Antipope

Part of a series on the
Catholic Church
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
Overview
Pope: Francis Hierarchy History (timeline) Theology Liturgy Sacraments Mary
Background Jesus Crucifixion Resurrection Ascension Early Christianity Peter Paul Fathers History of the Catholic Church History of the papacy Ecumenical councils Magisterium Four Marks of the Church One true church Apostolic succession
Organisation Holy See Roman Curia College of Cardinals Ecumenical councils Episcopal polity Latin Church Eastern Churches Canon law
Theologies Doctrine God Trinity Father Son Holy Ghost Consubstantialitas Filioque Divinum illud munus Divine Law Decalogus Ex Cathedra Deificatio Realms beyond the States of the Church Heaven Purgatory Limbo Hell Paschal mystery Passion of Jesus Crucifixion of Jesus Harrowing of Hell Resurrection Ascension Blessed Virgin Mary Mariology Veneration Immaculate Conception Mater Dei Perpetual virginity Assumption Dormition Titles Queen Apparition Mediatrix Salvation Baptism of desire Divine grace Outside the Church there is no salvation Infused righteousness Invincible ignorance Justification Means of grace Merit Mortal sin Satisfaction Moral influence Sanctification Synergism Venial sin Ecclesiology College of Bishops Deposit of faith Infallibility of the Church Mystical Body of Christ Papal primacy People of God Perfect community Subsistit in Other teachings Josephology Morality Body Lectures Sexuality Apologetics Amillennialism Original sin Hypostatic union Predestination Seven deadly sins Beatific vision Saints Dogma
Texts Bible Old Testament New Testament Official Bible Vulgate Sixtine Vulgate Sixto-Clementine Vulgate Nova Vulgata Peshitta Apostles' Creed Nicene Creed Athanasian Creed Catechism of the Catholic Church Papal bull Apostolic exhortation Epistula Encyclica
Philosophy Cardinal Virtues Just war Natural law Catholic ethics Personalism Probabilism Social teaching Philosophy of canon law Philosophers Virtue ethics Schools Augustinianism Scholasticism Thomism Scotism Occamism Christian humanism Molinism Neo-scholasticism
Worship Liturgy Mass Divine Liturgy Holy Qurbana Divine Office Liturgical year Sacraments Baptism Penance Eucharist Confirmation Anointing of the Sick Matrimony Holy orders Prayer Devotions Bible Biblical canon
Rites Latin Roman Post-Vatican II Tridentine Anglican Use Zaire Use Gallican Ambrosian Braga Mozarabic Eastern Antiochene Maronite West Syriac Syro-Malankara Chaldean East Syriac Syro-Malabar Byzantine Armenian Alexandrian Ethiopic
Miscellaneous Antipopes Anti-Catholicism Criticism Deism/Pandeism Ecumenism Monasticism Relations with: Islam Judaism Protestantism
Societal issues Art Evolution Health care HIV/AIDS Homosexuality Sexual abuse Music Nazi Germany Politics (in the United States) Role in civilization Science Sex and gender roles Slavery the Age of Discovery
Links and resources Index Outline Glossary Category Media Templates WikiProject  Vatican City portal
Catholic Church portal
v t

An antipope (Latin: antipapa) is a person who, in opposition to the legitimately elected pope, makes a significant attempt to occupy the position of Bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church.^[1] At times between the 3rd and mid-15th centuries, antipopes were supported by important factions within the Church itself and by secular rulers.

Sometimes it was difficult to distinguish which of two claimants should be called pope and which antipope, as in the case of Pope Leo VIII and Pope Benedict V.^[2]

Persons who merely claim to be pope and have few followers, such as the modern conclavist antipopes, are not classified with the historical antipopes.

History[]

Hippolytus of Rome (d. 235) is commonly considered to be the earliest antipope, as he headed a separate group within the Church in Rome against Pope Callixtus I.^[3] Hippolytus was reconciled to Callixtus's second successor, Pope Pontian, and both he and Pontian are honoured as saints by the Catholic Church with a shared feast day on 13 August. Whether two or more persons have been confused in this account of Hippolytus^[4] and whether Hippolytus actually declared himself to be the Bishop of Rome, remains unclear, since no such claim by Hippolytus has been cited in the writings attributed to him.

Eusebius quotes^[5] from an unnamed earlier writer the story of Natalius, a 3rd-century priest who accepted the bishopric of the Adoptionists,^[6] a heretical group in Rome. Natalius soon repented and tearfully begged Pope Zephyrinus to receive him into communion.^[7][8]

Novatian (d. 258), another third-century figure, certainly claimed the See of Rome in opposition to Pope Cornelius, and if Natalius and Hippolytus were excluded because of the uncertainties concerning them, Novatian could then be said to be the first antipope.

