each day he remained in France was a mortal sin.

Adoro said...

Oh, yeah, and as soon as that last Pope returned to Rome, he died.

Anonymous said...

1. Pope Hilarius (Only cause his name is too funny!!)

2. 50 different names

3.Pius IX (31 years, 7 months, and 23 days)

4. 19th Century (Pius VII 1800-1823, Pius IX 1846-1878, and Leo XIII1878-1903) I don't know who filled in the gap between 1823-1846. Help?

5. The 10th or 7th centuries

6. John

7. Pope Gregory XI 1370-1378. He was from France.

8. Seven popes occupied the chair of St. Peter during the Avignon Captivity. Is that time period the reason why the seat of Peter is stationed at Rome?

9. Adeodatus I 615-618

10. Zosimus 913-914

This was a challenging quiz. Thanks for allowing me to understand and appreciate the papacy a little more.