Antipope

For the book by Robert Rankin, see The Antipope.

An antipope (Latin: antipapa) or anti-pope is a person who opposes a legitimately elected or sitting Pope and makes a significantly accepted competing claim to be the Pope, the Bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church. At times between the 3rd and mid-15th century, antipopes were typically those supported by a fairly significant faction of religious cardinals and secular kings and kingdoms. Persons who claim to be pope, but have few followers, such as the modern sedevacantist antipopes, are not classified as antipopes, and therefore are ignored in the regnal number list.

In the list of popes given in the Holy See's annual directory, Annuario Pontificio, the following note is attached to the name of Pope Leo VIII (963–965):

At this point, as again in the mid-eleventh 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.

History

Saint Hippolytus (d. 235) is commonly considered to be the earliest antipope, as he was against Pope Callixtus I and headed a separate group within the Church in Rome. Hippolytus was reconciled to Callixtus's second successor, Pope Pontian. Hippolytus has since been canonized by the Church. Whether two or more persons have been confused in this account of Hippolytus and whether Hippolytus actually declared himself to be the Bishop of Rome, remains unclear. No claim by Hippolytus as Bishop of Rome has been cited in any writings attributed to him.

Eusebius of Caesarea quotes from an unnamed earlier writer the story of one Natalius, a third-century priest who accepted the bishopric of a heretical group in Rome. This Natalius soon repented and tearfully begged Pope Zephyrinus to receive him into communion. Novatian (d. 258), another 3rd century figure, claimed the See of Rome during the reign of Pope Cornelius.

The Great Western Schism— which began in 1378, when the French cardinals, claiming that the election of Pope Urban VI was invalid, elected Clement VII as Pope— led to two, and eventually three, rival lines of claimants to the papacy: the Roman line, the Avignon line (Clement VII took up residence in Avignon, France), and the Pisan line. The Pisan line was named after the town of Pisa, Italy, where the the (Pisan) council had elected Alexander V as a third claimant. To end the schism, in May 1415, the Council of Constance deposed John XXIII of the Pisan line. Pope Gregory XII of the Roman line resigned in July 1415.

In 1417, the Council also formally deposed 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. The scandal of the Great Schism created anti-papal sentiment, and fed into the Protestant Reformation at the turn of the 16th century.

List of historical antipopes

An asterisk marks those who have been taken into account in the conventional numbering of later Popes who took the same name. For the additional confusion regarding Popes named John, see Pope John (numbering).

