List of Every Pope in History

Since the time of Christ, there have officially been 266 Popes, starting with the first Pope, Saint Peter. To show the chronology, we have put together a list of Popes in order to show who was in power at which periods during history.

St. Peter was a disciple of Christ who came to Rome to spread the word of God and was crucified under Emperor Nero in 67 A.D. for spreading what was then an illegal religion. He was crucified upside down on the area which is today where St. Peter’s Basilica is built and it is believed that St. Peter’s bones are buried underneath the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Below you will find a list of all the official popes, starting with the first Pope, over nearly 2,000 years of history to our current Pope, Francis. For the almost two millenium during which the world has had Catholic Popes, you will find that the average length for a Pope is 8 years.

A Pope is elected for life, except in very rare cases where a Pope retires. This might not seem rare because this exact thing did happen in 2013 when Pope Benedict XVI retired at the age of 86. However, he was the first Pope to retire in almost 600 years since Gregory XII stepped down in 1415.

The Pope has direct authority of the organisation of the government of the Catholic Church and is the leader of his own country, Vatican City which became it’s own country in 1929. Below is a list of all the Popes – and keep in mind that just over half are buried inside and below St. Peter’s Basilica.

Chronological List of Popes

  • Saint Peter (67)
  • Saint Linus (67-76)
  • Saint Anacletus (76-88)
  • Saint Clement I (88-97)
  • Saint Evaristus (97-105)
  • Saint Alexander I (105- 15)
  • Saint Sixtus I (115-36)
  • Saint Telesphorus (125-36)
  • Saint Hyginus (136-40)
  • Saint Pius I (140-55)
  • Saint Anicetus (155-66)
  • Saint Soter (166-75)
  • Saint Eleutherius (175-89)
  • Saint Victor I (189-99)
  • Saint Zephyrinus (199-217)
  • Saint Callistus I (217-22)
  • Saint Urban I (222-30)
  • Saint Pontianus (230-35)
  • Saint Anterus (235-36)
  • Saint Fabian (236-50)
  • Saint Cornelius (251-53)
  • Saint Lucius I (253-54)
  • Saint Stephen I (254-57)
  • Saint Sixtus II (257-58)
  • Saint Dionysius (259-68)
  • Saint Felix I (269-74)
  • Saint Eutychian (275-83)
  • Saint Gaius (283-96)
  • Saint Marcellinus (296-304)
  • Saint Marcellus I (308-9)
  • Saint Eusebius (309)
  • Saint Miltiades (311-14)
  • Saint Silvester I (314-35)
  • Saint Mark (336)
  • Saint Julius I (337-52)
  • Liberius (342-66)
  • Saint Damasus I (366-84)
  • Saint Siricus (348-99)
  • Saint Anastasius I (399-401)
  • Saint Innocent I (401-17)
  • Saint Zosimus (417-18)
  • Saint Boniface I (418-22)
  • Saint Celestine I (422-32)
  • Saint Sixtus III (432-40)
  • Saint Leo I (440-61)
  • Saint Hilary (461-68)
  • Saint Simplicius (468-83)
  • Saint Felix III (483-92)
  • Saint Gelasius I (492-96)
  • Anastasius II (496-98)
  • Saint Symmachus (498-514)
  • Saint Hormisdas (514-23)
  • Saint John I (523-26)
  • Saint Felix IV (526-30)
  • Boniface II (530-32)
  • John II (533-35)
  • Saint Agapitus I (535-36)
  • Saint Silverius (536-37)
  • Vigilius (537-55)
  • Pelagius I (579-90)
  • Saint Gregory I (590-604)
  • Sabinian (604-6)
  • Saint Boniface IV (608-615)
  • Saint Deusdebit I (615-18)
  • Boniface V (619-25)
  • Honorius I (625-38)
  • Severinus (640)
  • John IV (640-42)
  • Theodore I (642-49)
  • Saint Martin I (649-55)
  • Saint Eugene I (654-57)
  • Saint Vitalian (657-72)
  • Deusdebit II (672-78)
  • Donus (676-78)
  • Saint Agatho (678-81)
  • Saint Leo II (682-83)
  • Saint Benedict II (684-85)
  • John V (685-86)
  • Conon (686-87)
  • Saint Sergius I (687-701)
  • John VI (701-5)
  • John VII (705-707)
  • Sisinnius (708)
  • Constantine (708)
  • Saint Gregory II (715-31)
  • Saint Gregory III (731-41)
  • Saint Zachary (741-52)
  • Stephen (752)
  • Stephen II (752-757)
  • Saint Paul I (757-67)
  • Stephen III (768-72)
  • Adrian I (772-95)
  • Saint Leo III (795-816)
  • Stephen IV (816-17)
  • Saint Pascal I (817-24)
  • Eugene II (824-27)
