Dead Popes

Exploring the Popes and Papal history with the creator of Dead Presidents

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"In the dining room [of the Papal Apartments], there were three bird cages with the little songsters the Holy Father loved so much. It was in fact Cardinal [William Henry] O'Connell [of Boston] who gave the Secretary of State Pacelli a cage containing two canaries when he was visiting the USA. These two now adorned the dining room. It was not until a greenfinch that had fallen out of the nest entered the house, was reared there, and delighted the Holy Father with its attachment to its new "family" that the little birds became Pius XII's inseparable companions.

Everyone, after all, needs some kind of diversion and relaxation. All of us around Pius XII, knowing that he never permitted himself any distraction, did everything to make the brief breathing space spent with the birds as pleasant as possible. The Holy Father was particularly fond of Gretchen, the beautiful, pure white canary. At first the bird did not thrive very well in her nest, and so we took her into special care. This was no easy matter during the first few days since she had to be fed carefully every two hours. It took some time before the little bird became tame. When the Holy Father came to meals, the little nest with Gretchen in it would be standing beside his plate so that he could give her this feed himself. She stayed there in her nest and cheeped when the Holy Father left. Gradually she made her first attempts at flying and soon came to meet the Holy Father, sat on his hands, head, and shoulders, flew on to his plate, and once -- despite all our precautions -- into the hot soup! Fortunately, she was not hurt.

What pleasure this little creature gave the Holy Father! She recognized his step perfectly and flew to meet him when he came to breakfast or lunch. She would pull at his hair or even his ear when he was so lost in thought that he did not pay any attention to her. She sat on his hand and sang him a song for all she was worth. If she was thirsty, she would settle on his tumbler or wine glass. She flew on to every dish that was brought in to see if there was anything on it that she liked. When the Holy Father wagged his finger at her, saying, "Gretchen, that's not for you," she would fly off and settle instead on his hand to see if there might be something for her there. After the Holy Father's walk, we sometimes let the birds fly into the study. Usually the Holy Father would be sitting in an armchair by the window busy with the work that was brought regularly from the Secretariat of State after lunch. Gretchen would then fly directly on to the Holy Father's shoulder and from there to the sheet of paper he was holding in his hand, as if she wanted to read it too. Once, a sheet of paper slipped out of the Holy Father's hand and slid across to the door opposite. As quick as lightning Gretchen shot after it and with all the strength she could muster pulled the piece of paper right up to the Pope's feet with her little beak. She would dearly have loved to put the paper on his knees, but that was beyond her strength, so the Holy Father picked up both Gretchen and the sheet of paper. The little bird fluffed herself with joy at the praise she received.

There was one thing that Gretchen could not stand and that was for the Holy Father to be busy writing. The little bird would then sit herself down exactly where he wanted to write and peck at his pen, so that he could not write a single word. When the Holy Father opened an envelope, Gretchen at once hopped into it to see what was inside. But the wonderful time in the study did not last long! Soon the Holy Father, with no time to waste, would ring for poor Gretchen to be put back into her cage. At 6:15, the hum of the electric razor was to be heard from the Holy Father's dressing room in the mornings. At the sound of it, Gretchen could not bear to be imprisoned in the cage any longer and was allowed to fly in to the Holy Father even though he was busy listening to a French or English lesson on the radio. There Gretchen would sit on his razor, being rocked to and fro."

-- Sister M. Pascalina Lehnert, housekeeper for Pope Pius XII for over forty years, on Pius XII's beloved pet birds -- particularly his favorite, a canary named Gretchen -- in her book, His Humble Servant: Sister M. Pascalina Lehnert's Memoirs of Her Years of Service to Eugenio Pacelli, Pope Pius XII (BOOK | KINDLE).

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Remains of ancient Papal palace believed to have been found in Rome | CNN

Archaeologists may have unearthed the remains of a medieval palace where popes lived before they made the Vatican their home.

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which president met the most popes-john paul 2?

Yes, it's Pope John Paul II.

The first incumbent President to meet a Pope was Woodrow Wilson, who met Pope Benedict XV at the Vatican in 1919, so Presidents have really only been meeting with Popes for the past 100 years. So Pope John Paul II basically reigned as Pope for a quarter of the time (26+ years) that Presidents have been meeting with them.

But despite the length of John Paul II's reign, he didn't meet with significantly more Presidents than some of the other Popes. John Paul II met with five incumbent Presidents during his reign: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush (he also met future President Joe Biden when Biden was a U.S. Senator). Pope Paul VI, who was Pope from 1963-1978, met with four incumbent Presidents: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford. John Paul II would have probably met more Presidents if not for the fact that Reagan and Clinton were both re-elected and served the full eight years in office (Bush 43 was also re-elected, but John Paul II died just a few months into his second term).

Here's a full list of which incumbent Presidents met with which Popes:

•Pope Benedict XV [1]: Woodrow Wilson (1919) •Pope John XXIII [1]: Dwight D. Eisenhower (1959) •Pope Paul VI [4]: John F. Kennedy (1963); Lyndon B. Johnson (1965 & 1967--a meeting which featured one of my favorite Presidential stories ever); Richard Nixon (1969 & 1970); Gerald Ford (1975) •Pope John Paul II [5]: Jimmy Carter (1979 & 1980); Ronald Reagan (1982, 1984, & 1987); George H.W. Bush (1989 & 1991); Bill Clinton (1993, 1994, 1995, & 1999); George W. Bush (2001, 2002, & 2004) [John Paul II also met future Presidents George H.W. Bush during Bush's Vice Presidency and Joe Biden while Biden was a Senator.] •Pope Benedict XVI [2]: George W. Bush (2007 & 2008); Barack Obama (2009) [Benedict XVI also met future President Joe Biden during his Vice Presidency.] •Pope Francis [3]: Barack Obama (2014 & 2015); Donald Trump (2017); Joe Biden (2021) [Francis also met future President Biden on three occasions during Biden's Vice Presidency.]

Interestingly, Pope Pius IX, who reigned from 1846-1878 -- long before the United States formally established permanent diplomatic relations with the Holy See -- also met four Presidents during his reign (more than any Pope other than John Paul II), but they were all either former or future Presidents. Pius IX met former Presidents Martin Van Buren and Millard Fillmore in 1855 when they visited Rome (separately) and former President Franklin Pierce when he visited Rome in November 1857. And Pius IX met future President Theodore Roosevelt in December 1869 when Roosevelt's family visited the Vatican. Theodore Roosevelt is actually the only person who served as President known to have kissed the ring of a Pope -- even though Roosevelt wasn't Catholic and was only 11 years old. Former President Ulysses S. Grant met Pope Leo XIII in 1878 when visiting the Vatican during his post-Presidential world tour.

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If I’m interested in learning more about Pope John Paul II, do you have any good book recs? Love both of your blogs by the way!!

Thank you! I’m sorry that I didn’t see this question earlier; I always tend to overlook the papal blog because I’m so terrible at updating it.

There are tons of books about Pope John Paul II, so I’ll try to narrow the suggestions down to a handful:

•George Weigel’s two-volume biography of John Paul II is almost certainly the best-known and definitive studies of John Paul II’s life from Poland to the Vatican. The first volume, Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II (BOOK | KINDLE), was originally published in 1999 and tracks the Polish Pope from birth until the turn of the millennium.

The second volume of Weigel’s biography, The End and the Beginning: Pope John Paul II -- The Victory of Freedom, the Last Years, the Legacy (BOOK | KINDLE), was published in 2010 and devotes almost the entire first half of the book to an in-depth look at John Paul II’s lifelong crusade against Communism. The other half of the book focuses on the Pope’s final years as his health began to fail and as he seemingly used his very public physical deterioration as a lesson in suffering, humility, and strength until his death in April 2005.

