Year of Three Popes

Updated on Dec 04, 2023

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The Year of Three Popes is a common reference to a year when the College of Cardinals of the Catholic Church are required to elect two new popes within the same calendar year. Such a year generally occurs when a newly elected pope dies or resigns very early into his papacy. This results in the Catholic Church being led by three different popes during the same calendar year.

Instances

The most recent instance of a Year of Three Popes occurred in 1978. The three popes involved were:

Paul VI, who was elected on 21 June 1963 and died on 6 August 1978.
John Paul I, who was elected on 26 August 1978 and died thirty-three days later on 28 September 1978.
John Paul II, who was elected on 16 October 1978 and held the position until his death almost 27 years later on 2 April 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: Eugene II — Valentine — Gregory IV

896: Formosus — Boniface VI — Stephen VI

897: Stephen VI — Romanus — Theodore II

928: John X — Leo VI — Stephen VII

964: Leo VIII — Benedict V — John XIII

1003: Sylvester II — John XVII — John XVIII

1045: Sylvester III — Benedict IX (Second reign) — Gregory VI

1187: Urban III — Gregory VIII — Clement III

1409: Gregory XII —Benedict XIII —Alexander V

1503: Alexander VI — Pius III — Julius II

1555: Julius III — Marcellus II — Paul IV

1590: Sixtus V — Urban VII — Gregory XIV

1605: Clement VIII — Leo XI — Paul V

1978: Paul VI — John Paul I — 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: Gregory X — Innocent V — Adrian V — John XXI

References

Year of Three Popes Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA