Answer: Crucified on a cross upside down
Pope St Peter was appointed by Christ. He was the first pope and ruled about 33 AD to 67 AD. St Peter's Basilica in Rome is named for him. At that time, Roman Emperor Nero persecuted the Christians, having them put to death. (Nero even had his own mother murdered for her lack of loyalty.) It is said that when the Romans sentenced St Peter to be crucified, Peter felt unworthy to die in the same manner as Christ, so the Romans crucified him upside down.
From Quiz: Early Popes and Catholic History
Answer: Pietro sent the cardinals a letter decrying the delay
The cardinals assembled at Perugia to elect a new pope knew that Pietro di Morrone was a Benedictine hermit and unfit for the job. However, when he sent them a letter warning of divine wrath if they procrastinated any longer it was seen as a 'sign' - the catalyst they needed. The dean of the College of Cardinals, Latino Malabranca, immediately declared the hermit as the new pope - and the cardinals concurred.
Ending a two-year impasse, this was the Church's last non-conclave papal election. One of the first issues the reluctant new pope tackled was to reinstitute Gregory X's conclave system (established by the papal bull 'Ubi periculum').
From Quiz: Thymes that Try Men's Soles
Answer: St. Linus
When St. Linus was born is uncertain. Several sources identify him with Linus, the associate of the Apostle Paul, mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21. "The Oxford Dictionary of Popes" states St. Linus was the first bishop of Rome. His papacy began in 67 and ended in 79. Roman Catholics celebrate his feast on September 23, while members of the Eastern Orthodox Church commemorate him on June 7.
From Quiz: Ten Residents of the Appartamento Pontificio
Answer: Benedict XVI
Benedict resigned due to age without any external pressure. The last pope to resign was Gregory XII, though he resigned in 1415 due to external pressure. The last pope to resign without external pressure was Celestine V in 1294.
After Benedict resigned, he gained the title "Pope Emeritus".
From Quiz: Francis, The People's Pope
Answer: Rodrigo Borgia
Rodrigo Lanzol was born in Valencia in 1431, and he took his mother's last name Borgia (or Borja) when his maternal uncle became pope. He then took the name Alexander VI upon his own election as pope in 1492.
From Quiz: The Life of Alexander VI
Answer: 1406
Gregory XII was Pope from 1406 through 1415. He resigned his office on July 4, 1415.
From Quiz: Pope Gregory XII
Answer: John XXIII
John XXIII opened the council in 1962 but died the next year. The work continued under his successor, Paul VI.
From Quiz: Historic Popes
Answer: Argentina
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on 17 December 1936 in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. He was one of five children born to immigrant couple Mario José Bergoglio and Regina María Sívori.
Bergoglio was 76 years old when elected Pope on 13 March 2013, which at the time made him the 9th oldest Pope to assume the role. However, he was still almost two years younger than Joseph Ratzinger, his predecessor, was when he became Pope Benedict XVI.
From Quiz: Frankie Goes to the Vatican
Answer: lacked the strength to continue
In his address to the Cardinals on 10 February 2013, Pope Benedict stated: "After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry."
He also stated that to serve the Church, "...both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me...". He set a retirement date of 8pm, 28 February 2013.
Although, beginning in the 1990s, the Catholic Church had been scandalized by revelations of child abuse perpetrated by clergymen, this was not cited as a reason for Benedict's retirement.
From Quiz: Benedict, Farewell
Answer: Their heads must be covered in the church
Pope Linus was head of the church from 67-76 AD, and was its second pope. He created the church's first fifteen bishops during his pontificate. It is believed he was a close friend of the apostle Paul, and was no doubt influenced by Paul's attitude towards women as a result. Born in Tuscany, but with his birthdate unknown, he passed away in Rome in the year 76. He died a martyr, but the facts surrounding this death are unclear, or whether this martyrdom even took place at all.
