List of popes by country

This page is a list of popes by country of origin and nationality. There have been 265^[a] 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

As of 2025, 265^[a] men have been pope, with at least one pope hailing (in chronological order) from Asia (9), Europe (251), Africa (3), or the Americas (2). Every pope since Pope Pius XI has been a citizen of Vatican City (established in the 1929 Lateran Treaty).^[b]

217 popes are from contemporary Italy, starting with the second Pope Linus, including all popes with the names Pius, Boniface, and Paul, Pope Benedict IX, and most recently Pope John Paul I.
- Most of these were ethnic Italians, but 5 were ethnic Greeks (Pope Telesphorus, Pope Anterus, Pope Zosimus, Pope John VI, and Pope John VII).
- 4 Italian citizens later became naturalized citizens of Vatican City: Pope Pius XII, Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI, and Pope John Paul I.
17 from France and from the Holy Roman Empire in contemporary France, including Savoy: Pope Sylvester II, Pope Leo IX, Pope Stephen IX, Pope Nicholas II, Pope Urban II, Pope Callistus II, Pope Urban IV, Pope Clement IV, Pope Innocent V, Pope Martin IV, Pope Clement V, Pope John XXII, Pope Benedict XII, Pope Clement VI, Pope Innocent VI, Pope Urban V, and Pope Gregory XI.
9 ethnic Greeks, with 4 each from contemporary Greece and Italy, while Pope John VI was from contemporary Turkey.
- 4 from contemporary Greece: Pope Anacletus, Pope Hyginus, Pope Eleutherius, Pope Sixtus II.
- 4 from contemporary Italy: Pope Telesphorus, Pope Anterus, Pope Zosimus, and Pope John VII.
- 1 from contemporary Turkey: Pope John VI
6 from Provincia Syria or Bilad al-Sham, contemporary Syria and Lebanon: the first pope commonly known as Saint Peter, Pope Anicetus, Pope John V, Pope Sergius I, Pope Constantine, and Pope Gregory III.^[c]
4 from Germany and from the Holy Roman Empire in contemporary Germany: Pope Clement II, Pope Damasus II, Pope Victor II, and Pope Benedict XVI.
3 from Africa Proconsularis, contemporary Tunisia, western Libya, and eastern Algeria: Pope Victor I, Pope Miltiades, Pope Gelasius I.
2 from the Holy Land, contemporary Israel, Palestine, and Syria: Pope Evaristus and Pope Theodore I.^[c]
2 from Dalmatia in contemporary Croatia: Pope Caius and Pope John IV.
2 from Spain: Pope Callixtus III and Pope Alexander VI.
2 from Portugal: Pope Damasus I and Pope John XXI.
2 from Anatolia, contemporary Turkey: Pope Conon and Pope John VI.
1 from the Holy Roman Empire in contemporary Austria: Pope Gregory V.
1 from the Holy Roman Empire in the contemporary Netherlands: Pope Adrian VI.
1 from England in the contemporary United Kingdom: Pope Adrian IV.
1 from Poland: Pope John Paul II.
1 from Argentina: Pope Francis.
1 from the United States: Pope Leo XIV.

Table of popes by country

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 part of United Kingdom	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^[d]
Poland	1	2005
German part of Holy Roman Empire Contemporary Germany	4	2013
Argentina	1	2025
United States	1	current^[e]
Total	265

Popes from the Roman Empire

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

Syria

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

Pope Peter (64–68), of Bethsaida
Pope Anicetus (c. 154–167), of Emesa (modern Homs)
Pope John V (685–686), of Antioch
Pope Sergius I (687–701), a Syrian Sicilian
Pope Sisinnius (708); little is known about him, but his father was Syrian
Pope Constantine (708–715), of Tyre, Lebanon
Pope Gregory III (731–749), of Syria