In 2017, Weigel published another book -- Lessons In Hope: My Unexpected Life with St. John Paul II (BOOK | KINDLE) -- which isn’t a traditional biography, but a much more personal book about Weigel’s journey as the Pope’s biographer and his relationship with John Paul II over the years. It’s unique compared to his formal biographies because it shows John Paul II from a different, more human perspective than that of the infallible “Keeper of the Keys to Heaven”.

Some of the other books that I’ll suggest are very good, but they can also feel incomplete because John Paul II’s papacy lasted so long that the authors were only able to capture certain parts of his reign.

•His Holiness: John Paul II and the Hidden History of Our Time (BOOK | Kindle not available) by Carl Bernstein and Marco Politi is one of those books that is solid but not a complete history of the Pope’s reign because it was published in 1996, nearly 10 years before John Paul II’s death. And, yes, the co-author is the Carl Bernstein of Washington Post/Watergate/All the President’s Men/Woodward & Bernstein fame.

•John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father (BOOK | Kindle not available) by former Ronald Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan was published shortly after John Paul II’s death in 2005 and is excellent. Noonan’s book is also very personal to the author and paints a portrait of John Paul II that helps us understand what he meant to so many people. Noonan also helps explain the source of the Pope’s unique charisma and how he used his immense natural political gifts to reach his audiences. 

•The Pontiff In Winter: Triumph and Conflict in the Reign of John Paul II (BOOK | KINDLE) by John Cornwell is not the most flattering book about Pope John Paul II, but it is an important book to get a balanced understanding of his life and of the health of the Catholic Church towards the end of John Paul II’s papacy. Cornwell has long been one of the best connected Vatican journalists and this book is important because it questions how much blame should have or could have been placed on John Paul II for the scandals and corruption that simmered below the surface inside the Vatican throughout his reign.

•John Paul II: My Beloved Predecessor (BOOK | Kindle not available) is a short collection of writings and homilies by Pope Benedict XVI that he wrote about John Paul II over the years -- as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger while John Paul II was alive, and as Benedict XVI after succeeding John Paul II in 2005. There’s nothing earth-shattering in the book, but it’s an interesting look at one Pope directly from the pen of another Pope.

•The last recommendation isn’t a book about Pope John Paul II, but a book written by John Paul II: The Place Within: The Poetry of Pope John Paul II (BOOK | Kindle not available). This book of poetry written by John Paul II at various points throughout his long life is an incredibly unique window into the soul of a Pope. Some of the poems -- which are translated into English from John Paul II’s native language of Polish by Jerzy Peterkiewicz -- are quite good! Like I said, it’s not a biography of John Paul II, but in many ways reading his poetry can be just as revealing.

[deadpopes]

How Egypt's historic Christian church survived and thrived

This is a fascinating and extremely well-done feature on the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, one of the five main episcopal sees of Justinian’s pentarchy and the only ecclesiastical jurisdiction other than Rome that is led by a Pope rather than a Patriarch.  

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Archbishop Óscar Romero and Pope Paul VI Are Made Saints

Pope Francis canonized the Salvadoran archbishop killed in 1980 by a right-wing death squad and the pope credited with leading the modernization of the church.

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Benedict XVI writes of his "pilgrimage towards Home" during "last, tiring" stage of his journey

Pope emeritus Benedict XVI spoke about the “slow waning” of his physical strength and his “pilgrimage towards Home” in a letter sent to an Italian newspaper on Tuesday.

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Recalling the anniversary of a broken papal heart

Pope Paul VI's public anguish in 1978 over the death of his friend Aldo Moro taught the world that underneath the vestments and the symbols of office was a real human being.

