They have governed the world's largest religion for the past two millennia - yet their fascinating history is strangely little-known. These are the lives and reigns of the popes of the Catholic Church, told in a continuous chronological narrative, from St. Peter on through successors famous or obscure. Put another way, this is a popes'-eye view of the whole history of the Catholic Church. Hosted by Thomas Mirus. A production of CatholicCulture.org.
Latest episodes
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16 min
Peter Has Spoken Through Leo: The Council of Chalcedon
The Roman See triumphs at the Council of Chalcedon as St. Leo's Tome, and its teaching on the two natures of Christ, is accepted by the council fathers. Links Article version: http…
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12 min
The Robber Council
The provocation for the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, which affirmed the orthodox doctrine of the Incarnation, was the heretical "Robber Council" of Ephesus. Links Article versi…
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20 min
St. Leo, Patriarch of the West
We continue to look at St. Leo the Great's reign in expanding circles to see him behaving as the universal pastor in practice that he claimed to be in principle. Future installment…
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17 min
St. Leo the Great's Teaching on Petrine Primacy
A summary of Pope St. Leo the Great's teaching on the office of the Bishop of Rome, and some samples of his preaching on other topics. Links Article version https://www.catholiccul…
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18 min
St. Leo the Great vs. Manichaean Pedophiles
This is the first of several installments about Pope St. Leo the Great (reigned 440-461), a profoundly important figure in the development of the papacy, canon law, Christology, an…
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14 min
Popes of the Theotokos
Both of the popes featured in this installment are remembered for honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary. Most of our time will be spent on the first, St. Celestine, who is important chi…
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12 min
The Sword of Peter
This installment of Lives of the Popes covers two popes of the early 5th century - Sts. Zosimus and Boniface I - the first of whom passed on multiple complicated situations for his…
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16 min
They Ruled East and West
So far in this series, we've seen a number of examples of early popes exercising authority over bishops and churches outside of Rome, and even outside of the West. As the documenta…
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13 min
Pope St. Damasus, Patron of the Latin Bible
Pope St. Damasus I (reigned 366-384) commissioned St. Jerome to make a new translation of the Bible, defended the Church against heresy, promoted the prestige and practical authori…
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18 min
The First Non-Sainted Pope
Liberius (352-366) is not only the first pope in history not to be considered a saint in the Catholic Church, but is also often used by anti-Catholic critics to argue against papal…
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13 min
Sylvester and Constantine
The widespread persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire was finally over for good, beginning the "Peace of the Church". But the "Peace" could only be so peaceful, as internal…
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14 min
The Great Persecution
The first decade of the fourth century, from about 302 to 313, is one of the most remarkable in history. In that short time, the Church would go from the worst of persecutions to t…
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11 min
The Little Peace of the Church
The popes in the middle of the third century experienced intense persecution by the emperors Decius and Valerius, but this suddenly gave way to a period of official and explicit to…
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19 min
Popes of the Lost Sheep
The three popes who reigned during this period all had to deal with serious divisions within the Church, especially over questions of how the Church should treat fallen-away Cathol…
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14 min
The First Antipope
The first four of the six popes covered in this installment found themselves in conflict with a priest named Hippolytus, the most brilliant intellectual of the Roman Church at the…
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21 min
The Ten Popes of the Second Century
Little is known about many of the popes of the second century. Several of them were martyrs. They had to deal with different heresies that made their way to Rome, and there was als…
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10 min
Popes of the Apostolic Era
The first three popes after St. Peter likely knew the Prince of the Apostles personally and may even have been hand-selected by him. We know little of Sts. Linus and Cletus, but th…
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15 min
Introducing Lives of the Popes
One must beware a rabbit hole. Article: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/lives-popes-part-one-infinity/ DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/dona…