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.
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Famous quotes containing the word pope:
“She comes! She comes! The sable throne behold
Of Night primaeval, and of Chaos old!”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)