Pontificate	Common English name	Regnal (Latin) name	Personal name	Place of birth	Age at Election / Death or Resigned	# years as Antipope	Notes	In opposition to
c. 200	Natalius	Natalius					later reconciled (see above)	Zephyrinus
217–235	Saint Hippolytus	Hippolytus					later reconciled with Pope Pontian (see above)	Callixtus I
								Urban I
								Pontian
251–258	Novatian	Novatianus					founder of Novatianism	Cornelius
								Lucius I
								Stephen I
								Sixtus II
355–365	Felix II*	Felix secundus					installed by Roman Emperor Constantius II	Liberius
366–367	Ursicinus	Ursicinus	Ursinus					Damasus I
418–419	Eulalius	Papa Eulalius						Boniface I
498–499 501–506	Laurentius	Papa Laurentius					supported by Byzantine emperor Anastasius I	Symmachus
530	Dioscorus	Papa Dioscurus						Boniface II
687	Theodore	Papa Theodorus						Sergius I
687	Paschal (I)	Papa Paschalis
767–768	Constantine II	Papa Constantinus secundus						Stephen III
768	Philip	Papa Philippus					installed by envoy of Lombard King Desiderius
844	John VIII	Papa Joannes octavus					elected by acclamation	Sergius II
855	Anastasius III Bibliothecarius	Papa Anastasius tertius						Benedict III
903–904	Christopher	Papa Christophorus						between Leo V and Sergius III
974	Boniface VII	Papa Bonifacius septimus						between Benedict VI and Benedict VII
984–985								between John XIV and John XV
997–998	John XVI*	Papa Joannes sextus decimus	John Filagatto				supported by Byzantine emperor Basil II	Gregory V
1012	Gregory VI	Papa Gregorius sextus						Benedict VIII
1058–1059	Benedict X*	Papa Benedictus decimus	John Mincius				supported by the Counts of Tusculum	Nicholas II
1061–1064	Honorius II	Papa Honorius secundus	Pietro Cadalus				supported by Agnes, regent of the Holy Roman Empire	Alexander II
1080, 1084–1100	Clement III	Papa Clemens tertius	Guibert of Ravenna				supported by Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor	Gregory VII
								Victor III
								Urban II
								Paschal II
1100–1101	Theodoric	Papa Theodoricus					successor to Clement III	Paschal II
1101	Adalbert or Albert	Papa Adalbertus					successor to Theodoric
1105–1111	Sylvester IV	Papa Sylvester quartus	Maginulf				supported by Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor
1118–1121	Gregory VIII	Papa Gregorius octavus	Maurice Burdanus					Gelasius II
								Callixtus II
1124	Celestine II	Papa Cœlestinus secundus	Thebaldus Buccapecus					Honorius II
1130–1138	Anacletus II	Papa Anacletus secundus	Pietro Pierleoni					Innocent II
1138	Victor IV	Papa Victor quartus	Gregorio Conti				successor to Anacletus II
1159–1164	Victor IV	Papa Victor quartus	Ottavio di Montecelio				supported by Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor	Alexander III
1164–1168	Paschal III	Papa Paschalis tertius	Guido di Crema
1168–1178	Callixtus III	Papa Callixtus tertius	Giovanni of Struma
1179–1180	Innocent III	Papa Innocentius tertius	Lanzo of Sezza
1328–1330	Nicholas V	Papa Nicolaus quintus	Pietro Rainalducci				supported by Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor	John XXII
1378–1394	Clement VII	Papa Clemens septimus	Robert of Geneva	Geneva	36/52	15 y, 11 m, 27 d	Avignon	Urban VI
								Boniface IX
1394–1423	Benedict XIII	Papa Benedictus tertius decimus	Pedro de Luna	Illueca, Aragon	66/95	28 y, 7 m, 25 d	Avignon
								Innocent VII
								Gregory XII
								Martin V
1409–1410	Alexander V*	Papa Alexander quintus	Pietro Philarghi				Pisa	Gregory XII
1410–1415	John XXIII	Papa Joannes vicesimus tertius	Baldassare Cossa				Pisa
1423–1429	Clement VIII	Papa Clemens octavus	Gil Sánchez Muñoz					Martin V
1424–1429	Benedict XIV	Papa Benedictus quartus decimus	Bernard Garnier
1430–1437	Benedict XIV	Papa Benedictus quartus decimus	Jean Carrier
								Eugene IV
1439–1449	Felix V	Papa Fœlix quintus	Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy	Chambéry, Savoy	56/65 (†67)	9 y, 5 m, 2 d	elected by the Council of Basel
								Nicholas V

The list of popes and antipopes in the Annuario Pontificio does not include Natalius nor Antipope Clement VIII. It may be that Clement's following was considered insignificant.

Quasi-cardinal-nephews

Main article: List of cardinal-nephews

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

Quasi-cardinal	Nephew of	Elevated	Notes
Giacomo Alberti	Antipope Nicholas V	15 May 1328	Excommunicated by Pope John XXII.
Amedeo Saluzzo	Antipope Clement VII	23 December 1383	Abandoned Avignon Pope Benedict XIII after having been deposed by him on 21 October 1408; participated in the Council of Pisa, the election of Pope Alexander V (now regarded as an antipope), the Council of Constance, and the conclave of Pope Martin V.
Tommaso Brancaccio	Antipope John XXIII	6 June 1411	Attended the Council of Constance, and the conclave of Pope Martin V.
Gil Sánchez Muñoz	Antipope Clement VIII	26 July 1429	Submitted to Pope Martin V after his uncle abdicated.

Modern claimants to papacy

For more details on this topic, see Conclavism.

There have been people who have claimed to be pope in modern times. They do not fit the technical definition of "antipope", but are sometimes erroneously^{[citation needed]} called "antipope". They are usually religious leaders of breakaway Roman Catholic sects that reject the pope (and are known as sedevacantist groups, since they view the papacy as unfilled until they elect someone to fill it). Claiming to have elected a pope in a "conclave" of perhaps half a dozen laypeople, as in the case of David Bawden ("Pope Michael I"), they claim, because of their actions, that the See of Rome is no longer vacant; thus they further claim they are not sedevacantists (conclavism) once they have elected an "antipope". A significant number of these claimants have taken the name Peter II, owing to its special significance. The Roman Catholic Church has excommunicated such schismatics, and in some cases classify them as heretics.

Collinites

For more details on this topic, see Apostles of Infinite Love.

• Michel Collin or Colin (Pope Clement XV), self-proclaimed (1950–1974) in France, founder of Order of the Mother of God (a name later changed to Apostles of Infinite Love)
• Jean-Gaston Tremblay, Gregory XVII (1968–2011), in Canada

Palmarian Catholic Church

For more details on this topic, see Palmarian Catholic Church.

