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| The Popes
Chronological listing of all Popes and
Antipopes. |
|
 Pope
Leo III During his papacy,
Charlemagne was crowned as the first Holy
Roman Emperor. |
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 Pope Leo X
Giovanni de Medici was destined for the
Church from a very early age, and was
made a Cardinal at the age of 14. As
Pope, he is best remembered for
instituting a number of practices that
led Martin Luther to criticize the
Church, which in turn led to the
Protestant Reformation. |
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 Pope
Pius XII Before being
elevated to the papacy, Eugenio Maria
Giuseppe Pacelli served the Vatican as a
diplomat. During his papacy he tried to
prevent the outbreak of World War II.
During the war he carried out relief work
and helped rescue Jews from Nazi
persecution. After the war he was an
outspoken critic of Communism. In one
encyclical he explained how both the
"Big Bang Theory" and the
theory of evolution could be reconciled
with Catholic beliefs. |
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 Pope
John XXIII Angelo Giuseppe
Roncalli was a Vatican diplomat during
World War II, in which capacity he helped
Jews escape Nazi persecution. As Pope,
helped ease tensions between the Catholic
Church and Communist nations. One of his
last actions was to call the Second
Vatican Council to achieve an
"updating" of the Church. |
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 Pope
John Paul II Karol Józef
Wojtyla was the first non-Italian to be
elected Pope in 455 years. During his
papacy he emphasized the church's ban on
contraception and abortion, encouraged
opposition movements against dictators,
and encouraged dialogue with
representatives of other religions,
including Judaism. |
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