Your Top Three Favorite Popes

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Tis_Bearself

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List your top three favorite Popes. No Pope-bashing please, try to be positive.

Mine are
  1. Leo XIII (saintly guy, yet somehow gets ignored by everybody)
  2. St. John XXIII (great sense of humor, yet holy; also exhumed the papal name of John from its former disgrace)
  3. St. JPII (brought down Communism, had a great relationship with Mary, seems to have inspired many current priests to enter the priesthood)
Honorable mentions to Benedict XV who I feel sorry for because of St. Jacinta Marto’s and Servant of God Helena Pelczar’s rather sad visions of him, and Pius XI who’s even more ignored than Leo XIII, had the misfortune of getting stuck between a Saint Pius X and a Venerable (probably one day a saint) Pius XII, and before becoming Pope was a serious mountain climber with peaks named after him.
 
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In terms of canonized Popes:

1: St. Gregory the Great
2: St. Pius X
3: St. Pius V

In terms of non-canonized Popes:

1: Pope Innocent III
2: Pope Sixtus V
3: Pope Leo XIII
 
In no particular order:
  1. St John Paul II
  2. St Pius V
  3. St Pius X
  4. St Gregory VII
  5. Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI was a brilliant scholar. I feel sorry for him because he was mistreated by the secular world and by many in the Church. One day, I hope we learn the full truth about the vatileaks, the dossier, and the abdication.
 
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Interesting and a bit surprising that you put St JPII at the top of your list, Saxum, over the Piuses and Benedict XVI. Based on your posts I would have expected St. JPII to be a bit further down your list.

I agree with you that Benedict XVI was misunderstood and mistreated. St. JPII was a tough act to follow. I myself was biased against Benedict XVI when he was reigning. I feel bad about that now and pray for him every day to try and make up for it.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
Interesting and a bit surprising that you put St JPII at the top of your list, Saxum, over the Piuses and Benedict XVI. Based on your posts I would have expected St. JPII to be a bit further down your list.
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I’ve had private struggles with my Faith for the last few years. At my lowest ebb, I attended SSPX chapels and denied the validity of Vatican II. Then a good friend told me to read JPII’s biography and rely on his interpretation of Vatican II. It was the best advice I’ve ever received. It removed my doubts. I still have genuine criticisms but I’m no longer in danger of leaving the Church. John Paul II has become my lodestar.
 
Benedict XVI – Brilliant scholar, never got the recognition he deserved.
John Paul II
St. Leo the Great – I just have this life-sized picture in my head of him facing down Attila the Hun.
 
Pope Leo XIII - Because of his devotion to the Blessed Mother, his Encyclical on St. Joseph, and the creation of the St. Michael Prayer.

Benedict XVI - There is so much to learn from all of his writings.

Pius XII - He did so much as Pope at a very scary time.
 
  1. Leo XIII - Rerum Novarum is a brilliant encyclical
  2. St. JPll - fall of communism, bringing the church to the people, prolific writer - Redeptoris Mater, is his best
  3. St. Peter - first Pope, reflects the humanity of the church
It’s really tough to limit this to 3. I need to give an honourable mention to:
  • Innocent lll - for keeping the church together during a vulnerable period in history
  • Saint Pius Xll - for standing up to the Nazis
  • Saint John XXlll - launched Second Vatican Council
I’d like to see a listing of the top worst popes. Pope Leo X get my nod as the worst.
 
There have been a few articles listing the “worst Popes” as well as a book called “The Bad Popes” that I hope to get around to reading one of these days.


My top “worst Pope” is Stephen VI who dug up his predecessor’s rotting corpse and put it on trial before a synod. The corpse was found guilty and thrown in the Tiber; however, everybody was so disgusted with Stephen VI for this and other things that he ended up put in prison, where somebody strangled him to death.
(And we think the Church today has problems…)
 
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I don’t think I can limit it to 3. And I can’t put anyone over St. Peter, so I’m going to list my favorites below in addition to St. Peter.

For me, in no order:
  1. St John Paul II
  2. Pope Pius XII
  3. Leo XIII
  4. St. Gregory the Great
  5. Pius XI
  6. St. Clement I
 
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