Year of three popes

The Year of Three Popes or the Summer of Three Popes is a common reference to 1978, when the College of Cardinals of the Catholic Church was required to elect, in papal conclaves, two new popes in rapid succession as a result of the death of the first of the two (as well as of his predeccessor). This resulted in a year in which the Catholic Church was led by three different popes (i.e., there were two papal successions). Pope Paul VI died on August 6 and was succeeded by Pope John Paul I, who was elected on August 26, but died thirty-three days later on September 28. His death led to the election of Pope John Paul II on October 16, who held office until his death in 2005.

There have been several instances in which three or more popes have held office in a given calendar year. Years in which the Roman Catholic Church was led by three different popes include:

• 827: Pope Eugene II — Pope Valentine — Pope Gregory IV
• 896: Pope Formosus — Pope Boniface VI — Pope Stephen VI
• 897: Pope Stephen VI — Pope Romanus — Pope Theodore II
• 928: Pope John X — Pope Leo VI — Pope Stephen VII
• 965: Pope Leo VIII — Pope Benedict V — Pope John XIII
• 1003: Pope Silvester II — Pope John XVII — Pope John XVIII
• 1187: Pope Urban III — Pope Gregory VIII — Pope Clement III
• 1503: Pope Alexander VI — Pope Pius III — Pope Julius II
• 1555: Pope Julius III — Pope Marcellus II — Pope Paul IV
• 1590: Pope Sixtus V — Pope Urban VII — Pope Gregory XIV
• 1605: Pope Clement VIII — Pope Leo XI — Pope Paul V
• 1978: Pope Paul VI — Pope John Paul I — Pope John Paul II

There was also a year in which the Roman Catholic Church was led by four popes, called the Year of Four Popes:

• 1276: Pope Gregory X — Pope Innocent V — Pope Adrian V — Pope John XXI

References

Notes

Bibliography

Peter Hebblethwaite, The Year of Three Popes. William Collins Publishers, 1979.

See also

• List of popes by length of reign
• List of ages of popes
• Western Schism, which from 1409-1414 saw three simultaneous claimants to the Papacy