From Quiz: Interesting Facts on the Popes
Answer: Red
Pope Benedict resumed the wearing of red shoes. This had been done for centuries until Pope John Paul II was elected in the later part of the 20th century. These red shoes have always been made by the Pope's personal cobbler. Rumors that these shoes are made by Prada are completely false.
From Quiz: The Papacy
Answer: Cardinal Camerlengo
The ring is usually worn on the right hand and a new ring is cast for each new Pope. The Camerlengo determines the cause of death of the reigning Pope and must remove the "Fisherman's Ring" during this procedure.
From Quiz: Popes, Past and Present
Answer: St. Peter
Relatively little is known for certain about the early Popes, but it is generally accepted that Peter became the leader of the Christian Church sometime around 30 AD and, like many prominent figures in early Christian history, was eventually martyred for his faith.
According to the Bible, Peter was a Galilean fisherman. His original name was probably Shimon bar Jonah but the name he was given by Jesus, "Peter", is an interesting play on words in both Greek (the language of many early Christian writings) and Aramaic (the language of ancient Israel): in both languages it is almost identical to the word for "rock". The words of Jesus about Peter being the "rock" upon which the Church would be built can be interpreted as both an instruction to Peter to become a foundation of the Christian faith, and an indication to those who followed later to regard Peter as the earthly leader of the faith.
St. Peter is the Patron Saint of many things, including fishermen, net makers, shipwrights, the Papacy and (with St. Paul the Apostle) the diocese of Las Vegas, Nevada.
(On a lighter note... Do you know the Sunday School song, "I will make you fishers of men"? As a mischievous youngster I used to sing "I will make you vicious old men" instead! Tsk, tsk!)
From Quiz: Pick of the Popes - Part I
Answer: 455
Before John Paul II, the last non-Italian was Pope Adrian VI (1522-1523) who was Dutch. John Paul II was the 264th Pope and a whopping 217 of his predecessors were Italian.
From Quiz: A Pot-pourri of Popes
Answer: 21
He reigned for 21 years, from 440-461. His reign ended upon his death on November 10, 461. No one knows his exact age as his birth date is unknown.
From Quiz: Pope Leo I
Answer: Dutch
Adrian VI was a Dutchman, even if some count him among the German popes. He was born in Utrecht, which at that time belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. He was pope for a short time, from January 1522 till September 1523.
From Quiz: Foreign Popes
Answer: The midwife who delivered him thought he would not survive.
He was born in Forno di Canale, Italy, and named Albino Luciani at his baptism. The midwife who delivered him believed, from his sickly appearance, that he would not survive so he was quickly baptized. In fact he grew into a strong youth in the mountainous area in which he was raised.
From Quiz: The Life and times of Pope John Paul I
Answer: Donation of Constantine
This was found by the Frankish King Pepin in A.D. 756. It was supposedly written by Emperor Constantine in the middle of the fourth Century. It gave the Bishop of Rome temporal power over the city of Rome. In the early 1400s, Lorenzo Valla found this article to be fake and it is still considered to be one of the greatest forgeries every written.
From Quiz: Past Pope Pizzazz
Answer: 9
Nine men held the office of Supreme Pontiff during the 20th Century. They were: Leo XIII (1878-1903), St. Pius X (1903-1914), Benedict XV (1914-1922), Pius XI (1922-1939), Pius XII (1939-1958), Blessed John XXIII (1958-1963), Paul VI (1963-1978), John Paul I (1978) and John Paul II (1978-2005). Leo XIII is included on this list because his papacy overlapped into the early 20th Century.
From Quiz: 20th Century Popes
Answer: Pius IX
His reign lasted from 1846 to 1878. During his reign he initiated the First Vatican Council, during which he made papal infallibility a dogma of the Church.
From Quiz: Do You Know Your Popes?
