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Article: 24 popes, some good, in years leading up to first millennium.
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- March 17, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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As we approach the end of the 20th century and the start of the third millennium, we might wonder how it was 1,000 years ago with the papacy - one of the few major organizations still flourishing that went through this kind of event once before.
We've had nine popes this century, with an average reign of 10.5 years. That is three years longer than the overall 7.3-year average of the 264 successors of St. Peter. These 20th century popes have been the only ones for well over a millennium who never had papal states to govern. (At one point the papacy claimed almost quarters of Italy.)
One 20th century pope has been canonized (Pius X), and three are under ...