• Clemente Domínguez y Gómez (Pope Gregory XVII), mystically self-proclaimed (1978–2005) in Spain
• Manuel Alonso Corral (Pope Peter II), succeeded Gregory XVII in 2005, died in 2011
• Gregory XVIII (2011–)

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 of Rome is excommunicated and that the position of the Holy See has, since 1978, been transferred to the See of El Palmar de Troya.

Other examples

The following organised their elections by allegedly faithful Catholics, none of whom was a recognized cardinal. The smallest such conclave was attended by only three electors; the largest is claimed to have comprised at least 62 electors. Examples are:

• Mirko Fabris (Pope Krav I), (since 1978), elected in Zagreb, Croatia
• David Bawden (Pope Michael I), (since 1990) elected in Kansas, United States of America
• Lucian Pulvermacher (Pope Pius XIII) (1998–2009), elected in Montana, United States of America (see True Catholic Church)
• Raphael Titus Otieno (since 2004), third of the Legio Maria popes (since 1962) of western Kenya
• Joaquín Llorens (Pope Alexander IX), (since 2005), elected in Elx, Spain (see [1])
• Oscar Michaelli (of Argentina), elected on 24 March 2006 by a group of 34 episcopi vagantes as Pope Leo XIV. On his death on 14 February 2007, he was succeeded by Juan Bautista Bonetti, who took the name of Pope Innocent XIV, but resigned on 29 May 2007. Alexander IX was chosen in his place. (see [2])
• William Timlin (Pope Adrian VII), since 2005 when Pope Benedict XVI renounced his titles as Patriarch of the West and Pontifex Maximus.

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 novels of — "L'Anneau du pêcheur" (The Fisherman's Ring) — and Gérard Bavoux — "Le Porteur de lumière" (The Light-bringer) feature two antipopes. From two rather different perspectives these recount the fictional history of a parallel hierarchy, by which in secret French cardinals nominated the true Pope. As it is told, the antipope Benedict XV', Pierre Tifane, was recognized as pope in Avignon from 1437 to 1470. His successor, the antipope Benedict XVI (not to be confused with the validly-elected 21st century Pope Benedict XVI), Jean Langlade, reigned there from 1470 to 1499. These books build on claims that Jean Carrier, the second antipope Benedict XIV, nominated cardinals who were to continue this antipapal line, in the Great Schism.
• Robert Rankin's first part of his comic fantasy The Brentford Trilogy is called The Antipope and features the resurrected Pope Alexander VI, the last Borgia pope.
• Walter M. Miller's novel A Canticle for Leibowitz makes repeated reference to an "Antipope Vissarion", leader of the Vissarionist Schism of ca. 3000 AD. Several popes in the sequel, the post-apocalyptical novel Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman, are called antipopes during or after their papacies.
• The fictional synth-pop artist Zladko Vladcik claims to be "The Anti-Pope" in one of his songs.
• Dan Simmons's novels Endymion and Rise of Endymion feature a Father Paul Duré who is the routinely murdered antipope Teilhard I.
• S. M. Stirling's novel Dies the Fire and its sequels feature an antipope named Leo, who is set up by one of the surviving communities of Western Oregon after "the Change". After communications with Europe are reestablished, and the death of this antipope and his secular sponsor, his followers are reconciled with the Church.
• 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, taking as pretext the exclusion from a previous conclave of a number of cardinals who had been named but not formally appointed before the Pope's death, elect an Italian cardinal who calls himself "Pius XIII".
• "Fantastic Easter Special", an episode of the television series South Park, depicts William A. Donohue of the American Catholic League as a megalomaniac extremist that takes over the Roman Catholic Church with an army of ninjas. While Pope Benedict XVI initially cooperates with Donohue, the Pope changes his mind after Jesus resurrects to deal with the situation. When Donohue sees that the Pope is willing to follow Jesus over himself, he has both Jesus and Benedict arrested and declares himself "Pope Bill Donohue".

See also

• List of tombs of antipopes

External links and bibliography

• Catholic Encyclopedia: Antipope
• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Antipope
• The Pope Encyclopaedia: Antipope
• Kelly, J.N.D, "The Oxford Dictionary of Popes," Oxford University Press, USA (1 June 1986), ISBN 0-19-213964-9
• Raspail, Jean, "L'Anneau du pêcheur," Paris: Albin Michel, 1994. 403 p. ISBN 2-226-07590-9
• Bavoux, Gérard, "Le Porteur de lumière," Paris: Pygmalion, 1996. 329 pp ISBN 2-85704-488-7