The New Pope Is Calling Himself Leo—Just Like 13 Other Pontiffs Who Came Before Him. Who Are They?
When Robert Prevost was elected pope this week, he chose one of the most popular papal names. The lives of the Pope Leos who preceded him may offer insight into his approach to the papacy
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About two weeks after Pope Francis died at age 88 on April 21, the conclave to elect his successor began inside the Sistine Chapel. The 133 cardinals gathered inside reached their decision after two days of deliberations.
White smoke poured from the chapel’s chimney on Thursday evening, signaling to the crowds gathered in Vatican City that they were ready to announce a name. From the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the cardinal protodeacon declared, “Habemus papam”—Latin for “We have a pope.”
Minutes later, a man dressed in red and white robes emerged. Until this moment, he had been known as Cardinal Robert Prevost, a Chicago native who had spent many years as a missionary in Peru. But now the man waving at the crowds in St. Peter’s Square had a new name: Leo XIV.
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About half of history’s popes—130 out of 267—have renamed themselves when they took the papal throne. Since the practice began with John II in 533, some names have been more popular than others. The most common are John (21), Gregory (16), Benedict (15), Clement (14) and Leo (14).
But while some popes name themselves for predecessors they hope to emulate, others use their names to signal a break with tradition. Francis, for instance, was the first pope to name himself in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, who was known for his devotion to the poor.
Papal names “indicate a certain spirit and direction and vision of the new pope,” Dennis Doyle, an emeritus theologian at the University of Dayton, tells CBS News’ Nicole Brown Chau.
“The first thing that you would look for would be, which popes had that name before?” he adds. “That would signify something about the direction that the pope wants to take.”
Prevost is the 14th pope to choose the name Leo. Here are the 13 who came before him.
Leo I (440-461)
The inaugural Leo is best known for his confrontation with Attila the Hun in 452. He led a delegation to a site near Mantua in northern Italy, where Attila was camping, and supposedly persuaded him not to invade Rome. Several years later, when the Vandals sacked the city, he negotiated the safety of innocent residents. He’s also one of the only popes to have “the Great” appended to his name, and he’s among the 83 popes to have been proclaimed saints.
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Leo II (682-683)
While he died less than a year into his papacy, Leo II was described as “a man of great eloquence, competently versed in Holy Scripture, proficient in Greek and Latin, and distinguished for his chanting and psalmody,” according to The Book of the Pontiffs. He was also a talented singer who perfected melodies used in Gregorian chant.
Leo III (795-816)
Soon after becoming pope, Leo III was attacked by supporters of his predecessor, Adrian I. Leo sought protection from Charlemagne, king of the Franks, who sent the pontiff back to Rome along with a commission that discredited the charges against him. When Charlemagne traveled to Rome in 800, the pope declared him the Holy Roman Emperor, giving him “equal status with the Byzantine emperors in Constantinople,” as the Catholic News Agency writes. “This relationship provided protection for the Holy See. … However, Charlemagne extracted a high price for his support, often interfering in the work of the church and expecting Leo’s tacit approval in all things.”
Leo IV (847-855)
Around the time of Leo IV’s election to the papacy, the Saracens sacked Rome, spreading fear through the city. Leo took great pains to prevent another such attack in the future, repairing damaged structures and building hundreds of new fortifications—including a wall protecting the Vatican hill.
Leo V (903), Leo VI (928-929) and Leo VII (936-939)
Leo V, Leo VI and Leo VII each served as pope for only a short stretch of time during the Saeculum obscurum (“the dark age”) of the papacy, a period that lasted from 896 to 964. During those years, the papal throne passed between 20 individuals, many of whom “[had] their reigns and lives radically shortened by murder,” per Medievalists.net. For instance, Leo V spent only about two months as pope before being deposed—and potentially murdered—by a cardinal named Christopher. Many scholars consider Christopher an antipope, which Encyclopedia Britannica defines as “one who opposes the legitimately elected bishop of Rome, endeavors to secure the papal throne and to some degree succeeds materially in the attempt.”
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Leo VIII (963-965)
Scholars have long debated the legitimacy of Leo VIII, who is often considered an antipope—at least during part of his reign. He was the chosen candidate of Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, who pushed for his election after deposing his predecessor, John XII. However, soon after Otto left Rome, an assembly of bishops called a synod deposed Leo and returned the papacy to John. When John died soon after, the church elected Benedict V in his place, but Otto returned to the city and reinstated Leo.
Leo IX (1049-1054)
Leo IX was a major player in the East-West Schism, the official split between the Catholic Church in the West and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Tensions between the two sides came to a head in 1054, when Leo and the patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, excommunicated each other. Nearly 1,000 years later, in 1965, Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I lifted both excommunications.
Leo X (1513-1521)
In 1517, the theologian Martin Luther issued his 95 Theses, which condemned corruption in the Catholic Church. The text, which ultimately sparked the Protestant Reformation, was circulated widely, eventually making its way to Leo X. The pope declared Luther’s assertions to be heretical and demanded he renounce them. When Luther refused, Leo excommunicated him in 1521.
Leo XI (1605)
After becoming pope on April 1, 1605, Leo XI only held the papacy for 26 days—one of history’s shortest reigns. He died on April 27.
Leo XII (1823-1829)
Leo XII was known for his conservative viewpoints and policies. During his five-year reign, he rejected indifferentism, the idea that all religious faiths are equal, and barred Jews from owning property. He also revived the practice of jubilees, periods devoted to penance and forgiveness.
Leo XIII (1878-1903)
As the first pope to appear on film, Leo XIII—the most recent pope to choose the name before Leo XIV—is remembered as a bridge between past and present. He championed scientific advancements and advocated for the poor, famously defending workers’ right to a living wage in his encyclical “Of New Things” in 1891. “Leo was concerned that the church would become a church of the elites, not a church of the working class,” Kenneth Himes, an emeritus theologian at Boston College, tells the Los Angeles Times’ Matt Hamilton.
During his first address from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday, Leo XIV described his vision for a church that “always seeks peace, always seeks charity, always seeks to be close, especially to those who suffer.” He emphasized his commitment to welcoming “all those who are in need of our charity” with “open arms.”
