Stephen (ephemeral pope)
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Stephen, elected pope in March of 752 to succeed Pope Zacharias, died of apoplexy three days later, before being ordained a bishop.
In those times, the pope was chosen among the priests and deacons of Rome and never among bishops from other dioceses Template:Ref. By definition, the pope was the bishop of Rome and was considerate legitimate only from the day of his ordination. As a result, Stephen was not considered a legitimate pope and as such, omitted from all lists of popes. His immediate successor, also called Stephen, is as a rule numbered Stephen II, since the name Stephen had been already borne by Pope Stephen I (242-257).
From 752 to 942, seven popes reigned bearing the name of Stephen. Because the name numbering system did not begin until the 10th century, their names omitted the Roman numerals. When a new pope Stephen was elected in 1057, after the numbering became a custom, he was called Stephen IX, and the numerals II to VIII were added to the previous popes.
Approximately from the beginning of the 13th century, election began to prevail de facto over papal enthronement, more especially as nearly all popes were now already bishops when elected Template:Ref: an unconsecreted pope was thus legitimate from his very election, rather than from the moment of ordination or consecration. According to this new rule, when Pope Celestine IV (1241) or Pope Urban VII (1590) died just after their election, before their papal consecration, they were still considered legitimate.. The most extreme case is Pope Adrian V who was elected pope in 1276 without ever having been ordained to the priesthood, and died one month later, still not ordained: he has always been considered a legitimate pope.
In the 16th Century, at the time of the Council of Trent and the catholic Counter-Reformation, the supremacy of the Church and its leader was reinforced. The role of the pope evolved towards that of a souvereign by Divine Right (and away from the role of a priest). According to this point of view, the pope owned his election only to the Holy Spirit and thus from the moment of election. Therefore it came to be believed that this article's Pope Stephen was indeed a legitimate pope. He had then to be called Stephen II and the following Stephens had to be requalified from Stephen III to Stephen X — even if the last one was called officially Stephen IX during his life and signed his official documents "Stephanus papa nonus"!
During the reign of Pope John XXIII, just before the Second Vatican Council (which again modified the relations between the Church and the World), our Stephen was erased again from the lists. According to this, the Annuario pontificio which gives what is considered the "authorized" list of popes has been modified in its 1961 edition, and the following Stephens are numbered again from II to IX. However, neither Celestine IV, nor Adrian V, nor Urban VII have been similarly erased, because during their time one was pope immediately after his election.
Contrary to a widespread idea, the eviction of pope Stephen from the list is accepted by most historians and is no longer a debate within the Church, but the version of the Catholic Encyclopedia on which many articles and internet sites rely dates from 1913, and is not up to date. And because some rare list-makers still count him as having been pope, one can find sometimes unofficial lists with an awkward nomenclature for later popes who chose the name Stephen: later Stephens are numbered with parentheses, e.g., his immediate successor is sometimes referred to either as Stephen (II) III, or as Stephen II (III).
This matter has no real theological significance or historical consequence: Stephen died without having made any decisions. Thus, the only thing recognizing or not recognizing him affects is the lists of popes. The next pope Stephen will certainly be called Stephen X, but he still can choose to be Stephen XI. Thus far, no pope has chosen that name, avoiding any controversy.
Notes
- Template:Note Pope Marinus I was in 882 the first bishop from another diocese elected bishop of Rome.
- Template:Note Pope Gregory XVI was in 1831 the last man thus far elected Pope who was not already a bishop.
Bibliography
Bishop of Rome, Patrick Saint-Roch
Onomastics, Pontifical, Bernd-Ulrich Hergemöller
- in Philippe Levillain (editor), The Papacy: An Encyclopedia, Routledge, 2002, 1780 p. ISBN 0-41593-752-3
See also
Template:Start box Template:Succession box Template:End boxde:Stephan (II.) (Papst) fr:Étienne (pape éphémère) ko:교황 스테파노 2세 hr:Stjepan II. papa it:Papa Stefano II he:סטפנוס השני jv:Paus Stephanus II hu:II. István pápa nl:Paus Stephanus (II) pl:Papież Stefan II pt:Papa Estêvão II sl:Papež Štefan II. sv:Stefan II zh:斯德望二世