Answer: Edict of Milan
Emperor (Saint) Constantine I, and Licinius of the Balkans met in Milan and gave the Christians legal status. Constantine also directed the building of The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, at the site where it was believed Christ was buried. However, Constantine was not actually baptized until he was on his death bed in 337 AD.
From Quiz: Early Popes and Catholic History
Answer: He was a hermit, craving solitude
Pietro di Morrone's reaction when he was summoned to be crowned the new pope was absolute horror. He craved solitude and did not want to change his simple life. Finally, he was coerced by a deputation of cardinals and the King of Naples to accept the position. It is unclear how they changed his mind. On 5 July 1294 he took the name Celestine V and was crowned at Santa Maria di Collemaggio in the Abruzzo city of Aquila.
From Quiz: Thymes that Try Men's Soles
Answer: St. Evaristus
St. Evaristus was the fifth Pope. His predecessor was St. Clement I, the disciple of St. Peter. St. Evaristus' papacy began in 97. It is suggested that St. John, the "apostle whom Jesus loved" and author of the Revelation, died during the first years of St. Evaristus' term as Pope. Evaristus partitioned Rome into parishes, then called "titles" and assigned a priest for each one of them. He died in 107, when Trajan was the Emperor of Rome.
From Quiz: Ten Residents of the Appartamento Pontificio
Answer: Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
Interestingly, Francis once considered leaving the seminary after he took a liking to a young woman in his youth. However, he continued his studies and joined the Jesuits; he is the first pope to have been a member of the order.
From Quiz: Francis, The People's Pope
Answer: Callixtus III
Callixtus III was pope from 1455-1458. Callixtus made his nephew Alexander (then still called Rodrigo) a cardinal in 1456.
From Quiz: The Life of Alexander VI
Answer: The Western Schism
The Western Schism should not be confused with the Great Schism, which refers to the split between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, which began in 1054, and continues to this day. The Western Schism began in 1378, when Urban VI was elected Pope. Many of cardinals who voted for Urban VI soon regretted their choice, and later that same year elected another candidate, who took the name Clement VII. Urban VI refused to resign, and so there were two Popes, each of whom regarded his election as legitimate. Some countries recognized Urban VI, while others, such as France and Scotland, backed Clement VII. The divisions were largely political, rather than theological.
From Quiz: Pope Gregory XII
Answer: Joan
Pope Joan was supposedly a brilliant woman who dressed as a man. Her true sex was discovered only after she became pregnant and gave birth. As ingriguing as the story is, most historians believe it to be fiction.
From Quiz: Historic Popes
Answer: Italian
The largest group of migrants to Argentina have come from Italy--even more than Spain. It is estimated that 60% of Argentines have Italian ancestry (about 25 million people), including the country's first pope.
From Quiz: Frankie Goes to the Vatican
Answer: 85
Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger was born in 16 April 1927 in Marktl-am-Inn, Bavaria, Germany. He was ordained in 1951, at age 24. After teaching at the University of Bonn, he became Archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1977 and Cardinal in 1993. From 1981 to 2005 he was Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith -- also known as the Roman Inquisition (not to be confused with the Spanish Inquisition, which nobody expects).
He retired first to the Castel Candolof, and then, once renovations were complete, to the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the northern section of the Vatican Gardens.
From Quiz: Benedict, Farewell
Answer: Henry VIII
Pope Clement refused to annul Henry's first marriage, an argument that extended over several years. In 1533 Henry married Anne Boleyn despite the papal opposition, decreeing that his Archbishop of Canterbury had the authority to proclaim the annulment and declare the second marriage valid in the eyes of the Church. This was the first concrete step towards establishing an church independent of Rome. In 1538, because of rising attacks on Rome's holdings in England, with the destruction of the shrine to Thomas Becket in Canterbury, Paul III issued the edict of excommunication in 1538.
Earlier, in a sign of mourning after the Sack of Rome in 1527, Pope Clement VII had grown a beard which he kept until his death. The next 24 Popes followed suit.
