With Fun Pope Trivia
Most trivia taken from the book: The Incredible Book of Vatican Facts and Papal Curiosities, by Nino Lo Bello. Additional information from The Catholic Encyclopedia and Wikipedia
How many popes have there been?
a. 265
b. 402
c. 143
d. 316
a. 265
There have been 265 popes from
St. Peter (32-67) through
Pope Benedict
XVI (2005-2013)
Who was the youngest pope
Ever elected?
a.Pope Pius II
b.Pope John XII
c.Justin Bieber
b. Pope John XII was the youngest pope elected at age 18 in 955.
Who was the oldest pope ever
to serve?
a.Pope Leo XIII
b.Pope Benedict XVI
c.Ronald Reagan
a. Pope Leo XIII is the oldest pope to have served passing away at age 93 in 1903
(Pope Benedict XVI is the sixth oldest pope as of now)
Who is the longest reigning pope?
a.Henry VIII
b.John Paul II
c.Pius IX
c. Pope Pius IX reigned for over
31 years, from 1846-1878
Which pope had the shortest reign?
a.Pope Stephen II
b.Pope Quickis Exitus III
c.Pope John Paul I
a. Pope Stephen II died four days after being elected Pope on March 25, 752, before his consecration. The succeeding pope took the name Stephen II as well. The ordinal III appears in parentheses after his name to distinguish the two: Stephen II (III) John Paul I has one of the shortest papacies in history with just 33 days as pope. Which popes are named in Dante’s Inferno?
a.All of them
b.Only the non‐Italians
c.Pope Anastasius II, Pope Nicholas III, Pope Boniface VIII and Pope Clement V
c.Pope Anastasius II (sixth circle of Hell ‐
heresy); Popes Nicholas III, Boniface VIII, and Clement V (eighth circle of Hell –
simony)
Pick the one activity that John Paul II did not engage in:
1.Skiing
2.Swimming
3.Hiking
4.Bowling
4.Bowling
Pope John Paul II never utilized the bowling alley that Pope John XXIII
put in for Vatican use.
What is an antipope?
a. Someone who doesn’t look good in red or
white
b. An impostor to the papal throne
c. A remedy or other agent used to neutralize or
counteract the effects of a poison – oh wait,
that’s an antidote!
b. An impostor to the
papal throne. Since
about the third century,
the Church has been
harassed by pretenders
to the papal throne,
although the term
“antipope” was not used
until the twelfth century.
How many popes have been
canonized as saints?
a. 210
b. Zero
c. 78
d. 26
c. 78
There are 10
named as
“blessed”
78 canonized as
saints
Not that kind, silly!
What is the Pope’s salary?
a. $30,000 a year
b.Nothing
c. $17,000 a year plus major medical/dental
d.$50,000 a year plus all the free gas he wants for the popemobile
b.Nothing
When a ranking cardinal wins an election to the Seat of Saint Peter, he earns,
In effect, a promotion –
but with a reduction in pay to zero. Incredible but true: The Holy Father
Receives not a penny in pay
Which of the following statements
is not true:
a.One pope wrote a cookbook
b.One pope was murdered
c.Part of the papal palace fell on a
pope and killed him
d.One pope was an ex-con
Trick Question! They are all true!
a. Pope Pius V (1566‐1572) wrote The Cooking Secrets of Pius V
b. At least one pope – John XII was murdered on December 4, 963
c. While Pope John XXI was asleep, part of a new wing that was being added to the papal palace at Viterbo, Italy, fell on him.
d. The man who was later to become Pope Callistus (217‐222) worked in the salt mines of Sardinia as a convict for a year after being found guilty of starting a fight in church on the sabbath.
Who can be elected as pope?
Any male who is fully
initiated into the
Roman Catholic Church
Literally "from the chair",
a theological term which signifies
authoritative teaching and is more
particularly applied to the
definitions given by the Roman
pontiff. Originally the name of the
seat occupied by a professor or a
bishop, cathedra was used later on
to denote the magisterium, or
teaching authority.
EVOLUTION OF THE OFFICE OF THE POPE
• Peter
• Simon, son of Jonah, fisher
• Apostle
• Leadership role before and after Jesus’ death
• martyred in Rome, c. 66 A.D. (Nero’s persecution?)
Painting by Jose Ribera, 17th c.
EVOLUTION OF THE OFFICE OF THE POPE
Development of the “One Bishop,
One Local Church” Model:
• NT witness to various leadership models
• Challenge of passing on authoritative teaching with death of early, especially apostolic witnesses
• Development of one bishop, one local Church model with authority traced back to the early apostles
– early in Antioch of Syria
– later in Rome
EVOLUTION OF THE OFFICE OF THE POPE
Why did the Bishop of Rome become connected to the papacy?
• Church where both Peter and Paul martyred and buried
• Rome as Center of Roman Empire
• Arbiter of doctrinal disputes
Painting by Guido Reni, c. 1600
EVOLUTION OF THE OFFICE OF THE POPE
Key developments in the evolution of the office of the pope:
• 5th‐8th c. “Dark Ages”: Maintainer of the ancient traditions and claims of authority (Pope Gregory the Great)
• Carolingian Renaissance Reliance on the Pope for legitimacy (9th c.)
