Popes & Saints & Statistics

[Shin]

Here, for what it is worth, follows a list from one source of the first 110 Popes from an encylopedia, and then some notes. . .

1.   St. Peter (42-67)         
2.   St. Linus (67-76)         
3.   St. Cletus (76-88)      
4.   St. Clement I (88-97)      
5.   St. Evaristus (97-105)      
6.   St. Alexander I (105-1l5)   
7.   St. Sixtus I (1l5-125)      
8.   St. Telesphorus (125-136)   
9.   St. Hyginus (136-140)      
10.   St. Pius I (140-155)      
11.   St. Anicetus (155-166)      
12.   St. Soter (166-175)      
13.   St. Eleutherius (175-189)   
14.   St. Victor I (189-199)      
15.   St. Zephyrinus (199-217)   
16.   St. Callistus (217-222)      
17.   St. Urban I (222-230)      
18.   St. Pontian (230-235)      
19.   St. Anterus (235-236)      
20.   St. Fabian (236-250)      
21.   St. Cornelius (251-253)      
22.   St. Lucius I (253-254)      
23.   St. Stephen I (254-257)      
24.   St. Sixtus I1 (257-258)      
25.   St. Dionysius (256-268)      
26.   St. Felix I (269-274)      
27.   St. Eutychian (275-283)      
28.   St. Caius (283-296)      
29.   St. Marcellinus (296-304)   
30.   St. Marcellus I (308-309)   
31.   St. Eusebius (309)      
32.   St. Miltiades (31l-314)      
33.   St. Silvester I (314-335)   
34.   St. Mark (336)         
35.   St. Julius I (337-352)   
   
36.   Liberius (352-366)

37.   St. Damasus I (366-384)      
38.   St. Siricius (384-399)      
39.   St. Anastasius I (399-401)   
40.   St. Innocent I (401-417)   
41.   St. Zosimus (417-418)      
42.   St. Boniface I (418-422)   
43.   St. Celestine I (422-432)   
44.   St. Sixtus III (432-440)   
45.   St. Leo I (440-461)      
46.   St. Hilarus (461-468)      
47.   St. Simplicius (468-483)   
48.   St. Felix III (483-492)      
49.   St. Gelasius I (492-496)   

50.   Anastasius II (496-498)

51.   St. Symmachus (498-514)      
52.   St. Hormisdas (514-523)      
53.   St. John I (523-526)      
54.   St. Felix IV (526-530)      
55.   Boniface II (530-532)
56.   John II (533-535)
57.   Agapitus I (535-536)
58.   St. Silverius (536-537)      
59.   Vigilius (537.555)
60.   Pelagius I (556-561)
61.   John III (561-574)
62.   Benedict I (575-579)
63.   Pelagius II (579-590)
64.   St. Gregory I (590-604)      
65.   Sabinian (604-606)
66.   Boniface III (607)
67.   St. Boniface IV (608-615)   
68.   St. Adeodatus (615-618)      
69.   Boniface V (619-625)
70.   Honorius I (625-638)
71.   Severinus (640)
72.   John IV (640-642)
73.   Theodore I (642-649)
74.   St. Martin I (649-655)      
75.   St. Eugene I (654-657)      
76.   St. Vitalian (657-672)      
77.   Adeodatus II (672-676)
78.   Donus (676-678)
79.   St. Agatho (678-681)      
80.   St. Leo II (682-683)      
81.   St. Benedict II (684-685)   
82.   John V (685-686)
83.   Conon (686-687)
84.   St. Sergius I (687-701)      
85.   John VI (701-705)
86.   John VII (705-707)
87.   Sissinius (708)
88.   Constantine (708-715)
89.   St. Gregory II (715-731)   
90.   St. Gregory III (731-741)   
91.   St. Zacharias (741-752)      
92.   Stephen II (752-757)
93.   St. Paul I (757-767)      
94.   Stephen III (768-772)
95.   Hadrian I (772-795)
96.   St. Leo III (795-816)      
97.   Stephen IV (816-817)
98.   St. Paschal I (817-824)      
99.   Eugene II (824-827)
100.   Valentine (827)
101.   Gregory IV (827-844)
102.   Sergius II (844-847)
103.   St. Leo IV (847-855)      
104.   Benedict III (855-858)
105.   St. Nicholas (858-867)      
106.   Hadrian II (867-872)
107.   John VIII (872-882)
108.   Marinus I (882-884)
109.   St. Hadrian III (884-885)   
110.   Stephen V (885-891)

After St. Hadrian III, there are no more sainted Popes except 5.

