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A Complete List Of Antipopes In History

Source: vaticancatholic.com

To understand what God might allow to transpire in the final days, we must understand Catholic teaching on the Papacy and look at some examples in Church history of things that God has allowed to occur with regard to the Papacy.  It’s a fact of history, Scripture and tradition that Our Lord Jesus Christ founded His universal Church (the Catholic Church) upon St. Peter.  

Matthew 16:18-19-“And I say to thee: That thou are Peter: and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.  And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.”

Our Lord made St. Peter the first pope, entrusted to him His entire flock, and gave him supreme authority in the universal Church of Christ. 

John 21:15-17-“Jesus saith to Simon Peter: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me?  He saith to him: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.  He saith to him: Feed my lambs.  He saith to him again: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He saith to him: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.  He saith to him: Feed my lambs.  He saith to him a third time: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me?  Peter was grieved, because he had said to him the third time: Lovest thou me? And he said to him: Lord, thou knowest all things: thou knowest that I love thee.  He said to him: Feed my sheep.”

But in the 2000 year history of the Catholic Church, there have been more than 40 antipopes.  An antipope is a bishop who claims to be the pope, but was not canonically elected as Bishop of Rome (i.e., supreme pontiff).  Here is a list of the 42 antipopes that the Church had to contend with before Vatican II:

  1. St. Hippolytus (reconciled with Pope St. Pontian and died as martyr to the church), 217–235
  2. Novatian, 251–258
  3. Felix II (confused with a martyr with the same name and thus considered an authentic pope until recently), 355–365
  4. Ursicinus (Ursinus), 366–367
  5. Eulalius, 418–419
  6. Laurentius, 498–499, 501–506
  7. Dioscorus (legitimate perhaps as opposed to Boniface II but died 22 days after election), 530
  8. Theodore (II) (opposed to antipope Paschal), 687
  9. Paschal (I) (opposed to antipope Theodore), 687
  10. Theofylact, 757
  11. Constantine II, 767–768
  12. Philip (replaced antipope Constantine II briefly; reigned for a day and then returned to his monastery), 768
  13. John VIII, 844
  14. Anastasius III Bibliothecarius, 855
  15. Christopher, 903–904
  16. Boniface VII, 974, 984–985
  17. John Filagatto (John XVI), 997–9
  18. Gregory VI, 1012
  19. Sylvester III, 1045
  20. John Mincius (Benedict X), 1058–1059
  21. Pietro Cadalus (Honorius II), 1061–1064
  22. Guibert of Ravenna (Clement III), 1080 & 1084–1100
  23. Theodoric, 1100–1101
  24. Adalbert, 1101
  25. Maginulf (Sylvester IV), 1105–1111
  26. Maurice Burdanus (Gregory VIII), 1118–1121
  27. Thebaldus Buccapecuc (Celestine II) (legitimate but submitted to opposing pope, Honorius II, and afterwards considered an antipope), 1124
  28. Pietro Pierleoni (Anacletus II), 1130–1138
  29. Gregorio Conti (Victor IV), 1138
  30. Ottavio di Montecelio (Victor IV), 1159–1164
  31. Guido di Crema (Paschal III), 1164–1168
  32. Giovanni of Struma (Callixtus III), 1168–1178
  33. Lanzo of Sezza (Innocent III), 1179–1180
  34. Pietro Rainalducci (Nicholas V), antipope in Rome, 1328–1330
  35. Robert of Geneva (Clement VII), antipope of the Avignon line, 20 September 1378 – 16 September 1394
  36. Pedro de Luna (Benedict XIII), antipope of the Avignon line, 1394–1423
  37. Pietro Philarghi Alexander V, antipope of the Pisan line, 1409–1410
  38. Baldassare Cossa (John XXIII), antipope of the Pisan line, 1410–1415
  39. Gil Sánchez Muñoz (Clement VIII), antipope of the Avignon line, 1423–1429
  40. Bernard Garnier (the first Benedict XIV), antipope of the Avignon line, 1425–c. 1429
  41. Jean Carrier (the second Benedict XIV), antipope of the Avignon line, 1430–1437
  42. Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy (Felix V), 5 November 1439 – 7 April 1449

(Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia)

One of the most notorious cases in Church history was that of the Antipope Anacletus II, who reigned in Rome from 1130 to 1138.  Anacletus had been implanted in an uncanonical election after Innocent II, the true pope, had already been chosen.  Despite his invalid and uncanonical election, Antipope Anacletus II gained control of Rome and the support of the majority of the College of Cardinals.  Anacletus held the support of almost the entire populace of Rome, until the true pope regained control of the city in 1138. (The Catholic Encyclopedia, “Anacletus,” Vol. 1, 1907, p. 447.)

We must also now take a look at the Great Western Schism to see what God allowed in Church history and therefore what he could allow in the Great Apostasy.

 

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