An 'antipope' is a person who makes a widely accepted claim to be the lawful
Pope, in opposition to the Pope recognized by the
Roman Catholic Church. Antipopes are typically those supported by a fairly significant faction of
cardinals. Persons who claim to be the Pope but have few followers, such as the modern
Sedevacantist antipopes, are not generally counted as antipopes, and therefore are ignored for
regnal numbering.
In several cases it is hard to tell which was, in fact, the lawful Pope and which was the antipope.
In its list of the Popes, the
Holy See's annual directory, ''
Annuario Pontificio'', attaches to the name of
Pope Leo VIII (963-965) the following note: "At this point, as again in the mid-eleventh century, we come across elections in which problems of harmonizing 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." In all cases it is clear that whichever was the Pope, the other was an antipope, since the claim of each was widely accepted.
History
Hippolytus (d. 235) is commonly recognized as the earliest antipope, as he protested against
Pope Callixtus I and headed a separate group within the Roman Church. 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,
[1] and whether Hippolytus actually declared himself to be the Bishop of
Rome, remains unclear, especially since no such claim is found in the writings attributed to him.
The
Catholic Encyclopedia also mentions a Natalius,
[2] before Hippolytus, as first antipope, who, according to Eusebius's EH5.28.8-12, quoting the ''Little Labyrinth'' of Hippolytus, after being "
scourged all night by the holy angels", covered in ash, dressed in
sackcloth, and "after some difficulty", tearfully submitted to
Pope Zephyrinus. As proof of the angels' actual intervention, Natalius displayed the wounds they had left on his back.
Novatian (d. 258), another third-century figure, certainly claimed the See of Rome in opposition to
Pope Cornelius, and is thus reckoned as the first unequivocal antipope.
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 imposed their own nominees, in order to further their cause. (The popes, likewise, sometimes sponsored rival imperial claimants in
Germany in order to overcome a particular emperor.)
The Great
Western Schism, which, on the grounds of the allegedly invalid election of
Pope Urban VI, began in 1378 with the election of
Clement VII, who took up residence in
Avignon,
France, led to two, and eventually three, rival lines of claimants to papacy: the Roman line, the Avignon line, 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, the
Council of Constance deposed, in May 1415,
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. The Council formally deposed
Benedict XIII of the
Avignon line, who refused to resign, in July
1417. 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
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.
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-eleventh century (see the second paragraph of this article), it makes no judgement on the legitimacy of his takeover of the position of Pope in 1045. The ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' places him in its
''List of Popes'', though with the annotation: "Considered by some to be an antipope".
Current claimants
Whilst all modern claimants to the Papacy are technically antipopes none of them have received wide enough recognition, as defined earlier in this article, to be considered true antipopes. Therefore these "antipopes" are listed in the article
Modern antipope.
See also
★
Antipopes in fiction
★
Sedevacantist antipope
★
List of popes
References
1. The catacombs the destination of the great jubilee
2. Monarchians - Dynamists, or Adoptionists
★
Catholic Encyclopaedia- article Antipope
★
The Pope Encyclopaedia - article Antipope
★ Kelly, J.N.D, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Popes'', Oxford University Press, USA (June 1, 1986), ISBN 0-19-213964-9
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