The period in which antipopes were most numerous was during the struggles between the popes and the Holy Roman Emperors of the 11th and 12th centuries. The emperors frequently imposed their own nominees to further their own causes. The popes, likewise, sometimes sponsored rival imperial claimants (anti-kings) in Germany to overcome a particular emperor.

The Western Schism—which began in 1378, when the French cardinals, claiming that the election of Pope Urban VI was invalid, elected antipope Clement VII as a rival to the Roman Pope—led eventually to two competing lines of antipopes: the Avignon line (Clement VII took up residence in Avignon, France), and the Pisan line. The Pisan line, which began in 1409, was named after the town of Pisa, Italy, where the (Pisan) council had elected antipope Alexander V as a third claimant. To end the schism, in May 1415, the Council of Constance deposed antipope John XXIII of the Pisan line. Pope Gregory XII of the Roman line resigned in July 1415. In 1417, the council also formally deposed antipope Benedict XIII of Avignon, but he refused to resign. Afterwards, Pope Martin V was elected and was accepted everywhere except in the small and rapidly diminishing area that remained faithful to Benedict XIII.

List of historical antipopes[]

The following table gives the names of the antipopes included in the list of popes and antipopes in the Annuario Pontificio, with the addition of the names of Natalius (in spite of doubts about his historicity) and Antipope Clement VIII (whose following was insignificant).^[9]

An asterisk marks those who were included in the conventional numbering of later popes who took the same name. More commonly, the antipope is ignored in later papal regnal numbers; for example, there was an Antipope John XXIII, but the new Pope John elected in 1958 was also called John XXIII. For the additional confusion regarding popes named John, see Pope John numbering.

The list of popes and antipopes in the Annuario Pontificio attaches the following note to the name of Pope Leo VIII (963–965):

At this point, as again in the mid-11th century, we come across elections in which problems of harmonising historical criteria and those of theology and canon law make it impossible to decide clearly which side possessed the legitimacy whose factual existence guarantees the unbroken lawful succession of the successors of Saint Peter. The uncertainty that in some cases results has made it advisable to abandon the assignation of successive numbers in the list of the popes.^[10]

Thus, because of the obscurities about mid-11th-century canon law and the historical facts, the Annuario Pontificio lists Sylvester III as a pope, without thereby expressing a judgement on his legitimacy. The Catholic Encyclopedia places him in its List of Popes,^[11] but with the annotation: "Considered by some to be an antipope". Other sources classify him as an antipope.^[12]

As Celestine II resigned before being consecrated and enthroned in order to avoid a schism, Oxford's A Dictionary of Popes (2010) says he "...is classified, unfairly, as an antipope,"^[13] a position historian Salvador Miranda also shares.^[14]

Those with asterisks (*) were counted in subsequent papal numbering.

Quasi-cardinal-nephews[]

Many antipopes created cardinals, known as quasi-cardinals, and a few created cardinal-nephews, known as quasi-cardinal-nephews.

Modern claimants to papacy[]

In modern times various people claim to be pope and, though they do not fit the technical definition of "antipope", are sometimes referred to as such. They are usually leaders of sedevacantist groups who view the See of Rome as vacant and elect someone to fill it. They are sometimes referred to as conclavists because of their claim, on the basis of an election by a "conclave" of perhaps half a dozen laypeople, as in the case of David Bawden ("Michael I"), to have rendered the See no longer vacant. A significant number of these have taken the name "Peter II", owing to its special significance. From the point of view of the Catholic Church, they are schismatics, and as such are automatically excommunicated.^{[18][better source needed]}

Collinites[]

• Michel Collin, self-proclaimed Clement XV (1961–1974) in France, founder of the Apostles of Infinite Love^[19]
• Jean-Gaston Tremblay, Gregory XVII (1968–2011), in Canada
• Mathurin de la Mère de Dieu, Gregory XVIII (since 2011), in Canada^[20]

Palmarian Catholic Church[]

• Clemente Domínguez y Gómez (Gregory XVII), mystically self-proclaimed (1978–2005) in Spain
• Manuel Corral (Peter II) (2005–2011)
• Ginés Jesús Hernández (Gregory XVIII) (2011–2016)
• Joseph Odermatt (Peter III) (2016–present)

The Palmarian Catholic Church regards Pope Paul VI, whom they revere as a martyr, and his predecessors as true popes, but hold, on the grounds of claimed apparitions, that the Pope in Rome is excommunicated and that the position of the Holy See has, since August 1978, been transferred to the See of El Palmar de Troya.