From Quiz: The Papacy
Answer: They both resigned from the papacy
Celestine V resigned in 1294. He was elected after the death of Pope Nicholas IV. He did not want to be Pope as he wanted to live a simple life, and he issued a decree in 1294 stating any Pope had the right to resign.
And Gregory XII resigned in 1409. He resigned due to the strong support for other Popes elsewhere, vying for authority.
From Quiz: Popes, Past and Present
Answer: Pope Joan
The legend of Pope Joan is first recorded in the middle ages and told of a pope in the ninth century who was only discovered to be a woman when she gave birth during a papal procession. Historians today believe that this was merely an anti-papal satire.
From Quiz: A Pot-pourri of Popes
Answer: Sixtus III
Pope Sixtus III ruled over the Roman Catholic church from 432-440 and his feast is kept on March 28th. He reigned during the Nestorian and Pelagian controversies, and was accused of being to lenient on the so-called heretics. During his time as pope, he restored the Basilica of Liberius, now known as St. Mary Major, as well as enlarging the Basilica of St. Lawrence-Without-the-Walls. Celestine I reigned from 422-432, Pope Urban IV reigned from 1261-1264, and Pope Urban VI reigned from 1378-1389.
From Quiz: Pope Leo I
Answer: Wadowice
Wadowice is a town in southern Poland, 50 km from Krakow. Karol Wojtyla was born there on May 18, 1920. He died in Rome, on April 2, 2005.
From Quiz: Foreign Popes
Answer: police officer
His father, Josef Ratzinger, was a police officer who held strong anti-Nazi views which created problems for his family, forcing them to move regularly. He was also a devout Roman Catholic, and objected to local officials wanting to adopt various pagan customs which were thought to be in accordance with Nazi tradition. Josef Ratzinger retired in 1937 at the age of sixty, and both he and his wife Maria survived the war.
From Quiz: Benedict XVI - the 265th Pope
Answer: glassblower
Giovanni Luciani was a glassblower by trade. His wife's name was Bortola, and they had four children, Albino (later John Paul I) being the eldest. One of his brothers, Federico, died young. They were a relatively poor family, and this may later have influenced John Paul I in his compassion for the poor and rejection of some of the richer trappings of the papacy.
From Quiz: The Life and times of Pope John Paul I
Answer: Jesus Christ
The "Doctrine of Petrine Supremacy" was given to Pope Peter I by Jesus Christ. It gave Peter, and all popes to come, supreme spiritual power over Rome. It can be found in the Bible under Matthew 16:18-19. (It should, of course, be noted that many Christian churches do not recognise this authority.)
From Quiz: Past Pope Pizzazz
Answer: St. Pius X
In 1907, Pius X declared that "Modernism" was incompatible with Church teachings, and was therefore heresy. "Modernism" stems from the notion that due to advances in scientific technology and the development of new schools of thought, the concept of truth is ever-changing. At the time, the Church held to the belief that truth is constant and cannot be changed. Priests were required to take a vow against Modernism until 1967.
From Quiz: 20th Century Popes
Answer: Attila the Hun
It is not known what the pope's emissaries said or offered Attila the Hun that persuaded him to stop his invasion before reaching Rome. Pope St Leo (Leo the Great) was noted for the "Tome of Leo", writings that try to define the nature of Christ, and what Christianity is.
From Quiz: Early Popes and Catholic History
Answer: He was imprisoned
Upon resigning, Celestine V reverted to his birth name, Pietro Angelerio, but he was not allowed to return to being a hermit. The new pope, Boniface VIII, suspected that Celestine V's supporters might make him an antipope and wanted him close, in Rome, with him. Pietro escaped but was captured and imprisoned in the castle of Fumone (near Ferentino in Campania) where he died, ten months later, at the age of 81. Buried at Ferentino, his body was later moved to the Basilica Santa Maria di Collemaggio in Aquila.
From Quiz: Thymes that Try Men's Soles