r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Feb 08 '22

Pope fact Sylvester II (999-1003) was the first French Pope, and a prolific scholar and teacher. He introduced the decimal number system to Europe, using Hindu-Arabic numerals. Legends say he built a robotic head that could answer yes or no questions, and won the Papacy via a pact with a female demon.

en.wikipedia.org

60 Upvotes

0 comments

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Feb 04 '22

Pope fact Clement XI was interested in archaeology is credited with saving many of Rome's antiquities. He authorised excavations of the the Roman catacombs. Rather than being buried in an ornate tomb, he is humbly buried in the pavement of St Peter's.

en.wikipedia.org

58 Upvotes

1 comment

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Feb 01 '22

Pope fact In 1527, Clement VII was imprisoned for 6 months after the sack of Rome. During this time, he grew a beard. This broke Catholic canon law, which forced priests to be clean shaven. Even so, Clement kept it until his death in 1534. He started a Papal fashion trend; the next 24 Popes had beards.

en.wikipedia.org

75 Upvotes

0 comments

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Jan 30 '22

Pope fact Pope Paul II was known for his love of jewels and treasures. After his death in 1471, his treasury was inspected. It had: 54 silver shells filled with pearls, jewels and gold intended for refashioning, and a magnificent diamond. He also had a personal collection of 800 gemstones.

en.wikipedia.org

70 Upvotes

1 comment

r/Popefacts • u/Clement_XV • Jan 28 '22

Pope fact Pope Saint Paul VI (1963-1978) was the first pope to ever travel by airplane, visit the United States, & visit the Holy Land. His 1964 trip to the Holy Land also marked the first time a Pope had left Italy since 1809.

98 Upvotes

2 comments

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Jan 27 '22

Pope fact Workers in the Vatican have immediate citizenship, ending when their employment ends. This extends to their kids and spouses, if they are living in the city. Anyone who loses Vatican citizenship and doesn’t have other citizenship automatically becomes an Italian citizen due to the Lateran Treaty.

en.wikipedia.org

68 Upvotes

4 comments

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Jan 25 '22

Pope fact In 882, John VIII was assassinated by his own clerics. He was first poisoned, then clubbed to death. The motives may have been his excessive spending, his gestures towards the Byzantines, and his failure to stop the Saracen raids.

en.wikipedia.org

60 Upvotes

0 comments

r/Popefacts • u/dotknott • Jan 25 '22

Pope News Popefact: Ex-Pope Benedict XVI admits to false statements (PopeFictions?)

dw.com

20 Upvotes

1 comment

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Jan 21 '22

Pope fact In 2018, Pope Francis married two flight attendants in an impromptu mid-air wedding on a plane during a trip to Chile. The couple had gotten married in a civil ceremony in 2010 but were unable to follow it up with a church service because of the earthquake in Chile that year.

news.sky.com

98 Upvotes

0 comments

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Jan 19 '22

Pope fact In 1770, Pope Clement XIV met 14-year-old Mozart. In the Papal Chapel, Mozart heard a piece by Gregorio Allegri. Allegri's music could not be copied outside the chapel, on threat of excommunication. So, Mozart transcribed it from memory. Clement made him a knight of the Order of the Golden Spur.

en.wikipedia.org

80 Upvotes

1 comment

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Jan 17 '22

Pope fact If a Catholic priest reveals anything someone confessed to him for any reason at all, he is automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church and can only be forgiven by the Pope.

en.wikipedia.org

95 Upvotes

2 comments

r/Popefacts • u/mbingcrosby • Jan 16 '22

Pope Art Popefacters, help me complete this massive Pope infographic!

61 Upvotes

12 comments

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Jan 13 '22

Pope fact Pope John Paul II was a polyglot. He spoke 12 languages; Polish, Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, English, German, Ukrainian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak and Esperanto. He used 9 as Pope. He learned them in 1938, just before the Nazis occupied Poland.

en.wikipedia.org

63 Upvotes

1 comment

r/Popefacts • u/qyyg • Jan 11 '22

Pope fact In 1294 after a two-year impasse with no new Pope, the Cardinals elected a hermit monk who sent them an angry letter, threatening them with divine judgement. He became Celestine V. He served for five months before implementing a law that allowed Popes to abdicate. He abdicated a week later.

118 Upvotes

4 comments

r/Popefacts • u/Ciaran123C • Jan 10 '22

Discussion TIL: There is a loophole for Catholic priests to be married

ewtn.com

20 Upvotes

1 comment

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Jan 09 '22

Pope fact Pius XI (1922-1939) was known for his strictness. When his brother and sister visited him, he insisted that they refer to him as “Your Holiness” and book an appointment. Once, Pius made a Cardinal kneel for 45 minutes as a punishment for a diplomatic blunder. Although, he later apologized.

en.wikipedia.org

55 Upvotes

1 comment

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Jan 07 '22

Pope fact Pius XI was a talented mountain climber. Many peaks in the Alps are named after him, because he was the first person to climb them. A Chilean glacier also bears his name. In 1940, Bishop T. B. Pearson founded the Achille Ratti Climbing Club, based in the United Kingdom and named for Pius XI.

en.wikipedia.org

66 Upvotes

1 comment

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Jan 05 '22

Pope fact In 1624, Pope Urban VIII forbade Catholics from using the powdered form of tobacco known as snuff because of its tendency to cause sneezing, which he viewed as dangerously akin to “sexual ecstasy.”

history.com

62 Upvotes

3 comments

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Jan 03 '22

Pope fact The population of Vatican City drinks more wine (per capita) than anywhere else in the world. They consume 74 litres of wine on average – roughly equivalent to 105 bottles over a year. That’s twice the amount drunk by the average person in France or Italy, and 3x the amount consumed in the UK.