There are of all the popes up until these times, 74 saints in total.

The first 35 popes are all saints, this is until 352 A.D. After one interruption, the next up to the 49th pope, 496 A.D. are saints.

This is 98% of the popes.

After this, there is a distinct change in frequency.

Now from the year 496 A.D. until 885 A.D., and the 109th Pope, St. Hadrian III, there are 59 popes, of which 24 are saints.

This is about 40%.

After this, the change is stark.

From the year 885 A.D., beginning with Stephen V, until the current day, there are 5 popes called saints.

This is about 3%.

Who are the 5?

St. Leo IX, St. Gregory VII, St. Celestine V, St. Pius V, and St. Pius X.

[Patricia]

Fewer and fewer saints as the years passed. We are probably living in the darkest age right now.

[Shin]

Yes, I think that is so. . .

I was thinking a chart showing the abandonment of Christianity by the nations would also be thought provoking.

[MidnightSun12]

Wow, that means less then 30% of Popes have been assured of a place in heaven.  When I compare our society's holiness against that of Pope Benedict's, it scares me tremendously to think just how few are likely to be saved.

[Antonio]

Yes, I think that is so. . .

I was thinking a chart showing the abandonment of Christianity by the nations would also be thought provoking.

     Yes,  it certainly does.   We are living in dark times in terms of the Light of Christ.   

 God Bless You Shin,
 Antonio

[Young Ireland]

Let's not lose hope. No matter how dark things may be right now, Christ (and the Immaculate Heart of Mary) will always triumph in the end.

It should also be remembered that nearly all of the early popes were martyrs, which makes it a lot easier to canonise them. Also, Many Popes of the modern Age are also on the path to sainthood. John Paul II and John XXIII are beatified, while Pius XII and Paul VI may very well be canonised someday. The important thing is in the words of St. Pio:

"Pray, hope, and don't worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer."

Very true. 

[odhiambo]

"Pray, hope, and don't worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer."

Very true.  

Padre Pio would agree with you 100% there  

[Paul]

Wow, that is amazing! Thanks for compiling that list! We know it isn't just that there hasn't been enough time to canonize some saints, because there have been over a thousand years to canonize the 10th century popes. I would love to see that chart showing the abandonment of Christianity by nations.

This shows that it isn't just the sixties revolution, or the rise of democracy, or Protestantism, or even science eclipsing the Church after Galileo (all of which have contributed to the decline of the Church and have been thought of as the one and only cause by various people). What this tells me is that there has been a decline from early on.

I wonder what happened around the years 500 and 900 to make these changes. Also, do you know how many of those popes in various eras were beatified? That would be interesting to know.

[Shin]

There aren't many blesseds or venerables. The list is from the old Catholic encyclopedia, which has some good articles, and for all its resources, some not so good articles -- there's a fuller list in the actual article, so anyone can calculate a bit.

Yes, hmm.. It ties in well with the impression I have gotten from Catholic prophecy.. First the gentiles embrace Christianity.. then over time, they will fall away from it.. This is the sign of the very end.. and of course, at last there's all the climactic apostasy, restoration, apostasy, and Antichrist.

If only there were more material from the earlier popes available.. I do not know how much still exists, so much of course is in Latin.

I rely on the saints and show a little more caution with those declared Bl. or Ven. than they, as it is possible not to go any further, or even I once read, though I do not know of any cases, for it to be revoked.

That disclaimer made, there's a Ven. Bartholomew Holzhauser who is popular in Catholic prophecy, who has divided the Church up into a series of ages or periods, which he claimed inspiration for. I am still trying to read up more about him and what he has written.
But I like finding this sort of.. division up into periods and comparing, trying to get a grasp of the history of it all.

But seeing this list one definitely wishes for more knowledge of those periods and the practices of the faithful in those times. This is not to say simply because they were older they were superior, but there is something quite naturally special and worthwhile.

