Were any recent Popes ever married?

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Hi! I remember hearing that the Pope (I thought it was John Paul II) had been married and then widowed before becomming a priest. Is there any 20 th century Pontiff who was ever married?

Thanks in advance for your answer. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Joe

-- Joe Williams (joewilli@aol.com), February 01, 1998

Answers

Amazing! What a wild rumour this one is! No, John Paul II has never married, nor has any other 20th Century pope been married. John Paul became a priest as a young man. You have to wonder where some of these rumours start.

I do believe the last pope who was married was Peter...

-- Connie Ostlund (sorka@teleport.com), February 06, 1998.


I think another pope after Peter did, but I think in total there were only 2, and it was formally ruled that celibacy is required after 300 a.d.

-- Thomas Pham (mddvm1@pol.net), November 01, 1998.

Hi Joe,

Yes Joe there are a number of Popes after St. Peter who are married (and or not celibate). Pls. see below...Just remember that the Church recognize the gift of celibacy as discipline and not doctrines and is specifically for the Latin Rite Catholics... If you ask me personally what I prefer...I say I'll go for the celibate priesthood for the 'sake of the kingdom'! God Bless!

St. Felix III 483 - 492 Two children. St. Hormidas 514 - 523 Married before ordination. St. Silverus 536 - 537 Wife's name: Antonia. Hadrian II 867 - 872 One daughter. Clement IV 1265 - 1268 Two daughters. Felix V 1439 - 1449 One son. POPES WHO WERE SONS OF POPES AND OTHER CLERGY YEAR OF PAPACY HIS FATHER St. Damasus I 366 - 384 St. Lorenzo, priest St. Innocent I 401 - 417 Pope Anastasius I Boniface 418 - 422 A priest St. Felix 483 - 492 A priest Anastasius II 496 - 498 A priest St. Agapitus I 535 - 536 Gordianus, priest St. Silverius 536 - 537 Pope St. Hormidas Deusdedit 615 - 618 Stephen, sub-deacon Theodore I 642 - 649 A bishop Marinus I 882 - 884 A priest Boniface VI 896 Bishop Hadrian John XI 931 - 935 Pope Sergius III John XV 989 - 996 Leo, priest POPES WHO FATHERED CHILDREN AFTER THE CELIBACY LAW OF 1139 YEAR OF PAPACY NOTES Innocent III 1484 - 1492 Several children. Alexander VI 1492 - 1503 2 grandchildren were Cardinals. Julius 1503 - 1513 Three daughters. Paul III 1534 - 1549 One daughter, three sons. Pius IV 1559 - 1565 Three sons. Gregory XIII 1572 - 1585 One son.

Sources:

Kelly, J. N. D. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford Press. 1986.

H.C. Lea. History of Sacerdotal Celibacy in the Christian Church. 1957.

E. Schillebeeckx. The Church with a Human Face. Crossroad, 1985.

U. Ranke-Heinemann. Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven. Doubleday, 1990.

A. L. Barstow. Married Priests and the Reforming Papacy. The Edward Mellen Press, 1982.

-- John Manalo (John.Manalo@intel.com), January 23, 1999.


It is my understanding that priests were not banned from marriage until 1516 by The Council of Trent.

-- Ryan (paxryan@yahoo.com), December 16, 2004.

1: The Cpounsil of Trent opened in 1545, December 13th. It closed ont he 4th of dcember 1561.

2: Preistly cedlibacy was inacted before Treny, in the year 1079 AD. bEFORE 1079 AD, it was common to have Priests, Bishops,. Cardinals, and even Popes, who where wedded.

-- zarove (ZAROFF3@juno.com), December 16, 2004.



I wouldn’t say it was “common” Zarove. It had always been uncommon for priests to be married, very uncommon for bishops to be married, and as far as I’m aware no one was ever married and Pope at the same time, though a few Popes were widowers. Priestly celibacy became increasingly universal from the 1st to the 11th century. By the time celibacy was formally made a condition of ordination in the 11th century, there were very, very few remaining married priests.

-- Steve (55555@aol.com), December 16, 2004.

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