Antipope
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An antipope is one whose claim to being Pope is the result of a disputed or contested election. These antipopes were usually in opposition to a specific person chosen by the papal electors (since the Middle Ages, the College of Cardinals). Some self-appointed leaders of smaller churches are also called "antipopes."
During certain periods of turbulence in the Roman Catholic Church, controversial Papal elections were conducted. Some such elections were considered invalid, either because a large majority of papal electors claimed the election was invalid (such as the election of Felix V), or because they have subsequently been declared invalid (such as Clement VII).
The earliest antipope, Hippolytus, was elected in protest against Pope Callixtus I by a schismatic group in the city of Rome in the 3rd century. Hippolytus was exiled to the mines on the island of Sardinia in the company of Callixtus' successor Pope Pontian, and was reconciled to the Catholic Church before his death.
The period when 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, in this period, sponsored antipopes in order to further their cause. (The popes, likewise, frequently sponsored antikings in Germany to raise up trouble against their enemy.)
The late 14th and early 15th century saw a series of rival popes elected, one line of which is counted by the Roman Catholic Church as popes and the other as antipopes. The scandal of multiple claimants added to the demands for reform that produced the Protestant Reformation at the turn of the 16th century. (See Western Schism, Antipope Benedict XIII.)
It would not necessarily have been evident, during periods when two (or three) rival claimants existed, which was the antipope, and which was the pope, and the clear-cut distinctions made between them in retrospect can give a false sense that certainty existed among their contemporaries. Supporters might offer assistance to a given candidate, but could not know which would be determined to have been an antipope, and which the pope, until events had run their course.
There has not been an antipope since 1449, unless sedevacantist antipopes are counted (see below). Other schisms such as the Church of England, the Old Catholic Church and the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association began in a rejection of a primary dogma of the papacy.
Today the act of becoming an Antipope is considered a schismatic act by the Roman Catholic Church. This would result in automatic excommunication for the person who became Antipope.
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List of antipopes
- St. Hippolytus (reconciled with Pope St. Pontian and died as martyr to the church), 217–235
- Novatian, 251–258
- Felix II (confused with a martyr with the same name and thus considered an authentic pope until recently), 355–365
- Ursicinus (Ursinus), 366–367
- Eulalius, 418–419
- Laurentius, 498–499, 501–506
- Dioscorus (legitimate perhaps as opposed to Boniface II but died 22 days after election), 530
- Theodore (opposed to antipope Paschal), 687
- Paschal (opposed to antipope Theodore), 687
- Theofylact, 757
- Constantine II, 767–768
- Philip (replaced antipope Constantine II briefly; reigned for a day and then returned to his monastery), 768
- John, 844
- Anastasius III Bibliothecarius, 855
- Christopher, 903–904
- Boniface VII, 974, 984–985
- John Filagatto (John XVI), 997–998
- Gregory VI, 1012
- Sylvester III, 1045
- John Mincius (Benedict X), 1058–1059
- Pietro Cadalus (Honorius II), 1061–1064
- Guibert of Ravenna (Clement III), 1080 & 1084–1100
- Theodoric, 1100–1101
- Adalbert, 1101
- Maginulf (Sylvester IV), 1105–1111
- Maurice Burdanus (Gregory VIII), 1118–1121
- Thebaldus Buccapecuc (Celestine II) (legitimate but submitted to opposing pope, Honorius II and afterwards considered an antipope), 1124
- Pietro Pierleoni (Anacletus II), 1130–1138
- Gregorio Conti (Victor IV), 1138
- Ottavio di Montecelio (Victor IV), 1159–1164
- Guido di Crema (Paschal III), 1164–1168
- Giovanni of Struma (Callixtus III), 1168–1178
- Lanzo of Sezza (Innocent III), 1179–1180
- Pietro Rainalducci (Nicholas V), antipope in Rome, 1328–1330
- Robert of Geneva (Clement VII), antipope of the Avignon line, 20 September 1378 – 16 September 1394
- Pedro de Luna (Benedict XIII), antipope of the Avignon line, 1394–1423
- Pietro Philarghi Alexander V, antipope of the Pisan line, 1409–1410
- Baldasssare Cosa John XXIII, antipope of the Pisan line, 1410–1415
- Gil Sánchez Muñoz (Clement VIII), antipope of the Avignon line, 1423–1429
- Bernard Garnier (the first Benedict XIV), antipope of the Avignon line, 1425–1430?
