"The popular confusion arises from a failure to distinguish between the number of popes and the number of successors to Peter, the first pope. Pope Benedict XVI [wa]s the 264th successor of Peter, which ma[de] him the 265th pope of the Catholic Church," according to Catholic Answers at Catholic.com.
Now that he is retired, Benedict is called His Holiness Benedict XVI, pope emeritus or Roman pontiff emeritus, according to the Vatican.
In terms of papal numbers, Pope Francis is the 266th pope, the 265th successor to St. Peter.
Have you always wondered about some aspect of the faith? Do you have a question about Pope Francis? If you do, email us your question at editor@ewtn.com and look for the answer in an upcoming issue.
Comments
Post a Comment
Post a Comment
By submitting this form, you give The National Catholic Register permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.