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Father Karol Wojtyla (lying down, third from left), a 34-year-old priest and professor of philosophy, relaxes during a camping and hiking trip with some of his students from Poland's Catholic University of Lublin, in 1954. Twenty-four years later, Wojtyla would be elected as the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years (since the Dutch Pope Adrian VI, whose brief, 18-month-long reign ended with his death in 1523). The charismatic Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II upon his election in 1978 and reigned for over 26 years -- longer than every other Pontiff in history besides Pope Pius IX. Undoubtedly one of the most influential Popes in the history of the Catholic Church, John Paul II traveled to at least 129 different countries during his Papacy, and spoke to massive crowds throughout the world, often in their own language. Seriously wounded during a 1981 assassination attempt, the Pope recovered from the shooting and continued in his very public role as a religious and political leader for nearly a quarter-century, and is credited with helping to end the Cold War. After struggling with Parkinson's disease in his final years, Pope John Paul II became a symbol of suffering for committing himself to service despite his sickness and throughout the very public decline of his health. Following his death on April 2, 2005, pilgrims and world leaders flooded Rome for one of the largest and most-watched funerals in human history. John Paul II was beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, in 2011, and he was canonized by Pope Francis in 2014. No doubt inspired by crowds of pilgrims chanting for immediate canonization during the mourning period after his death, Pope St. John Paul II's path to sainthood was one of the fastest in modern history.

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Pope Paul VI wearing a Papal tiara in 1963. Pope Paul VI's tiara was donated by Milan, where Giovanni Battista Montini had served as Archbishop prior to his election to the Papacy in the Conclave of 1963. Despite lacking the jewels and gemstones that dominated most of the previous Papal tiaras, Pope Paul's tiara still weighed over ten pounds and was worn on several different occasions, most notably at his Papal Inauguration. On November 13, 1963, Pope Paul VI symbolically surrendered the temporal authority of the Papacy by laying the Papal tiara on the altar of St. Peter's Basilica. Despite critcism from some Catholic conservatives, the Pope saw it as a personal gesture to help bring the Church closer to the people -- an important purpose of the Second Vatican Council which had been initiated by Paul's predecessor, Pope St. John XXIII, and continued with Pope Paul's election before wrapping up in 1965. (I'm also guessing Pope Paul wasn't exactly disappointed that he could avoid having to wear a heavy, uncomfortable, awkward-looking triple crown tiara on his head, as well.) Pope Paul's tiara is now on display at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Paul VI was the last Pope to wear the Papal tiara. Pope John Paul I refused to wear it when he was inaugurated in 1978 as part of his plan to remove some of the more outdated and monarchical trappings of the Papacy. Pope John Paul I died just thirty-three days after his election, but none of his successors were formally crowned or chose to reinstate the tiara. However, Catholic groups privately financed the design of tiaras for Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. They were presented to the Popes, but never worn. Pope Benedict XVI and his successor, Pope Francis, became the first Popes to not include the Papal tiara in the design of their Papal coat-of-arms. The Papal tiara can still be seen in the coat-of-arms of the Holy See, which is often used as an emblem of the Roman Catholic Church and Vatican City state.

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(The body of Pope Saint Pius V in his tomb at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.)

Born Michele Ghislieri on January 17, 1504 in Italy, he was elected to succeed Pope Pius IV on January 7, 1566 and took the name Pius V.  Pius V was crowned ten days later, on his 62nd birthday, and reigned as Pope until his death in Rome on May 1, 1572.  Among other achievements during his Papacy, Pius V is credited by Papal historians and Church researchers as developing the familiar white vestments worn by Supreme Pontiffs today.

Upon his death, Pope Pius V was succeeded by Pope Gregory XIII.  In 1672, Pope Clement XI beatified Pius V and he was canonized by Pope Clement XII on May 22, 1712.  Pope Saint Pius V is recognized as the patron saint of Malta's capital city, Valletta, which was rebuilt and fortified with assistance from Pius V following the Great Siege of Malta by the Ottoman Turks.

