View Single Post
Old 18-08-2010, 10:14 AM #15
Omah Omah is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Tralfamadore
Posts: 10,343
Omah Omah is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Tralfamadore
Posts: 10,343
Default Corin the Cretin "Is there only 1 pope?

Well, there is now, but twas not always thus :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipope

Quote:
An antipope is a person who, in opposition to a sitting Bishop of Rome, makes a widely accepted claim to be the Pope.

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 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.
There are over 40 recognised antipopes .....


There are still some other popes :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope#Other_popes

Quote:
In the Roman Catholic Church

The "Black Pope" is a name that was popularly, but unofficially, given to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus due to the Jesuits' importance within the Church. This name, based on the black colour of his cassock, was used to suggest a parallel between him and the "White Pope" (since the time of Pope Pius V the Popes dress in white) and the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (formerly called the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith), whose red cardinal's cassock gave him the name of the "Red Pope" in view of the authority over all territories that were not considered in some way Catholic. In the present time this cardinal has power over mission territories for Catholicism, essentially the Churches of Africa and Asia, but in the past his competence extended also to all lands where Protestants or Eastern Christianity was dominant. Some remnants of this situation remain, with the result that, for instance, New Zealand is still in the care of this Congregation.

Last edited by Omah; 18-08-2010 at 10:21 AM.
Omah is offline