A lot of.. false information about the early Church has been put out there by some, especially those involved in liturgical changes, claiming and misrepresenting various things as practices of the ancient Church which were actually not. Because of this, and how generally commentary in and of itself has problems, it is very important to read source material.

For history I have always gone to the source material first, and the commentaries on them far more rarely and with a more careful and reserved eye, doubting and putting to the test as necessary.

By the way I was not someone who read much of Catholic prophecy, and it's still something that's more intangible to me that I prefer -- I felt rather compelled to learn of it and carefully, rather than desiring to, and I know many folks do not care for reading prophecy especially when you're new to learning about the faith. It's perfectly natural I know those feelings well, especially given how harder it is to get a firm hold of and there are not quite enough folks out there who are reserved when speaking on the subject, rather than desirous of taking it out on a limb and making predictions.

But if you take the saints and their prophecies, there a person has a reliable basis for beginning. True in regards to prophecies one has to be more careful about sources because there is more possibility of falsification, but it's the soundest beginning there can be along with the Holy Scriptures.  

[Paul]

Interesting. What would you recommend for someone who would like to get into Catholic prophecy?

What you say about going to the source material first makes a lot of sense. People can't seem to agree on what a person "really" meant by what he said. This has been my frustration with history. So much of it only serves as a tool to promote one agenda or another.

[Shin]

Hmm, let me think about that and look at what I have. 

[MidnightSun12]

Yes, hmm.. It ties in well with the impression I have gotten from Catholic prophecy.. First the gentiles embrace Christianity.. then over time, they will fall away from it.. This is the sign of the very end.. and of course, at last there's all the climactic apostasy, restoration, apostasy, and Antichrist.

Shin, just out of curiosity, does prophecy suggest any kind of restoration coming in the next 50 years? 

I would think that we are yet to see the conversion of Russia, but our Holy Mother didn't give us a timeline for when this would happen, just that it would occur at some point.

It definitely seems that affluence and love of God are mutually exclusive things.  As our society's ability to care for the temporal lives of people improves, it's ability to foster spiritual wellbeing heads in the opposite direction.

[Paul]

It definitely seems that affluence and love of God are mutually exclusive things.  As our society's ability to care for the temporal lives of people improves, it's ability to foster spiritual wellbeing heads in the opposite direction.

That is so true. It's all part of the Deuteronomic Cycle; the people follow God, He blesses them for it, they get rich, they forget about Him and fall into sin, He takes away the blessings as punishment, they repent, and then the cycle starts over again.

And yet, how many of us are willing to choose poverty out of love for God?

[Shin]

Shin, just out of curiosity, does prophecy suggest any kind of restoration coming in the next 50 years?  

That is so true. It's all part of the Deuteronomic Cycle; the people follow God, He blesses them for it, they get rich, they forget about Him and fall into sin, He takes away the blessings as punishment, they repent, and then the cycle starts over again.

From the priests I've listened to and my own impression too for what little it's worth, is that there has to be a chastisement first. There has been too much sacrilege, blasphemy, apostasy within the Church's confines, and gravest offenses against God for it all to pass by without such. So yes, the cycle has yet to finish in regards to punishment.

The impression is again, that we are living in a time that is a 'type' of the time of the Antichrist -- it is not yet this time yet, but it is in a lesser way, how such a time would proceed. There's a sermon on Audio Sancto about Julian the Apostate which gives an idea of prophetic 'types' and times and is worth listening to fill out this idea. When we read about times that resemble the times of Antichrist, and the other times that are types of this period, it shows us what to expect and how to behave under such trials, rather than leaving us helpless before unexpected trials.

After a chastisement there should naturally be some sort of restoration. And then the cycle will begin again.

Yes as you said we have to willingly choose poverty.. yet how many will? It's what's best for us..

It makes me think all the more how important it is that children not be raised with too much technological entertainment, or in fact any. The habit of being constantly stimulated this way, is hard to break. I truly love when I hear about people involved in the homesteading movement, or the Plain Catholics.

[Paul]

After a chastisement there should naturally be some sort of restoration. And then the cycle will begin again.