Pope Saint Pius V and Pope Pius X (Papacy: 1903-1914; Canonized: 1954) are the only Roman Pontiffs to be canonized in the past 700 years.  They will be joined by the two newest Papal Saints, Pope John XXIII (Papacy: 1958-1963) and Pope John Paul II (1978-2005), on April 27, 2014.

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Despite his relatively short Papacy (1958-1963) and the expectations that he would be a transitional, caretaker Pope due to his advanced age, Pope John XXIII was not only one of the most important and influential Popes in centuries, but one of the most beloved Pontiffs in the history of the Church.  Today, John XXIII -- who will be canonized alongside Pope John Paul II and become Saint John XXIII later this year -- is affectionately remembered as "the Good Pope" due to his genial manner and easy smile.

Pope John, one of fourteen children born to poor Italian sharecroppers, also had a wonderful, often playful, sense of humor that he wasn't afraid to exhibit despite the solemnity of his position and his age (he was just shy of 78 years old when he was elected in the 1958 Conclave).  The Vatican Gardens were a place of meditation and solitude for John XXIII's immediate predecessors.  Pope Pius XI often walked through the Gardens in an attempt to bolster his faltering health and the intensely serious Pope Pius XII pondered the troubles of a world at war while strolling through the Gardens.

Pope John XXIII put the Vatican Gardens to good use, as well.  The Good Pope requested that maintenance workers tinker with the sprinklers which were part of the irrigation system in the Gardens so that they could be triggered to spray jets of water at unsuspecting guests.  Many cardinals who were asked to take a stroll through the Gardens with Pope John XXIII returned to the Vatican drenched by his trick sprinklers.

The Good Pope's successor, Pope Paul VI, did not continue the tradition.  He had the trick sprinklers fixed when he was elected to the Papacy following John XXIII's death in 1963.

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Follow up question: was "Dead Presidents always takes precedence" intentional wordplay?

No, I'm just unintentionally brilliant.

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Why aren't you updating all the time? I love Papal History so much I wrote a play called Infallibility about the Cadaver Synod and this has the potential to be my favorite tumblr of all time.

I really wish I had more time to update it, but Dead Presidents always takes precedence because it has way more followers and pays some of the bills.  I'll definitely work harder at updating this one, though, because I love Papal History, as well.

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I have no story or interesting fact to share in this post.  I just wanted to note that Pope Alexander VII (reigned 1655-1667) definitely has the coolest facial hair of any Pope.  When looking at portraits, Alexander VII stands out amongst other 16th and 17th Century Popes, so that's probably the only reason I noticed him.  Many of the other Popes of his time look EXACTLY the same -- if you're ever bored, check out the portraits of Julius III, Pius IV, St. Pius V, Gregory XIII, Urban VII, Leo XI, and Paul III to see if you can tell the differences between them.  It's like playing that game that I know we all played as kids when thumbing through that Highlights magazine in the lobby of the doctor's office.   

It's also worth pointing out that I'd definitely use his birth name as my stage name if I were a porn star:  Fabio Chigi.  Best name ever.

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The Papal Retirees

In February 2013, when he announced his stunning decision to resign the Papacy, Pope Benedict XVI became forever linked in history with Pope Saint Celestine V, who was the last Supreme Pontiff to voluntarily resign as Bishop of Rome when he stepped down in 1294.  

The shared connection over the rare act of a voluntarily Papal resignation seems like it would be the closest Benedict XVI and Saint Celestine V would ever get to one another considering they sat on St. Peter's throne 700 years apart.  However, on April 28, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI visited Sulmona, Italy following an earthquake in nearby L'Aquila and took time to pray at the feet of Pope Saint Celestine V's exhumed body (pictured above).  On July 4, 2010, Benedict XVI returned to Sulmona and venerated relics belonging to the 13th Century Saint whose footsteps he would later follow off of the Vatican's altar and into a rare Papal retirement.