How many popes held the position during the 20th century?

The pope also known as the supreme pontiff (from Latin 'pontifex maximus' "greatest priest"), is the Bishop of Rome and 'ex officio' leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. Since 1929, the pope has also been head of state of Vatican City, a city-state enclaved within Rome, Italy. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013, succeeding Benedict XVI.

During the 20th century there was a total of nine popes that held the post. They were"

Leo XIII 20 February 1878 – 20 July 1903 (25 years, 150 days)

St Pius X 4 August 1903 – 20 Aug 1914 (11 years, 16 days)

Benedict XV 3 September 1914 – 22 Jan 1922 (7 years, 141 days)

Pius XI 6 February 1922 – 10 Feb 1939 (17 years, 4 days)

Pius XII 2 March 1939 – 9 Oct 1958 (19 years, 221 days)

St John XXIII 28 October 1958 – 3 June 1963 (4 years, 218 days)

St Paul VI 21 June 1963 – 6 Aug 1978 (15 years, 46 days)

John Paul I 26 August 1978 – 28 Sep 1978 (33 days)

St John Paul II 16 October 1978 – 2 April 2005 (26 years, 168 days)

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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29 Comments

Sean Philips

Good question

Fred Keogh

Leo XIII was elected Pope in the 19th Century, however as the question asks 'How many Popes were there in the 20th Century' and NOT 'how many were elected in the 20th Century'. The answer is 9.

Wayne Roberts

All guilty of protecting paedophiles and murderers! Recent find of graves at a residential school in Canada and graves in Ireland are proof!

Dennis Walker

My knowledge of the history of the Catholic Church could be written on the back of a postage stamp

Tom Knox

Great question and it fooled me because I was also counting Benedict and Francis 🙄, who aren't until the 21st century.

bonniecardona

The answer is WRONG as there have been 11 popes on the 20th century. Someone needs to fact check these answers as I have seen quite a few wrong explanations lately and it's frustrating when one knows the right answers!!!

Howard Groopman

Leapy Lee, That's merely there for historical accuracy. He reigned at the end of the 20th century.

Howard Groopman

Had no idea. My late wife was a good Catholic, and she probably would not have known the answer. I did remember the names of the last 5on the list, all of whom reigned during my lifetime, and I believe there have been two since then.