The Popes: Modern Age (Post 1600)

Question 1

Pope who hailed from the rich Barberini family who sparred with Galileo and was a patron of Bernini (along with Innocent X and Alexander VII)

Answer 1

Urban VIII

Question 2

Pope who hated the Barberini family, formerly led by his predecessor Urban VIII, whose portrait by Velazquez if oft considered the greatest portrait of all time.

Answer 2

Innocent X

Question 3

Great pope who feuded with Louis XIV and who created the Holy League of countries which defeated the Turks at Vienna in 1683.

Answer 3

Innocent XI

Question 4

Clement XIII resisted significant pressure to disband and suppress the Jesuit Order (Many countries, including France, Spain, and Portugal found the Jesuits subversive), but his successor this man gave in and disbanded the Jesuits in 1773.

Answer 4

Clement XIV

Question 5

Pope during the French Revolution, this man condemned the Civil Constitution of the Clergy that suppressed the Catholic Church and excommunicated Talleyrand for supporting it. He was eventually imprisoned by Napoleon.

Answer 5

Pius VI

Question 6

Becoming Pope in the turmoil of revolution and conquest, he had to be crowned with a paper mache tiara. But he graciously led the church through the Napoleonic Era, eventually reconciling with Napoleon and presiding over and blessing his coronation as emperor. He also restored the Jesuit Order.

Answer 6

Pius VII

Question 7

The longest serving and first modern pope - this man’s nomination was to be vetoed by Cardinal Karl Kajetan Gaisruck coming as a representative of Ferdinand of Austria, but he came too late - this man had already been elected pope. This man provoked outrage when he adopted the Jew Edgardo Mortara, abducting him from his family due to an informal and accidental baptism that had occurred (the law stated that Christians couldn’t be raised as Jews). His Prime Minister Pellegrino Rossi was assassinated in the chaotic 1848 revolutions of Europe. He defined the concept of Immaculate Conception.

Answer 7

Pius IX

Question 8

Pius IX created this list of 80 heresies, from pantheism to communism to liberalism, citing previous church articles and orders. This document was condemned by non-Catholics.

Answer 8

Syllabus of Errors

Question 9

Following the new united Italy’s invasion of the Papal States, Pius IX refused to leave his area, saying that it would give the new government legitimacy. He called himself this four word term. Pius IX was supported by the Black Nobility (an aristocratic pro-papal group in Italy) and he refused the Law of Guarantees that would’ve given him control over usage of the the direct church areas but without it becoming an independent sovereign state.

Answer 9

Prisoner in the Vatican (or Prisoner of the Vatican)

Question 10

Council convened by Pius IX that issued the documents Dei Filius and Pastor Aeternus, and defined Papal Infallbility.

Answer 10

Vatican I (First Vatican Council)

Question 11

Nicknamed the Rosary Pope after he issued 11 encyclicals on the Rosary, this pope succeeding Pius IX is better known for the encyclical Rerem Novarum (New Things) , which called for keeping in mind the condition of the working class in the capitalist system.

Answer 11

Leo XIII

Question 12

Succeeding Leo XIII, this pope issued the decree Ne Temere which stated that protestant-Catholic marriages were not valid unless held in a Catholic Church or with children raised as Catholics. He fought hard against Modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine and his charity and good will made him popular.

Answer 12

Pius X

Question 13

This pope, succeeding Pius X, held office during World War I. His attempts at creating a peace were rejected by Germany and France, but nevertheless his humanitarian efforts earned him respect.

Answer 13

Benedict XV

Question 14

Succeeding Benedict XV, his pope signed the 1929 Lateran Treaty with Mussolini ending the Prisoner in the Vatican problem by creating the Vatican City state. He also signed the Reichskonkordat with Hitler. In response to Hitler’s violations of the latter, this pope issued the uniquely German language encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge condemning Hitler as a ‘mad prophet’ and warning against ‘the myth of race and blood.’

