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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.
Antipope Felix V, the last historically significant 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.
| Contents |
| History |
| List of historical antipopes |
| Current claimants |
| See also |
| References |
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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