Pope Francis reaches 12th year as pope. This is how long his predecessors served

March 13, 2025, marks Francis' 12th anniversary as pope. He holds the ninth longest papacy of the past 200 years.

March 13, 2025, marks Francis' 12th anniversary as pope. He holds the ninth longest papacy of the past 200 years.

I'm here at the Gelli Hospital in Rome where Pope Francis is being treated for pneumonia. Now this hospital has *** strong connection with the Pope's, and on my left here is *** statue of John Paul II, who visited this hospital *** number of times. He came here first after he was shot in St. Peter's Square in 1981, and due to his frequent visits, *** special suite of was created for the Popes and that is where Pope Francis receiving his treatment on the 10th floor of the hospital and there there's *** place for the medical teams to meet and *** chapel. Now we've seen people come to the statue in recent days to pray for Francis. There's candles with his face on them and people on Sunday. were gathering hoping to see the Pope for the Angelus prayer that he has in the past led from the balcony. They'll still be hoping to see him in the coming days as he tries to make *** recovery from the pneumonia. Now the Gelli is *** very respected hospital in Italy and was named after Agostino Gimmelli, Franciscan friar and psychologist. Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome.

Pope Francis reaches 12th year as pope. This is how long his predecessors served

March 13, 2025, marks Francis' 12th anniversary as pope. He holds the ninth longest papacy of the past 200 years.

The average pope over the past two centuries has served about 14 years. Pope Francis, who is battling double pneumonia, just hit his 12th anniversary as pope on March 13. The 88-year-old became head of the Catholic Church on March 13, 2013, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. He has been hospitalized for nearly a month, but on Monday, doctors said Francis is no longer in imminent danger. Since the 1800s, there have been 16 popes. Of those popes, Francis has the ninth-longest papacy so far.Over the past 200 years, the longest papacy reign was that of Pope Pius IX, who served over 31 years from 1846 to 1878. The shortest was that of Pope John Paul I, who was head of the Catholic Church for just 33 days.Paul served from August to September of 1978. He died at the age of 65 of a heart attack, according to the Vatican, although his death sparked many conspiracy theories.In total, there have been 266 popes of the Catholic Church. When a pope dies or resigns, cardinals convene in Rome to select the successor.After taking an oath of secrecy, the 120 cardinals selected for choosing the next pope lock themselves in the Sistine Chapel. Each day, there are four rounds of voting, during which cardinals cast anonymous ballots. A candidate must receive two-thirds of the votes. If no candidate receives the vote, the ballots are burned in a stove with a chemical that produces black smoke visible from St. Peter’s Square. Once a candidate is selected, a different chemical is mixed with the burnt ballots to create white smoke. Since the 1800s, it has taken an average of 22 days from the resignation or death of the previous pope to name a new pope. It only took 13 days to name Francis after Benedict's resignation.When a pope is named, they take on a new papal name that replaces their secular name. Francis was the first Francis. The most common papal name is John, followed by Benedict and Gregory.Below is a look at all of the popes since the start of the 19th century. PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=

VATICAN CITY, —

The average pope over the past two centuries has served about 14 years. Pope Francis, who is battling double pneumonia, just hit his 12th anniversary as pope on March 13.

The 88-year-old became head of the Catholic Church on March 13, 2013, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. He has been hospitalized for nearly a month, but on Monday, doctors said Francis is no longer in imminent danger.

Since the 1800s, there have been 16 popes. Of those popes, Francis has the ninth-longest papacy so far.

Over the past 200 years, the longest papacy reign was that of Pope Pius IX, who served over 31 years from 1846 to 1878. The shortest was that of Pope John Paul I, who was head of the Catholic Church for just 33 days.

Paul served from August to September of 1978. He died at the age of 65 of a heart attack, according to the Vatican, although his death sparked many conspiracy theories.

In total, there have been 266 popes of the Catholic Church. When a pope dies or resigns, cardinals convene in Rome to select the successor.

After taking an oath of secrecy, the 120 cardinals selected for choosing the next pope lock themselves in the Sistine Chapel. Each day, there are four rounds of voting, during which cardinals cast anonymous ballots.

A candidate must receive two-thirds of the votes. If no candidate receives the vote, the ballots are burned in a stove with a chemical that produces black smoke visible from St. Peter’s Square.

Once a candidate is selected, a different chemical is mixed with the burnt ballots to create white smoke.

Since the 1800s, it has taken an average of 22 days from the resignation or death of the previous pope to name a new pope.

It only took 13 days to name Francis after Benedict's resignation.

When a pope is named, they take on a new papal name that replaces their secular name. Francis was the first Francis.

The most common papal name is John, followed by Benedict and Gregory.

Below is a look at all of the popes since the start of the 19th century.

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