How do we know there is another cycle? Maybe the Antichrist will be the chastisement,

Yes as you said we have to willingly choose poverty.. yet how many will? It's what's best for us..

It makes me think all the more how important it is that children not be raised with too much technological entertainment, or in fact any. The habit of being constantly stimulated this way, is hard to break. I truly love when I hear about people involved in the homesteading movement, or the Plain Catholics.

I looked up those movements you mentioned. Part of me would love to go back to the land. But I think maybe God is calling me to remain in a more urban setting to be a good influence to the people here.

Still, I did find something we can all use:

A Plain Catholic first and foremost, seeks conversion of the heart and soul. The Plain Catholic heart is humble, obedient, and seeks continual conversion to become more like Christ.

1. Go to Mass daily if you can, Sunday and Holy Days most certainly. Go to the Sacrament of Penance often. Most importantly, Pray! Keep a regular daily prayer time regardless of the time of day. Developing excellent prayer habits is essential to your walk as a Catholic.

Recommended prayers:

Daily Lectio Divina (prayerful reading of Scripture)
Daily pray The Liturgy of the Hours in some form be it the simple one volume or the full 4 volume
One or all of the following: The Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet or other devotion officially approved by the Roman Catholic Church.

2. Look closely at your Schedule of Activities. Make note of how much time you spend in watching television; talking on the phone; computer time; video games, etc. Ask yourself if these activities take time away from your family. If the answer is yes, take concrete steps to reduce or eliminate these activities altogether.

3. Your Clothing: Do you have excess clothing? Is that clothing modest? If you have immodest clothing can it be modified to be more modest? If not donate it to the local thrift store. Or better yet, cut it up and create a lovely quilt out of it.

4. Your Home: Take a critical and Catholic look at your music, books, movies, etc. Do these items show a healthy faith life or do they focus upon the unhealthy attitudes of today’s secular and immodest culture?

5. Your Free time: How do you spend your free time? Do you prefer to be with family and friends? Volunteering? Seek out activities that edify your faith and your family. Avoid those activities that encourage an unhealthy dependency upon materialism, immodesty, vices, and especially the seven deadly sins of

•    Lust (Latin, luxuria)
•    Gluttony (Latin, gula)
•    Greed (Latin, avaritia)
•    Sloth (Latin, acedia)
•    Wrath (Latin, ira)
•    Envy (Latin, invidia)
•    Pride (Latin, superbia)

In all areas of your life, find ways to implement the virtues which oppose the deadly sins;

•    (Cardinal) Prudence: judge between actions with regard to appropriate actions at a given time
•    (Cardinal) Justice: proper moderation between the self-interest and the rights and needs of others
•    (Cardinal) Restraint or Temperance: practicing self-control, abstention, and moderation
•    (Cardinal)  Courage or Fortitude: forbearance, endurance, and ability to confront fear and uncertainty, or intimidation
•    (Theological) Faith: steadfastness in belief
•    (Theological) Hope:  expectation of and desire of receiving; refraining from despair
•    (Theological) Love or Charity: selfless, unconditional, and voluntary loving-kindness

Study the Catechism of the Catholic Church, particularly the "Life in Christ" section. Endeavor to actively implement this teaching in your own life so that your life will be a living witness to Christ. Live quietly and be ready to answer any questions about your faith but do so gently without anger nor argument according to 1 Peter 3: 15-16.

Divest yourself of unnecessary spending habits and examine how you can do with fewer material items. Replace these things with prayer, Scripture study and activities that promote a simpler life such as gardening. Be open to learning new skills that will help you pursue a simpler life. Seek out other like-minded Catholics who also wish to separate themselves from the secular world in their lives in order to pursue Jesus in simplicity.

[Shin]

How do we know there is another cycle? Maybe the Antichrist will be the chastisement,

Well, the prophecies regarding the three days of darkness, and the Great Monarch have not yet come to pass. I don't have it as clear in my mind as I did when I first read it all. But it appears that there is sufficient weight behind a prophecized Catholic ruler who will bring about a great restoration throughout the entire world.

After this "Great Monarch" dies, then Antichrist rises up and seizes power.

Here's an old thread on prophecy here that contains a lot of source quotes.