There has never been a Pope John XX, because the 20th pope of this name, formerly Petrus Hispanus, when elected Pope in 1276, decided to skip the number XX and to be counted as John XXI instead. He wanted to correct what in his time was believed to be an error in the counting of his predecessors John XV to XIX.
Read more about Pope John XX: Details
Famous quotes containing the words pope and/or john:
“Let sinful bachelors their woes deplore;
Full well they merit all they feel, and more:
Unaw’d by precepts, human or divine,
Like birds and beasts, promiscuously they join.”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“Is that you, John Wayne? Is this me?”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)