Antipope

For the book by Robert Rankin, see The Antipope.

An antipope (Latin: antipapa) is a person who opposes a legitimately elected or sitting Pope and makes a significantly accepted competing claim to be the Pope,^[1] the Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman 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 the Pope but have few followers, such as the modern sedevacantist antipopes, are not generally classified as antipopes, and therefore are ignored for regnal numbering.

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.^[2]

History

Saint Hippolytus (d. 235) is commonly considered to be the earliest antipope, as he protested against Pope Callixtus I and headed a separate group within the Church in Rome. Hippolytus was later reconciled to Callixtus's second successor, Pope Pontian, when both were condemned to the mines on the island of Sardinia. He has been canonized by the Church. Whether two or more persons have been confused in this account of Hippolytus,^[3] and whether Hippolytus actually declared himself to be the Bishop of Rome, remains unclear, especially since no such claim has been cited in the writings attributed to him.

Papal styles of the Antipope
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	N/A

Eusebius of Caesarea quotes^[4] from an unnamed earlier writer the story of a Natalius who accepted the bishopric of a heretical group at Rome, but who soon repented and tearfully begged Pope Zephyrinus (Pope from 199 to 217) to receive him into communion.^[5][6] If Natalius claimed to be Bishop of Rome rather than only of a small group in the city, he could be considered an antipope earlier than Hippolytus and indeed the first antipope.

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 (antikings) in Germany to overcome a particular emperor.

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 last-mentioned line was named after the town of Pisa, Italy, where the council that elected Alexander V as a third claimant was held. To end the schism, in May 1415, the Council of Constance deposed John XXIII of the Pisan line, whose claim to legitimacy was based on a council's choice. Pope Gregory XII of the Roman line resigned in July 1415. In 1417, the Council also formally deposed Benedict XIII of the Avignon line, 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

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 (perhaps because of the uncertainty of the evidence), nor Antipope Clement VIII. It may be that the following of the latter was considered insufficiently significant, like that of "Benedict XIV", who is mentioned along with him in the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Pope Martin V.^[7]

As for Sylvester III, sometimes listed as an antipope, the Holy See's Annuario Pontificio classifies him as a pope, not an antipope. In line with its above-quoted remark on the obscurities about the canon law of the time and the historical facts, especially in the mid-11th century (see the second paragraph of this article), it makes no judgement regarding the legitimacy of his takeover of the position of pope in 1045. The Catholic Encyclopedia places him in its List of Popes,^[8] though with the annotation: "Considered by some to be an antipope". Until first years of 20th century, he was classified as an antipope, so Robert Hugh Benson, in Lord of the World, calls the Last Pope "Sylvester III", not "Sylvester IV". Benson calls Sylvester's predecessor "John XXIV" and not "John XXIII" because, in 1907, Pisan Antipopes Alexander V and John XXIII were considered true popes.

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.[9]
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.[9]
Tommaso Brancaccio	Antipope John XXIII	6 June 1411	Attended the Council of Constance, and the conclave of Pope Martin V.[10]
Gil Sánchez Muñoz	Antipope Clement VIII	26 July 1429	Submitted to Pope Martin V after his uncle abdicated.[11]

Modern claimants to papacy

For more details on this topic, see Conclavism.

As well as antipopes, in the historical sense of the term, there have been and are people who, with a very limited following, ranging from very few to some hundred, claim to be Pope.

They thus do not fit the Encyclopædia Britannica's definition of "antipope": "one who opposes the legitimately elected Bishop of Rome, endeavours to secure the papal throne, and to some degree succeeds materially in the attempt."^[12] Except by their followers, whose number is minuscule, they are not regarded as serious claimants.

They are usually religious leaders of breakaway Roman Catholic groups that reject the commonly recognized popes (sedevacantist groups). For this reason they are often called "sedevacantist antipopes". Claiming to have elected a pope in a "conclave" of perhaps half a dozen laypeople, as in the case of David Bawden, they hold that, because of their action, the See of Rome is no longer vacant, and that they are no longer sedevacantists (conclavism).

A significant number of them have taken the name Peter II, owing to its special significance.

The Roman Catholic Church regards them as excommunicated schismatics, and in some cases 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–?), 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])

Fiction

Antipopes have appeared as fictional characters. These may be either in historical fiction, as fictional portraits of well-known historical antipopes or in the guise of 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.^[13][14] 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.^[15]
• 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".^[16]

See also

• List of tombs of antipopes

References

1. ^ "One who opposes the legitimately elected bishop of Rome, endeavours to secure the papal throne, and to some degree succeeds materially in the attempt" (Encyclopaedia Britannica: Antipope
2. ^ Annuario Pontificio 2008 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2008 ISBN 978-88-209-8201-4), p. 12*
3. ^ "The catacombs the destination of the great jubilee". Vatican City. http://www.vatican.va/jubilee_2000/magazine/documents/ju_mag_01091997_p-70_en.html. Retrieved 3 September 2007. 
4. ^ Historia Ecclesiastica, V, 28
5. ^ Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature: Zephyrinus
6. ^ "Monarchians – Dynamists, or Adoptionists". Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10448a.htm. Retrieved 3 September 2007. 
7. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope Martin V
8. ^ CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: List of Popes
9. ^ ^{a b} Miranda, Salvador. 1998. "XIV Century (1303–1404)."
10. ^ Miranda, Salvator. 1998. "The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Biographical Dictionary: [Antipope] John XXIII (1410–1415): Consistory of 6 June 1411 (I)."
11. ^ Miranda, Salvador. 1998. "XV Century (1404–1503)."
12. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica, s.v. antipope
13. ^ Jean Raspail, "L'Anneau du pêcheur," Paris: Albin Michel, 1994. 403 p. ISBN 2-226-07590-9
14. ^ Gérard Bavoux, "Le Porteur de lumière," Paris: Pygmalion, 1996. 329 p. ISBN 2-85704-488-7
15. ^ "Zladko "Zlad!" Vladcik's music video, "I am the Antipope""
16. ^ Trey Parker, Matt Stone (4 April 2007). South Park (television series). http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/103208. Retrieved 11 May 2009. 

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