Other examples[]

The following were elected by professedly faithful Catholics, none of whom were cardinals:

• Popes of the "Legio Maria", based in western Kenya (not technically Conclavist):
  • Timothy Joseph Blasio Atila (1963–1998)
  • Pius Lawrence Jairo Chiaji Adera (1998–2004)
  • Raphael Titus Otieno (2004–present; disputed since 2010)
  • Romanus Ong’ombe (2010–present; disputed)
• David Bawden (Michael I), (1990–present) elected in Kansas, US.^[21]
• Victor von Pentz (Linus II), (1994–present).^[22][23] Another conclave, this time held in Assisi, Italy, elected the South African Victor von Pentz, an ex-seminarian of the Society of Saint Pius X, as Pope Linus II in 1994. Linus took up residence in Hertfordshire, England.
• Pope of the "True Catholic Church": Lucian Pulvermacher (Pius XIII), (1998–2009), elected in Montana, US.
• Mirko Fabris (Krav I), (1978–2012), elected in Zagreb, Croatia.^[23]
• Joaquín Llorens (Alexander IX), (2005–present), elected in Elx, Spain.^[24]
• Popes of the "", based in Buenos Aires, Argentina:
  • Oscar Michaelli (Leo XIV), (2006–2007) elected by a group of 34 episcopi vagantes.
  • Juan Bautista Bonetti (Innocent XIV), (2008), resigned May 2008.
  • Alejandro Tomás Greico (Alexander IX), (2008–present).^[25]

Antipope of Alexandria[]

As the Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, has historically also held the title of pope, a person who, in opposition to someone who is generally accepted as a legitimate pope of Alexandria, claims to hold that position may also be considered an antipope. In 2006, the defrocked married Coptic lector Max Michel became an antipope of Alexandria, calling himself Maximos I. His claim to the Alexandrine papacy was dismissed by both the Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III and Pope Theodore II of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria.^[26] The Coptic pope of Alexandria and the Greek pope of Alexandria currently view one another, not as antipopes, but rather as successors to differing lines of apostolic succession that formed as a result of christological disputes in the fifth century.

Another Coptic (Alexandrian) antipope is known to have laid claim in the fourth century. His name was Gregory of Cappadocia.

In fiction[]

Antipopes have appeared as fictional characters. These may be either in historical fiction, as fictional portraits of well-known historical antipopes or as purely imaginary antipopes.

• Jean Raspail's novel l'Anneau du pêcheur (The Fisherman's Ring), and 's Le Porteur de lumière (The Light-bringer).^[27][28]
• The fictional synth-pop artist Zladko Vladcik claims to be "The Anti-Pope" in one of his songs.^[29]
• Dan Simmons's novels Endymion and The Rise of Endymion feature a Father Paul Duré who is the routinely murdered antipope Teilhard I. At the end of the last novel, it is mentioned that the person calling himself the pope of the Technocore loyal Catholics is recognized by very few even among those, and he is referred to as an antipope.
• In the Girl Genius comics series, set in a gaslamp fantasy version of Europe thrown into chaos by mad science (among other things), there is a brief reference to the existence of seven popes—all of whom apparently ordered a particular text burned.
• Ralph McInerny's novel The Red Hat features a schism between liberals and conservatives following the election of a conservative African Pope; the liberal faction elect an Italian cardinal who calls himself "Pius XIII".
• In the video game Crusader Kings II by Swedish developer Paradox Interactive, Catholic rulers may appoint one of their bishops as an antipope. An emperor-tier ruler such as the Holy Roman Emperor may declare war on the Papal States to install their antipope as the "true" pope, thereby vassalizing the Papacy.
• In the video game Age of Empires II the third scenario in the game's Barbarossa campaign is called "Pope and Antipope" and is based on the Siege of Crema and the subsequent Wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines.
• In episode 3 of The Black Adder (set in the late 15th century), "The Archbishop", Baldrick remarks on selling counterfeit papal pardons, that one for the highest crimes requires the signatures of "both popes" (implying one pope and one antipope). At the end of the episode, the Mother Superior of the local convent informs Edmund that he has been excommunicated by "all three popes".
• The Last Fisherman by Randy England features an anti-pope John XXIV elected in opposition to Pope Brendan I
• Bud McFarlane's Pierced by a Sword includes an anti-pope John XXIV who is elected when the assassination attempt on Pope Patrick (fictional successor to John Paul II) is believed to have succeeded. He commits suicide at the end of the book.
• Chilling Adventures of Sabrina features an antipope who leads the Churches of Darkness. This antipope reigns in the Vatican Necropolis beneath Rome.

See also[]

• List of papal elections
• Papal conclave
• Papal selection before 1059

References[]

External links and bibliography[]

Look up antipope in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Catholic Encyclopedia: "Antipope"
• Encyclopædia Britannica: "Antipope"
• The Pope Encyclopaedia: "Antipope"
• Kelly, J.N.D, The Oxford Dictionary of Popes, Oxford University Press, US (1986), ISBN 0192139649.
• Raspail, Jean, 'L'Anneau du pêcheur, Paris: Albin Michel, 1994. 403 pp. ISBN 2226075909.
• Bavoux, Gérard, Le Porteur de lumière, Paris: Pygmalion, 1996. 329 pp. ISBN 2857044887.