Italy

Roman Italy

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

Pope Linus (64/67(?)–76/79 (?))
Pope Anacletus (76/79(?)–88)
Pope Clement I (88/92–97/101)
Pope Alexander I (c.106–c.115)
Pope Sixtus I (117/119(?)–126/128(?)
Pope Pius I (c. 140 – c. 154)
Pope Soter (c. 166 – 174/175)
Pope Zephyrinus (199–217)
Pope Callixtus I (c. 217 – 222)
Pope Pontian (230–235)
Pope Urban I (222–230)
Pope Fabian (236–250)
Pope Cornelius (251–253)
Pope Lucius I (253–254)
Pope Stephen I (254–257)
Pope Felix I (269–274)
Pope Eutychian (275–283)
Pope Marcellinus (296–304?)
Pope Marcellus I (308–309)
Pope Eusebius (309/310)
Pope Sylvester I (314–335)
Pope Mark (336)
Pope Julius I (337–352)
Pope Liberius (352–366)
Pope Siricius (384–399)
Pope Anastasius I (399–401)
Pope Innocent I (401–417)
Pope Boniface I (418–422)
Pope Celestine I (422–432)
Pope Sixtus III (432–440)
Pope Leo I (440–461)
Pope Hilarius (461–468)
Pope Simplicius (468–483)
Pope Felix III (483–492)
Pope Anastasius II (496–498)
Pope Symmachus (498–514)
Pope Silverius (536–537)

Byzantine Italy

Pope Pelagius I (556–561)
Pope John III (561–574)
Pope Benedict I (575–579)
Pope Pelagius II (579–590)
Pope Gregory I (590–604)
Pope Sabinian (604–606)
Pope Boniface III (607)
Pope Boniface IV (608–615)
Pope Adeodatus I (615–618)
Pope Boniface V (619–625)
Pope Honorius I (625–638)
Pope Severinus (636–640)
Pope Martin I (649–653)
Pope Eugene I (654–657)
Pope Vitalian (657–672)
Pope Adeodatus II (672–676)
Pope Donus (676–678)
Pope Agatho (678–681)
Pope Leo II (682–683)
Pope Benedict II (684–685)
Pope Sergius I (687–701)
Pope Gregory II (715–731)
Pope Zachary (741–752)
Pope Stephen II (752–757)
Pope Stephen III (768–772)
Pope Stephen IV (816–817)
Pope Stephen VIII (939-942)

Byzantine Sicily

Pope Conon (686–687), Greek ethnicity
Pope Sergius I (687–701), Syrian ethnicity

Greeks

These popes are considered ethnic Greeks, though most are from other parts of Magna Graecia, rather than modern Greece.

Pope Anacletus (80–92), a native of Rome
Pope Telesphorus (126–137), from Calabria, Italy
Pope Hyginus (c. 138 – c. 142), from Athens
Pope Eleuterus (174/175–189), from Epirus, Greece
Pope Anterus (235–236), from Calabria
Pope Sixtus II (257–258), possibly from Greece
Pope Zosimus (417–418), from Calabria
Pope John VI (701–705), from Ephesus (in modern Turkey)
Pope John VII (705–707), from Calabria

Roman Judaea

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.

Pope Peter (c. 30 – c. 67)
Pope Evaristus (c. 99 – c. 107)
Pope Theodore I (642–649)

Roman Africa

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]

Pope Victor I (189–199)
Pope Miltiades (311–314)
Pope Gelasius I (492–496)

Roman Dalmatia

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

Pope Caius (283–296)
Pope John IV (640–642)

Roman Lusitania

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

Pope Damasus I (366–384)

Byzantine Anatolia

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.

Pope Conon (686–687)
(655–705)

Popes since the creation of Vatican City

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

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.

Pope Pius XI (1922–1939) (Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia)
Pope Pius XII (1939–1958)
Pope John XXIII (1958–1963)
Pope Paul VI (1963–1978)
Pope John Paul I (1978)

Poland

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

Pope John Paul II (1978–2005)

Germany

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

Pope Benedict XVI (2005–2013)

Argentina

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]

Pope Francis (2013–2025)

United States

Pope Leo XIV is the first pope from North America. He was born in the United States

Pope Leo XIV (2025–present)^[e]

Bibliography

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

1 2 There have been 267 papacies, since Pope Benedict IX (1032–1044; 1045; 1047–1048) was elected pope three times.^[1]
↑ 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 have all been Vatican citizens.
1 2 The first pope Saint Peter was a native of Bethsaida, in the contemporary Golan Heights.
↑ No pope was born in Vatican City, all of them are naturalized citizens of Vatican City.
1 2 The current Pope Leo XIV was born in the United States and obtained citizenship with Peru in 2015 and Vatican City in 2023.
1 2 Pope Leo XIII was born in Rome while it was under Napoleonic French occupation.

