Everything about Pope-elect Stephen totally explained
Stephen, a priest of Rome elected
pope in March of
752 to succeed
Pope Zachary, died of
apoplexy three days later, before being
ordained a
bishop.
Pope numbering controversy
In those times, the pope was chosen from among the priests and deacons of
Rome and never from among bishops from other
dioceses . By definition, the pope was the bishop of Rome and was considered legitimate only from the day of his
ordination. As a result, Stephen wasn't 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 (
254-
257).
From
752 to
942, seven popes reigned bearing the name of Stephen. Originally, they were not otherwise distinguished, as
regnal numbering wasn't applied to popes until the 10th century. They were named Stephen II to VIII respectively after their death. But the next pope to take the name Stephen in
1057, after numbering had become a custom, was called
Stephen IX during his life and signed all his documents
"Stephanus Nonus Papa".
Approximately from the beginning of the
13th century, the election to Papacy (in contrast to episcopal consecration) was considered the beginning of the pontificate, not only because nearly all popes were now already bishops when elected, but especially to ensure a clear transition of the very great papal powers, not subject to other forces. Episcopal consecration thus became a formality as far as the papal title, which wasn't a
sacramental order, was concerned. A pope was thus legitimate pope from his election, even before his consecration. According to this new point of view, 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's 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. It was emphasized that the pope owed his election only to the
Holy Spirit and thus became pope from the moment of election.
Therefore Pope-elect Stephen was now counted as 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.
During the reign of
Pope John XXIII, Stephen was again erased from the lists. The
Annuario pontificio, which gives the authorized list of popes, was modified in its
1961 edition, and the regnal numbers of the subsequent Stephens reverted to II to IX.
Although pope-elect Stephen hasn't been listed among the popes in the
Annuario pontificio since 1961, many recent articles and internet sites continue to list him as pope, often relying on the
1913 edition of the
Catholic Encyclopedia, because it's in the
public domain. Even reputable sources such as the Encyclopedia Britannica continue to refer to him as "unconsecrated pope" Stephen (II), with his successor identified either as
Stephen (II) III or as
Stephen II (III).
The matter of Stephen's legitimacy is of no theological or historical consequence, as he died without having made any decisions. Thus, the only aspect affected by his recognition, or lack thereof, is the
list of popes.
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