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List of popes by country

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Coat of Arms of the Holy See.

This page is a list of popes by country of origin and nationality. There have been 265 popes from the continents of Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, and North America. Since the office of pope has existed for almost two millennia, many of the countries of origin of popes no longer exist, and so they are grouped under three periods: the Roman Empire period, the Middle Ages to modernity, and since the creation of Vatican City with the 1929 Lateran Treaty. Countries are listed in chronological order within each section.

Statistical overview

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As of 2025, 265 men have been pope, with at least one pope hailing (in chronological order) from Asia (9), Europe (251), Africa (3), or the Americas (2). There have been 267 papacies since Pope Benedict IX (1032-1044; 1045; 1047-1048) was elected pope three times.[1] There have been nine popes since the legal creation of Vatican City in the 1929 Lateran Treaty: Pope Pius XI, Pope Pius XII, Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, and Pope Leo XIV.

Table of popes by country

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Country Number of popes Year of last papacy
Africa Province (Roman Empire) 3 496
Croatia (Kingdom of the Lombards)
Dalmatia		 2 642
Judaea Province (Roman Empire)
Byzantine Palestine		 3 649
Asia Minor 2 705
Roman Greece and Byzantine Greece 5 687
Roman/Byzantine Syria, and Bilad al-Sham 7 741
Austrian part of Holy Roman Empire 1 999
England 1 1159
Lusitania (Roman Empire) and Portugal 2 1277
Kingdom of France (medieval)
French part of Holy Roman Empire		 17 1378
Spain (Valencia in the Crown of Aragon) 2 1503
Dutch part of Holy Roman Empire 1 1523
Italian Peninsula (see below) 217 1978
Vatican City 9 current[b]
Poland 1 2005
German part of Holy Roman Empire
Contemporary Germany		 4 2013
Argentina 1 2025
United States & Peru 1 current[c]
Total 265

Popes from the Roman Empire

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These subsections of popes from the Western and Eastern Roman Empires are listed in chronological order.

Syria

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These popes are from the Roman and Byzantine province of Syria, or the Umayyad Caliphate province of Bilad al-Sham, corresponding to the contemporary country of Syria. Pope Peter (c. 30 – c. 67) was a native of Bethsaida, in the contemporary Golan Heights, and became the first pope. Pope Sergius I (687–701) was born to a Syrian family in Sicily, and is also listed under Byzantine Italy. Pope Constantine (708–715) was from Tyre, Jund al-Urdunn, Bilad al-Sham, Umayyad Caliphate, in contemporary Lebanon. Pope Gregory III (731–741) was the last pope from outside Europe until Pope Francis (2013–2025).[2]

Italy

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Roman Italy

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Pope Linus (64/67(?)–76/79 (?)) succeeded Peter as the second pope, becoming the first European pope.

Byzantine Italy

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Byzantine Sicily

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Pope Sergius I (687–701) was born to a Syrian family in Sicily, and is also listed under Syria.

Greece

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These popes were considered ethnic Greeks, though some came from Italy.

Roman Judaea

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Pope Peter (c. 30 – c. 67) was born in Bethsaida, Roman Syria before the creation of Judaea Province, in the contemporary Golan Heights. Pope Evaristus (c. 99 – c. 107) was born in Bethlehem, in the contemporary West Bank. Pope Theodore I (642–649) was born in Jerusalem.

Roman Africa

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Roman African Pope Miltiades.

These popes are from the Roman province of Africa, which corresponds to the coastal parts of Tunisia, Libya and Algeria. Pope Victor I (189–199) was the first African pope and was of Berber origin.[3]

Roman Dalmatia

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Dalmatia was at the time part of the Roman and Byzantine Empires. It is now part of the contemporary Republic of Croatia.

Roman Lusitania

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Lusitania corresponds to present-day Portugal and the southwest part of Spain.

Byzantine Anatolia

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Anatolia, or Asia Minor, was at the time part of the Roman and Byzantine Empires. All popes from here were born during the Byzantine period, in areas now part of the contemporary Republic of Turkey.

Popes from the Middle Ages to modernity

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The current concept of sovereignty emerged after the 1648 Peace of Westphalia,[4] collectively known as Westphalian sovereignty. However, some historians have argued against this, suggesting that such views emerged during the nineteenth and twentieth century in relation to concerns about sovereignty during that time.[5] These Westphalian states are listed below in chronological order.

Italy

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Italy, from the beginning of the Middle Ages until the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, was divided into numerous city-states and other political entities. Among these, the Papal States were the birthplace of most of the popes. Other Italian states where more popes were born were the Republic of Venice, the Kingdom of Naples, the Republic of Genoa, the Duchy of Milan and the Florentine Republic and its successor the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

Ostrogothic Kingdom

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Papal States

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Italy, Holy Roman Empire

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Former Italian states with one pope

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Republic of Genoa

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Kingdom of Naples

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Republic of Venice

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Venetian Pope Clement XIII

Republic of Siena

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Republic of Florence, Duchy of Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany

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Duchy of Milan

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Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia

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Austria

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The medieval Duchy of Carinthia was part of the Holy Roman Empire. It is now largely part of contemporary Austria. The Salian, Pope Gregory V is sometimes referred to as "the first German pope" or as "the only Austrian pope".[6][7] However, German or Austrian national identities did not exist yet during the High Middle Ages.

