Popes

Question 1

St. Gregory I

Answer 1

“The Great” 590-604

64th Pope.

Family was wealthy, 2 pope ancestors. Became a monk, studied a lot. Was forcibly elected Pope and grew to be a very good one. Energetic and Practical.

Question 2

Julius II

Answer 2

1503-1513

The 216th pope

Best known for commissioning Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel, was far from virtuous. He frequently traded absolution of sins for monetary wealth.

Question 3

Leo X

Answer 3

1513-1521

217th Pope

Became cardinal at 13 years old. Enjoyed easy lifestyle, was an avid hunter. Condemned 41 errors of Martin Luther in the bull Exsurge Domine of 1520.
Excommunicated Martin Luther

Question 4

Clement VII

Answer 4

1523-1534

219th Pope

Illegitimate but declared legitimate and created cardinal. Commanded Sack of Rome in 1527 because of bad relationships with Charles V. Refused to let Henry VIII divorce Catherine of Aragon.

Question 5

Paul III

Answer 5

1534-1549

220th Pope

Fathered 4 children under a wife and mistresses. Loved carnivals. Fathered the Jesuits. Established Congregation of the Roman Inquisition to destroy heresy. Commissioned Michelangelo’s “Last Judgement”.

Question 6

Paul V

Answer 6

1605-1621

233rd Pope

“Proud Roman”. Oversaw many projects in Rome: St. Peter’s Basilica, Trajan Aqueducts, enrichment of the Vatican Library. Art Collector, rich and powerful.

Question 7

Urban VIII

Answer 7

1623-1644

235th Pope

Unpopular Pope: gave jobs and positions to his family (nepotist), bad translator of Latin verses. The best thing he did was appointing Bernini to construct the new St. Peter’s Basilica.

Question 8

Innocent X

Answer 8

1644-1655

236th Pope

Opposed by France. Unattractive. Lived a blameless life, but was still suspicious and uncertain. No one wanted to pay for his funeral.

Question 9

Pius VII

Answer 9

1800-1823

250th Pope
Servant of God (Investigation for Sainthood)

Forced to sign a concordant with Bonaparte in 1801. Went to Paris to coronate Napoleon Bonaparte but was rudely treated and therefore Bonaparte crowned himself. Was generous to Bonaparte’s family at his fall.

Question 10

Pius IX

Answer 10

1846-1878

255th Pope
Blessed

Papal States seized his land. He was a great church leader, but politically not. In 1856 he defined the dogma of Immaculate Conception, and in 1870 the Papal Infallibility.

Question 11

Pope Alexander VI

Answer 11

1492 - 1503

214th Pope

A Spanish-born pontiff from the powerful Borgia family. Libertine behavior and nepotism, his uncle was Pope Callixtus III, Had three children and multiple mistresses. When he died, his body rapidly decomposed and bloated, leading to suspicions of poisoning.

Question 12

St. Leo I (St. Leo the Great)

Answer 12

440 - 461

The 45th pope.

Helped spare the Romans from Atilla the Hun in 452, stopping him from conquering the city.

Question 13

St. John XXIII

Answer 13

1958 - 1963

the 261st pope

Responsible for organizing the Second Vatican Council. Initiated reforms in Catholic doctrine on the relation to those of other faiths and human rights.

Question 14

Francis

Answer 14

213 - Present

The 266th pope.

Set a number of ‘firsts’ for the Catholic Church. He is the first pope elected from outside of Europe, hailing from Argentina.

Question 15

St. John Paul II

Answer 15

1978 - 2005

264th Pope

Canonized in 2014, the 264th pope. Set a record for the fastest progress to sainthood in Catholic history.

Question 16

St. Gregory VII

Answer 16

The 157th pope.

Continued his predecessor’s work of purging corruption from the clergy. The pope repeatedly excommunicated Henry IV of Germany.

Question 17

Sabinian

Answer 17

the 65th pope.

Not as generous as his predecessor. Most noted for his refusal to provide the poor with food from the papal granaries.

Question 18

Nicholas II

Answer 18

The 155th pope.

Reformed the process of papal elections by investing sole power of selection to the Cardinals in an attempt to curtail the influence of political factions.

Question 19

Stephen VI

Answer 19

The 113th pope.

Exhumed the body of his predecessor Formosus, and held a trial against him. The unwilling clergy in attendance later strangled him.

Question 20

St. Peter

Answer 20

30/33 – 64/68

1st Pope

Served as one of the Twelve Apostles. Catholics consider him the first pope, citing Matthew 16:18, ‘Now I say to you that you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.’

Question 21

Benedict XVI

Answer 21

2005 - 2013

The 265th pope.

The first pope to renounce his position since Celestine V in 1294. After renouncing his position, his title became Pope Emeritus.

Question 22

St. Agatho

Answer 22

678 - 681

the 79th pope.

Oldest Pope Ever Elected
Believed to be a Benedictine monk before his election. Was over one-hundred years old when he began his reign.

Question 23

Paul III

Answer 23

1534 - 1549

The 220th pope.

Organized the Council of Trent to address the abuses and return the Church to faithfulness and purity. He excommunicated Henry VIII of England.

Question 24

Clement V

Answer 24

1305 - 1314

195th Pope

He then moved his court from its home in Rome, Italy to Avignon, France. Clement was the first of seven French popes who would reside in France from 1309 to 1379.
Initiated the persecution of the Knights Templar with the bull Pastoralis Praeeminentiae under pressure from King Philip IV of France.

Question 25

Gregory XI

Answer 25

1370 - 1378

201st Pope

Moved the papal court back to Rome in 1377, hoping to gain more control over papal land. Gregory died shortly after the move, and, under the influence of a threatening crowd, an Italian pope, Urban VI, was elected. The last French pope.

Question 26

Urban VI

Answer 26

1378 - 1389

202nd Pope

Western Schism
An unpopular choice among the French cardinals, who elected their own pope, Clement VII, who took up residence back in Avignon.

Question 27

Antipope Clement VII

Answer 27

1378 - 1394

1st Antipope

Western Schism
He was a leader of the cardinals who declared the unpopular Italian pope Urban VI’s election invalid, and he was chosen antipope at Fondi, Papal States, as Clement VII on Sept. 20, 1378.

Question 28

Martin V

Answer 28

1417 - 1431

206th Pope

Elected in 1417 and took up residence in Rome.
Ended the Western Schism.

Question 29

Innocent III

Answer 29

1198 - 1216

176th Pope

Convened the Fourth Council of the Lateran, 1215. Initiated the Fourth Crusade but later distanced himself from it and threatened participants with excommunication when it became clear that the leadership abandoned a focus on conquest of the Holy Land and instead intended to sack Christian cities

Question 30

Urban II

Answer 30

1088 - 1087

159th Pope

Called for the first Crusade