Answer 14

Pius XI

Question 15

Succeeding Pius XI and serving through World War II and the initial stages of the Cold war, he was attacked by allies, protestants, and secularists as ‘Hitler’s Pope’ for his remarkable silence in the face of genocide. He also defined the assumption of Mary and condemned communism.

Answer 15

Pius XII

Question 16

Succeeding Pius XII, this pope convened the Second Vatican Council, though he died shortly afterwards.

Answer 16

John XXIII

Question 17

Succeeding John XXIII, this pope continued Vatican II, defended priestly celibacy, and famously railed against contraception and praised traditional marriage in the encyclical Humanae Vitae. He also unsuccessfully tried to negotiate with the Red Brigade over the kidnapped PM Aldo Moro (his friend).

Answer 17

Paul VI

Question 18

Modernising Catholic council of the 60s, called ‘A new pentecost’ by John XXIII, it focused on Aggorniomento or ‘bringing up to date’ the church. It issued four constitutions - Sacrosanctum Concillium calling for greater participation in liturgy, Lumen Gentium, calling for keeping church hierarchy, Dei Verbium, calling for the study of scripture and the work of church fathers, and Gaudium et Spes, outlining some social teachings. This council also issued the Nostra Aetate on friendly relations with non Christian religions and the vernacular Mass of Paul VI orginates from this council. The council also stressed ‘Ressourcement’ or going back to the sources of the church in scripture and old church documents.

Answer 18

Vatican II (Second Vatican Council)

Question 19

‘Smiling Pope’ succeeding Paul VI who died after 33 days in 1978, the latest year of three popes. There are several conspiracy theories surrounding his death, with many involving the mafia and corruption in the Vatican Bank.

Answer 19

John Paul I

Question 20

A pole, the first non-Italian pope in over 400 years, this man sometimes unofficially called ‘the great’ visited many non-Catholic countries (in Syria he famously kissed a Quran), established World Youth Day, and wrote many famous works including the book ‘Love and Responsibility’ on marital sex and the encyclicals ‘Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life)’ and ‘Faith and Reason.”

Answer 20

John Paul II

Question 21

Failed event carried out by Mehmet Ali Agca, a member of the Turkish fascist group Grey Wolves. It was also going to happen in the Bojinka Plot, which aimed to do this in World Youth Day along with a worldwide airline attack.

Answer 21

Attempted Assassination of John Paul II

Question 22

John Paul II spared with Manuel LeFebvre, a traditionalist and ultra_______ Catholic figure. John Paul II, a moderate, eventually excommunicated LeFebvre.

Answer 22

Conservative

Question 23

German conservative traditionalist who was the first pope since the 16th century to resign. His Regensburg lecture caused backlash in the Islamic World as he quoted a Byzantine emperor calling Muhammad ‘evil and inhumane.’ He was called the ‘pope of aesthetics’ for reintroducing the traditional lavish papal garments.

Answer 23

Pope Benedict XVI

Question 24

Benedict XVI declared _______ , an economic system, incompatible with Christianity. He also attacked leftist movements such as Greenpeace as well as leftism in the church including Liberation theology. He also railed against contraception as a prophylactic and allowed the Tridentine mass, levels of conservatism which shocked many.

Answer 24

Socialism

Question 25

In stark contrast to his predecessor Benedict, this theological moderate is known for his humility, his leftist political views, his advocacy for interreligious relations, and his willingness to open the Catholic Church. He is the first Jesuit and first American (continents) to become pope.

Answer 25

Pope Francis

Question 26

This pope allowed divorced and remarried Catholics into full communion with the church, and he also published the rock album ‘Wake Up!’ (Yes, you read that right). He issued the joint Havana Declaration with Patriarch Kirill.

Answer 26

Pope Francis

Question 27

Pope Francis said this about Gay Catholics angering conservatives

Answer 27

‘Who am I to judge’