• 1053 Great Schism between Easter and Western halves of the church
Image of Pope Leo III Crowning Charlemagne in 800 AD
EVOLUTION OF THE OFFICE OF THE POPE
Key developments in the evolution of the office of the pope:
• Pope Gregory VII (1073‐1085) and the Investiture Controversy: More Church authority to the pope, less to the princes
• The Council of Constance (1414) and the ending of the Western Schism
• The Protestant Reformation, Council of Trent and Missal and Catechism of Pope Pius V (1570)
Image of Pope Gregory VII
Pius V, painting
by El Greco
EVOLUTION OF THE OFFICE OF THE POPE
Key developments in the evolution of the office of the pope:
• The loss of temporal power but strengthening of teaching/jurisdictional authority (Vatican I, 1870 Pope Pius IX, infallibility)
• Vatican II and the Strengthening of Collegiality (1961‐65)
• Pope Benedict XVI’s
resignation in 2013
Photo of Pope Pius IX c. 1870
Pope John XXIII c.1961
Pope Benedict XVI,
c. 2006
Pope John XXIII
1958‐1963
Born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli
November 25, 1881
Pope John XXIII
ƒ Was the third of thirteen children born to a family of sharecroppers
ƒ Entered seminary at age of 12
ƒ Interrupted his studies for service in Italian Army, but returned to the seminary, completed his work for a doctorate in theology, and was ordained in 1904
ƒ Served in WWI in 1915 as a chaplain
ƒ Archbishop of Areopolis and apostolic visitator to Bulgaria (1925)
ƒ Apostolic delegate in Turkey and Greece (1934)
ƒ Became cardinal‐patriarch of Venice in 1953
ƒ Became Pope in 1958
ƒ Less than three months after his election he announced that he would hold a diocesan synod for Rome, convoke an ecumenical council for the universal Church, and revise the Code of Canon Law
ƒ The synod, the first in the history of Rome, was held in 1960; Vatican Council II was convoked in 1962; and the Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code was appointed in 1963.
From Pope John XXIII’s Speech at the Opening of
Vatican Council II
For We have every confidence that the Church, in
the light of this Council, will gain in spiritual riches.
New sources of energy will be opened to her,
enabling her to face the future without fear. By
introducing timely changes and a prudent system of
mutual cooperation, We intend that the Church shall
really succeed in bringing men, families and nations
to the appreciation of supernatural values.
Thus the celebration of this Council becomes a
compelling motive for whole-hearted thanksgiving to
God, the giver of every good gift, and for exultantly
proclaiming the glory of Christ the Lord, the
triumphant and immortal King of ages and peoples
Pope John Paul II
1978‐2005
Born Karol Jozef Wojtyla
May 18, 1920
Pope John Paul II
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Born in Wadowice, Poland
Growing up he was a great student and very athletic
Ordained a priest in 1946
He spoke eight languages
He became pope in 1978, he was the first non‐Italian pope since 1522
He has travelled more than any other pope in history
He added the Luminous Mysteries to the Rosary
He was Time magazine’s Man of the Year in 1994
He was shot by an assassin in 1981, he met with his assassin in 1983, but the conversation was confidential
During his pontificate, John Paul II canonized 482 saints. All other twentieth century popes combined canonized a total of 98 saints
On 19 December 2009, John Paul II was proclaimed venerable by his successor Pope Benedict XVI and was beatified on 1 May 2011
From Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Ut unum sint (On Ecumenism)
The mission of the Bishop of Rome within the College of all the Pastors consists precisely in "keeping watch" (episkopein), like a sentinel, so that, through the efforts of the Pastors, the true voice of Christ the Shepherd may be heard in all the particular Churches.
Pope Benedict XVI
2005‐2013
Born Joseph Alois Ratzinger April 16, 1927
Pope Benedict XVI
ƒ His father was a policeman
ƒ He was drafted into the German artillery corps
ƒ He was ordained a priest in 1951
ƒ At the Second Vatican Council, he served as a peritus, or chief theological consultant. He was viewed as a reformer
ƒ He was named prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with a duty to safeguard church doctrine on faith and morals in 1981
ƒ Elected as pope in 2005
ƒ Calls for a new world financial order guided by ethics and the search for the common good in 2009
ƒ He introduced a pathway for disaffected Anglicans to enter the Catholic fold.
ƒ He had to deal with the sex‐abuse scandals erupting in Catholic parishes across Europe in the fall of 2010
ƒ He joined Twitter and tweeted from the Vatican in 2012
ƒ He announced his retirement on February 11, 2013. No other pope has retired since 1415
ƒ He is 85 years old
From Pope Benedict’s Encyclical Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth)
“All people feel the interior impulse to love authentically: love and truth never abandon them completely, because these are the vocation planted by God in the heart and mind of every human person.”
Cardinal Angelo Scola, 71,
Italy
Odds: 5/1
Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah
Turkson, 64, Ghana
Odds: 3/1
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, 68,
Canada
Odds: 7/2
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, 63,
USA
Odds: 33/1
Cardinal Oscar Andres
Rodriguez Maradiaga, 70,
Honduras
Odds: 14/1
Other?
Cardinal Leonardo Sandri,
69, Argentina
Odds: 8/1