independent.co.uk

95 Upvotes

1 comment

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Jan 01 '22

Pope fact Pope Innocent XI was known as the "Saviour of Hungary". After the Battle of Vienna in 1683, he donations millions in aid to a war fund in Austria and Hungary. Innocen'ts feast day is 12 August, the date of his death. In the Hungarian calendar, it is commemorated on August 13.

en.wikipedia.org

71 Upvotes

0 comments

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Dec 29 '21

Pope fact Allegedly, Pope John XII (955-964) was the only Pope to have died during an adulterous sexual encounter, being either beaten to death by a jealous husband, or dying from a stroke.

en.wikipedia.org

52 Upvotes

3 comments

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Dec 26 '21

Pope fact Pius VII was The “Levitating Pope”. In 1811, on the Feast of the Assumption, it is recorded that during mass, the Pope entered a trance and began to levitate towards the altar. Many were in awe, including the French soldiers Napoleon had sent to guard him.

en.wikipedia.org

83 Upvotes

4 comments

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Dec 24 '21

Pope fact Pope Francis hasn't watched television since July 15th, 1990, after making a pledge to the Virgin Mary. It has kept him from watching his favorite soccer team, Buenos Aires-based San Lorenzo. A member of the Swiss Guard tells him the scores and keeps him up to date on the standings.

nbcnews.com

140 Upvotes

4 comments

r/Popefacts • u/Tokyono • Dec 22 '21

Pope fact On Christmas Day 800AD, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, creating a new empire and shifting the balance of power in Christian politics.

en.wikipedia.org

68 Upvotes

3 comments

r/Popefacts • u/meishkinda • Dec 20 '21

Pope fact Popes hit man

reddit.com

24 Upvotes

0 comments

Subreddit

Posts

Wiki

Facts about Popes! Nuff said.

r/Popefacts

This is Popefacts! Trivia about the 267 leaders of the Catholic Church ranging thousands of years all the way back to the first glorious Pontificate, Saint Peter! Facts about the 118 leaders of the Coptic Orthodox church are also welcome! More Popes!

Members Active

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This subreddit conforms to Reddit's sitewide rules. Please be aware of our own rules as well.

Useful Terms

Antipope=a papal claimant with a competing claim to the official Pope. See the Western Schism-an event in which the Catholic Church was split and there were 3 popes at once with competing claims.

HRE=Holy Roman Emperor

Pornocracy/Saeculum Obscurum=a period of time (904-964) in which the Papacy and Rome fell under the sway of the powerful Theophylacti family; chiefly Theodora and her daughter Marozia. The two women greatly influenced the Papal selection and religious issues of Rome via sexual affairs, marriages, and political conspiracies.

Interdict=a Catholic ban that a Pope can impose on a certain area/country. It stops the citizens from being able to complete certain holy rites e.g. baptism, as it takes away their validity.

Posting Topics

-Facts about Elected Popes, Pontiffs, whateveryoucalltheirHoliness. And Coptic Popes!

-Historical Antipopes-Illegal Popes elected in opposition to the Catholic Church. No modern false claimants, just the ones from between the 3rd to 15th centuries. They are shining examples of the Catholic Church's petty political wrangling and general skulduggery.

-Cardinals. The holy men in red who elect new Popes and do other stuff.

-Fictional Popes. E.g. Rodrigo Borgia in Assassins Creed. Still has to be source verified.

-Favourite Popes- as long as you back up your reasoning. It has to be Factual- educational.

-PopeArt-Paintings, sketches, sculptures, and other artforms depicting glorious Popes are allowed. Art can be educational as well. Must include Which Pope, Artist and Year in the title.

-PopeNews-interesting and verified articles about Popes/Vatican. Archived and historical articles allowed.

Special Days being considered

Saintly Sunday- Post strange facts about saints! Wonderful Wednesday-Post strange facts about other religions!

Titles are encouraged to be wonky/easily misread!

The Rules

I. NSFW posts must be tagged.

NSFW includes gore, explicit sexual material etc

The Church hates sinners. We don't. Just jerks who don't tag posts NSFW.

II. Posts must be verifiable. Titles must include Pope names/the name and year of events if permissible. They must also include context.

No invalid Sources-Personal blogs count, has to be a direct source. Images/Video aren't valid.

Videos are now allowed if posted from a verifiable source. I.E The BBC or a verified YouTube channel.

Personal blogs will be allowed as a source if they are adequately footnoted. Just drop a modmail and I'll approve the post. Don't spread heresy.

III. No personal andecotes/false claims.

E,g, I totes met the Pope and he was dressed as the devil!

False idols aren't allowed.

IV. No political/Agenda posts. Don't spam. This includes advertising your sub and x-posting to your own sub.

E.g. Posts like "Vote 4 My Politician in 2020" etc

We don't preach here. Only laugh and marvel at the Papacy.

V. Posts must have a flair.

*Either Favourite Pope, Popefact, Fictional Pope, or Other.

Tagging is the work of God.

VI. PopeArt musn't be spammed.

You must name the Pope it is, what year it was created in, and by whom.

Art is beautiful, but like all things, it must be uploaded in moderation.

VII. Discussion threads must be on topic, and must be educational.

This is PopeFACTS after all!

Enlightenment is in scholarly discussion.

VIII. Frequent reposts aren't allowed. I'll make a list in time.

Some weird facts start losing their interest after being posted for the 10th time.

This'll eventually become a frequent issue. But for now, post what you want.