- Jean Carrier (the second Benedict XIV), antipope of the Avignon line, 1430–?
- Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy (Felix V), 5 November 1439 – 7 April 1449
Sedevacantist antipopes
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Some breakaway Catholics today, called sedevacantists, claim the current Popes are heretics for replacing the Tridentine Latin Mass with the Novus Ordo Missae; many of them also object to the celebration of the Mass in the vernacular. Since the opinion of many Catholic theologians is that a heretical Pope would cease to be Catholic and therefore cease to be Pope, sedevacantists believe the current Bishops of Rome are not actually popes. Some sedevacantist groups have their own popes to replace the popes they reject. They are sometimes called antipopes, although it should be noted that in contrast to historical antipopes, the number of their followers is minuscule. Some of these antipopes have developed their own religious infrastructure in recognition that the conventional popes are not likely to consider ceding authority to them, thus being at once antipopes of the Universal Church and popes of their particular sect.
Sedevacantist antipopes frequently refer to the conventional successors of Pope Pius XII as a series of antipapacies.
Sedevacantist antipopes of the 20th-21st centuries
- Michel Colin (Clement XV), self-proclaimed from 1950–1968 in Canada
- Jean-Gaston Tremblay (Gregory XVII), succeeded Clement XV in 1968 in Canada; not to be confused with the Canadian politician Gaston Tremblay
- Gino Frediani (Emmanuel), self-proclaimed from 1973–1984 in Italy
- Clemente Domínguez y Gómez (Gregory XVII), self-proclaimed from 1978–2005 in Spain, pope of the Palmarian Catholic Church.
- Francis Konrad Schuckardt (Hadrian VII), self-proclaimed in 1984 in Washington, United States of America
- Valeriano Vestini (Valeriano), self-proclaimed in 1990 in Chieti, Italy
- David Bawden (Michael), self-proclaimed in 1990 in Kansas, United States of America
- Victor Von Pentz (Linus II), self-proclaimed in 1994 in the United Kingdom
- Manuel Alonso Corral, self-proclaimed succeeded Clemente Domínguez y Gómez (the self-styled Pope Gregory XVII) as the Pope of the Palmarian Catholic Church in 2005 in Spain , Maurice Achieri of Le Perreux, self-proclaimed in 1995 in France, and other several pretenders to the Papal throne (antipopes) have taken the regnal name Peter IIs, see that article for details
- Lucian Pulvermacher (Pius XIII), self-proclaimed in 1998 in Montana, United States of America, Pope of the self-proclaimed "true Catholic Church"
- Raymond Dimech (Leo XIV), self-proclaimed in 8 April 2005 in Valletta, Malta, Pope of the self-proclaimed "Schismatic Catholic Church"
The following Popes in the Roman line are declared Antipopes by some or all Conclavist or Sedevacantist groups:
- Pope John XXIII (reigned 1959-63) (all groups except Palmar de Troya)
- Pope Paul VI (reigned 1963-78) (all groups except Palmar de Troya)
- Pope John Paul I (reigned August 26-September 28, 1978) (all groups)
- Pope John Paul II (reigned October 16, 1978-April 2, 2005) (all groups)
- Pope Benedict XVI (incumbent, reign began April 19, 2005) (all groups)
See also
cs:Vzdoropapež da:Modpave de:Gegenpapst es:Antipapa fr:Antipape it:Antipapa lt:Antipopiežius nl:Tegenpaus ja:対立教皇 pl:Antypapież ru:Антипапа fi:Vastapaavi sv:Motpåve