Chapter 2 - Papal Numbers
One blessing of the events of April/May 2005 is that unprecedented media attention was given to the death of Pope John Paul II and the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI.
The media provided lists of popes and some short blurbs about their lives, all of which had to be checked with the Catholic Encyclopedia website for verification.
We found out that Benedict XVI is Pope Number 265, but we also found that Benedict IX was counted three times, as Pope No. 145, 147 and 150. Pope 146 is Sylvester III, and the Catholic Almanac provides us with this information: "Sylvester III was an antipope if the forcible removal of Benedict IX in 1044 was not legitimate." The Catholic Encyclopedia merely says that Sylvester III is said by some to be an antipope, but he does qualify to be on the Title Deed as Pope Number 146.
This, and several other questions we will raise, cast a cloud on the title. The Roman Catholic apologist will say that these were troublesome times (which indeed they were for the papacy). But if God was protecting His Church that the Lord Jesus had purchased with His blood, wouldn't you desire a bit more efficiency?
Or the answer might be given that they know there was always only one actual pope, and God knows who he was even if we don't. This coming from a church that prides itself on visibility. If there be any doubt about who the Supreme Pontiff is, can we still say the Title Deed is valid?
They admit, however, that there was a time (655 AD) when Eugene I became legitimate pope when the previous pope, Martin I, was still alive and still pope, even though he lived in exile.
The Catholic Encyclopedia gives more information about Benedict IX. They say, "Benedict IX was a man of very different character. He was a disgrace to the Chair of Peter. Regarding it as a sort of heirloom, his father Alberic placed him upon it when a mere youth."
The Orlando Sentinel says he was twelve years old, but the Catholic Encyclopedia disagrees. They say, "not, however, apparently of only twelve years of age (according to Raoul Glaber), but of about twenty."
The Catholic Encyclopedia continues, "Taking advantage of the dissolute life he was leading, one of the factions in the city drove him from it (1044) amid the greatest disorder, and elected an antipope (Sylvester III) in the person of John, Bishop of Sabina. Benedict, however, succeeded in expelling Sylvester the same year; but, as some say, that he might marry, he resigned his office into the hands of the Archpriest John Gratian for a large sum. "John [Gratian] was then elected pope and became Gregory VI (May, 1045). Repenting of his bargain, Benedict endeavoured to depose Gregory. This resulted in the intervention of King Henry III. Benedict, Sylvester, and Gregory were deposed at the Council of Sutri (1046) and a German bishop (Suidger) became Pope Clement II. After his speedy demise, Benedict again seized Rome (November, 1047), but was driven from it to make way for a second German pope, Damasus II (November, 1048). "Of the end of Benedict it is impossible to speak with certainty. Some authors suppose him to have been still alive when St. Leo IX died, and never to have ceased endeavouring to seize the papacy."