  • Valentine (827)
  • Gregory IV (827-44)
  • Sergius II (844-47)
  • Saint Leo IV (847-55)
  • Benedict III (855-58)
  • Saint Nicholas I (858-67)
  • Adrian II (867-72)
  • John VIII (872-82)
  • Marinus I (882-84)
  • Saint Adrian III (884-85)
  • Stephen V (885-91)
  • Formosus (891-96)
  • Boniface VI (896)
  • Stephen VI (896-897)
  • Romanus (897)
  • Theodore II (897)
  • John IX (898-900)
  • Benedict IV (900-903)
  • Leo V (903)
  • Sergius III (904- 911)
  • Anastasius III (911-13)
  • Lando (913-14)
  • John X (914-28)
  • Leo VII (936-39)
  • Stephen VIII (939-42)
  • Marinus II (942-46)
  • Agapitus II (946-55)
  • John XII (955-64)
  • Leo VIII (963-65)
  • Benedict V (964-66)
  • John XIII (965-72)
  • Benedict VI (973-74)
  • Benedict VII (974-83)
  • John XIV (983-84)
  • John XV (985-96)
  • Gregory V (996-99)
  • Silvester II (999-1003)
  • John XVII (1003)
  • John XVIII (1004-9)
  • Sergius IV (1009-12)
  • Benedict VIII (1012-24)
  • John XIX (1024-32)
  • Benedict IX (1032-44)
  • Silvester III (1045)
  • Benedict IX (1045)
  • Gregory VI (1045-46)
  • Clement II (1046-47)
  • Benedict X (1047-48)
  • Damasus II (1048)
  • Saint Leo IX (1049-54)
  • Victor II (1055-57)
  • Stephen IX (1057-58)
  • Nicholas II (1059-61)
  • Alexander II (1061-73)
  • Saint Gregory VII (1073-85)
  • Blessed Victor III (1086-87)
  • Blessed Urban II (1088-99)
  • Pascal II (1099-1118)
  • Gelasius II (1118-19)
  • Callistus II (1119-24)
  • Honorius II (1124-30)
  • Innocent II (1130-38)
  • Celestine II (1143-44)
  • Lucius II (1144-45)
  • Blessed Eugene III (1145-53)
  • Anastasius IV (1153-54)
  • Adrian IV (1154-59)
  • Alexander III (1159-91)
  • Lucius III (1181-85)
  • Urban III (1185-87)
  • Gregory VIII (1187)
  • Clement II (1187-91)
  • Celestine III (1191-98)
  • Innocent III (1198-1216)
  • Honorius III (1216-27)
  • Gregory IX (1227-41)
  • Celestine IV (1241)
  • Innocent IV (1243-54)
  • Alexander IV (1254-61)
  • Urban IV (1261-64)
  • Clement IV (1265-68)
  • Blessed Gregory X (1272-76)
  • Blessed innocent V (1276)
  • Adrian V (1276)
  • John XXI (1276-77)
  • Nicholas III (1277-80)
  • Martin IV (1281-85)
  • Honorius IV (1285-87)
  • Nicholas IV (1288-92)
  • Saint Celestine V (1294)
  • Boniface VIII (1295-1303)
  • Blessed Benedict XI (1303-4)
  • Clement V (1305-14)
  • John XXII (1316-34)
  • Benedict XII (1335-42)
  • Clement VI (1342-52)
  • Innocent VI (1352-62)
  • Blessed Urban V (1362-70)
  • Gregory XI (1371-78)
  • Urban VI (1378-89)
  • Boniface IX (1389-1404)
  • Innocent VII (1404-6)
  • Gregory XII (1406-1415)
  • Martin V (1417-31)
  • Eugene IV (1431-47)
  • Nicholas V (1447-55)
  • Callistus III (1455-58)
  • Pius II (1458-64)
  • Paul II (1464-71)
  • Sixtus IV (1471-84)
  • Innocent VIII (1484-92)
  • Alexander VI (1492-1503)
  • Pius III (1503)
  • Julius II (1503-1513)
  • Leo X (1503-21)
  • Adrian VI (1522-23)
  • Clement VII (1523-34)
  • Paul III (1534-49)
  • Julius III (1550-55)
  • Marcellus II (1555)
  • Paul IV (1555-59)
  • Pius IV (1560-65)
  • Saint Pius V (1566-72)
  • Gregory XIII (1572-85)
  • Sixtus V (1585-90)
  • Urban VII (1590)
  • Gregory XIV (1590-91)
  • Innocent IX (1591)
  • Clement VIII (1592-1605)
  • Leo XI (1605)
  • Paul V (1605-21)
  • Gregory XV (1621-23)
  • Urban VIII (1623-44)
  • Innocent X (1644-55)
  • Alexander VII (1655-67)
  • Clement IX (1667-69)
  • Clement X (1670-76)
  • Blessed innocent XI (1676-89)
  • Alexander VIII (1689-91)
  • Innocent XII (1691-1700)
  • Clement XI (1700-1721)
  • Innocent XIII (1721-24)
  • Benedict XIII (1724-30)
  • Clement XII (1730-40)
  • Benedict XIV (1740-58)
  • Clement XIII (1758-69)
  • Clement XIV (1769-74)
  • Pius VI (1775-99)
  • Pius VII (1800-1823)
  • Leo XII (1823-29)
  • Pius VIII (1829-30)
  • Gregory XVI (1831-46)
  • Pius IX (1846-78)
  • Leo XIII (1878-1903)
  • Saint Pius X (1903-14)
  • Benedict XV (1914-22)
  • Pius XI (1922-39)
  • Pius XIII (1939-58)
  • John XXIII (1958-63)
  • Paul VI (1963-78)
  • John Paul I (1978)
  • Saint John Paul II (1978-2005)
  • Benedict XVI (2005-13)
  • Francis (2013- )