Two Popes?

[MarkA16]

I heard that if Apostolic Succession were true, then it would have ended at the time when there were two Popes.

My question is this, why were there more than one Pope? What happened? I believe in Peter the first Pope, I believe in the teachings of the Apostles to be handed down to other generations, etc. How did at one time end up with two Popes?

 

[Randy_Carson]

I heard that if Apostolic Succession were true, then it would have ended at the time when there were two Popes.

My question is this, why were there more than one Pope? What happened? I believe in Peter the first Pope, I believe in the teachings of the Apostles to be handed down to other generations, etc. How did at one time end up with two Popes?

There were never two popes.

There was one validly elected Pope and one who claimed to be validly elected but was not. Both had supporters.

Imagine if Gore had declared himself President after the “hanging chad” election. He might have had supporters and could have held a swearing in ceremony and the whole nine yards. You see the mess this would have created.

It took awhile for the papal situation to be sorted out because there were no telecommunications, fax machines and email back then, but it was finally cleared up.

Keep in mind, there can only be one Bishop of each diocese at a time. Therefore, there was only one valid Bishop of Rome. That Bishop is the pope.

Hope this helps. :tiphat:

 

[Genesis315]

There’s multiple “popes” nowadays too. There’s the real Pope Benedict XVI, but there’s also a bunch of antipopes, like Pius XIII, Michael I, Linus II, a few Peter II’s, and a couple Gregory XVII’s.

The existence of pretenders doesn’t harm the line of the true bishops of Rome.

 

[Aramis]

There’s multiple “popes” nowadays too. There’s the real Pope Benedict XVI, but there’s also a bunch of antipopes, like Pius XIII, Michael I, Linus II, a few Peter II’s, and a couple Gregory XVII’s.

The existence of pretenders doesn’t harm the line of the true bishops of Rome.

Plus the term Pope is used (rather validly) for Shenouda III, 17th Pope of Alexandria; he’s the Alexandrian Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox. Traditionally, this patriarch is termed “Pope and Patriarch”; some accounts extend a similar title to the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, as well.