France

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France is the most common non-Italian papal country of origin. Seventeen popes were born in present-day France, all in the second half of the medieval era. The indicated seven popes of the Avignon Papacy were all from France. Since the end of the Avignon Papacy, no French person has been elected pope.

Kingdom of France (medieval)

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French Pope Clement V

Holy Roman Empire

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Pope Nicholas II and Pope Innocent V were from Savoy before it was annexed to France.

Napoleonic France

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Pope Leo XIII was born in Rome while it was under Napoleonic French occupation and is also listed under Italy.

Germany

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There are up to nine popes who, for various reasons, have been historically referred to as "German" – including the Ostrogothic Boniface II, the Austrian Gregory V and the Dutch Adrian VI.[8] However, only three of those were born within present-day Germany; the exact place of birth of Victor II is unknown.

England

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England is part of the contemporary United Kingdom.

Portugal

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Spain

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The Kingdom of Valencia was then part of the possessions of the Crown of Aragon; it is now part of contemporary Spain.

Netherlands

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Pope Adrian VI was from the Burgundian Netherlands within the Holy Roman Empire and was the last non-Italian elected pope until Pope John Paul II in 1978.

Popes since the creation of Vatican City

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The Lateran Pacts of 1929 between the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel III and Benito Mussolini and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI settled the long-standing Roman question brought about by the unification of Italy. Italy agreed to recognize Vatican City as an independent state under the sovereignty of the Holy See. Italy also agreed to give the Catholic Church financial compensation for the loss of the Papal States.[9][10] There have been nine popes since the legal creation of Vatican City in the 1929 Lateran Treaty: Pope Pius XI, Pope Pius XII, Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, and the current Pope Leo XIV. All are naturalized citizens of Vatican City and are listed below in chronological order.

Italy

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Since Pope Pius XI's 1929 Lateran Pacts, all his Italian papal successors were born citizens of the Kingdom of Italy; no Italian born since Italy became a republic in 1946 has been elected pope.

Poland

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Pope John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope since since Adrian VI in the 16th century and was born in the Second Polish Republic.

Germany

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Pope Benedict XVI was the second non-Italian pope since Adrian VI in the 16th century and was born in Weimar Germany.

Argentina

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Pope Francis was the first pope from the Americas, Latin America, South America, and the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the Syrian Pope Gregory III (731-741).[2]

United States & Peru

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Pope Leo XIV is the first pope from North America. He was born in the United States and became a citizen of Peru in 2015.

See also

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Lists

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Bibliography

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  • Saints and Sinners, a History of the Popes. Yale University Press. 1997. ISBN 0-300-07332-1.
  • The Incredible Book of Vatican Facts and Papal Curiosities – a treasury of trivia, Gramercy Books, New York, 1998 ISBN 0-517-22083-0

Notes

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  1. ^ a b The first pope Saint Peter was a native of Bethsaida, in the contemporary Golan Heights.
  2. ^ No pope was born in Vatican City, all of them are naturalized citizens of Vatican City.
  3. ^ a b The current Pope Leo XIV was born in the United States and obtained citizenship with Peru in 2015 and Vatican City in 2023.
  4. ^ a b Pope Leo XIII was born in Rome while it was under Napoleonic French occupation.

References

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  1. ^ a b Coulombe, Charles A. (2003). Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes. Citadel Press. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-8065-2370-5.
  2. ^ a b Fisher, Max (13 March 2013). "Sorry, Jorge Mario Bergoglio is not the first non-European pope". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 15 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  3. ^ Avis, Paul (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Ecclesiology. Oxford University Press. pp. 627–628. ISBN 9780191081378.
  4. ^ Patton, Steven (2019). "The Peace of Westphalia and it Affects on International Relations, Diplomacy and Foreign Policy". The Histories. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  5. ^ Osiander, Andreas (2001). "Sovereignty, International Relations, and the Westphalian Myth". International Organization. 55 (2): 251–287. doi:10.1162/00208180151140577. JSTOR 3078632. S2CID 145407931. Archived from the original on 21 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  6. ^ Gerhard Jelinek: Mutiger, klüger, verrückter: Frauen, die Geschichte machten, Amalthea Signum Verlag, 2020. (in German)
  7. ^ Stephan Vajda: Die Babenberger: Aufstieg einer Dynastie, Orac, 1986, p. 26. (in German)
  8. ^ Ingo von Münch: Die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit. Vergangenheit – Gegenwart – Zukunft. De Gruyter Recht, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-89949-433-4, p. 116. (in German)
  9. ^ "Vatican City turns 91". Vatican News. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2021. The world's smallest sovereign state was born on February 11, 1929, with the signing of the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy
  10. ^ A History of Western Society (Tenth ed.). Bedford/St. Martin's. 2010. p. 900.
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  1. "Crónica de los Papas": of P.G. Maxwell Stuart,
  2. "Vatican facts": of Nino Lo Bello,
  3. "Saints and Sinners": of historian Eamon Duffy
  4. Liber Pontificalis
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