From the March 3, 2013, Chicago Tribune "The power of the papacy" by Stephan Benzkofer, Ron Grossman, Mark Jacob and Chad Yoder.
With all of the hoopla leading to the selection of the new pope to replace Pope Benedict who was the first pope to abdicate in 600 years, the Tribune's crack team of researchers, especially Benzkofer and Jacob who do those excellent ten things you didn't know columns every so often, did a huge amount of work to come up with a two-page spread listing every pope there ever was.
Personally, I didn't think popes were allowed to resign/abdicate. Pope John Paul II was in such poor health at the end of his papacy, that he should have done so.
Some popes reigned for a long times, others for a very short period. From 1045 to 1049, there were seven popes. Pope John Paul I died just one month into his reign in 1978.
"Spanning three millenniums, the papacy is one of history's most enduring institutions. Catholics believe the men who serve as pope-- from St. Peter in the first century through Benedict XVI in the 21st-- constitute an unbroken lineage back to Jesus Christ.
How the more than 260 popes built up the power, stature and influence of the papacy is a remarkable story."
More to Come.
No comments:
Post a Comment