References

1 2 Coulombe, Charles A. (2003). Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes. Citadel Press. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-8065-2370-5.
1 2 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.
↑ Avis, Paul (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Ecclesiology. Oxford University Press. pp. 627–628. ISBN 9780191081378.
↑ 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.
↑ 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.
↑ Gerhard Jelinek: Mutiger, klüger, verrückter: Frauen, die Geschichte machten, Amalthea Signum Verlag, 2020. (in German)
↑ Stephan Vajda: Die Babenberger: Aufstieg einer Dynastie, Orac, 1986, p. 26. (in German)
↑ Ingo von Münch: Die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit. Vergangenheit – Gegenwart – Zukunft. De Gruyter Recht, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-89949-433-4, p. 116. (in German)
↑ "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
↑ A History of Western Society (Tenth ed.). Bedford/St. Martin's. 2010. p. 900.

External links

"Every Pope ever: the full list". TheGuardian.com. 13 February 2013. at The Guardian
"Lista de los Papas: y comentarios triviales". rcadena.net (in Spanish). Translated by R. Cadena Cepeda. Archived from the original on April 15, 2002. Retrieved Aug 13, 2018. San Pedro (32 AD-67). Judío, Pescador. Nació en 4 A.C. Casado, con una hija: Petronila. Nombre arameo: Simón Bar- Jona. * The list of popes is based on the following bibliography:

"Crónica de los Papas": of P.G. Maxwell Stuart,
"Vatican facts": of Nino Lo Bello,
"Saints and Sinners": of historian Eamon Duffy
Liber Pontificalis

[number-1] 1 2 There have been 267 papacies, since Pope Benedict IX (1032–1044; 1045; 1047–1048) was elected pope three times.^[1]

[3] 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 have all been Vatican citizens.

[Peter-4] 1 2 The first pope Saint Peter was a native of Bethsaida, in the contemporary Golan Heights.

[VaticanCitizens-5] No pope was born in Vatican City, all of them are naturalized citizens of Vatican City.

[LeoXIV-6] 1 2 The current Pope Leo XIV was born in the United States and obtained citizenship with Peru in 2015 and Vatican City in 2023.

[LeoXIII-11] 1 2 Pope Leo XIII was born in Rome while it was under Napoleonic French occupation.

[BenedictIX-2] 1 2 Coulombe, Charles A. (2003). Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes. Citadel Press. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-8065-2370-5.

[GregoryIIIFrancis-7] 1 2 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.

[8] Avis, Paul (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Ecclesiology. Oxford University Press. pp. 627–628. ISBN 9780191081378.

[9] 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.

[10] 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.

[12] Gerhard Jelinek: Mutiger, klüger, verrückter: Frauen, die Geschichte machten, Amalthea Signum Verlag, 2020. (in German)

[13] Stephan Vajda: Die Babenberger: Aufstieg einer Dynastie, Orac, 1986, p. 26. (in German)

[14] Ingo von Münch: Die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit. Vergangenheit – Gegenwart – Zukunft. De Gruyter Recht, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-89949-433-4, p. 116. (in German)

[15] "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

[16] A History of Western Society (Tenth ed.). Bedford/St. Martin's. 2010. p. 900.

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v t e History of Catholic theology
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Early Church	Paul Clement of Rome First Epistle of Clement Didache Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp Epistle of Barnabas The Shepherd of Hermas Aristides of Athens Justin Martyr Epistle to Diognetus Irenaeus Montanism Tertullian Origen Novatian Cyprian
Constantine to Pope Gregory I	Eusebius Athanasius of Alexandria Arianism Pelagianism Nestorianism Monophysitism Ephrem the Syrian Hilary of Poitiers Cyril of Jerusalem Basil of Caesarea Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nyssa Ambrose John Chrysostom Jerome Augustine of Hippo John Cassian Orosius Cyril of Alexandria Peter Chrysologus Pope Leo I Boethius Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite Pope Gregory I
Early Middle Ages	Isidore of Seville John Climacus Maximus the Confessor Monothelitism Ecthesis Bede John of Damascus Iconoclasm Transubstantiation dispute Predestination disputes Paulinus II of Aquileia Alcuin Benedict of Aniane Benedict of Nursia Rabanus Maurus Paschasius Radbertus John Scotus Eriugena
High Middle Ages	Roscellinus Gregory of Narek Berengar of Tours Peter Damian Anselm of Canterbury Joachim of Fiore Peter Abelard Decretum Gratiani Bernard of Clairvaux Peter Lombard Anselm of Laon Hildegard of Bingen Hugh of Saint Victor Dominic de Guzmán Robert Grosseteste Francis of Assisi Anthony of Padua Beatrice of Nazareth Bonaventure Albertus Magnus Boetius of Dacia Henry of Ghent Thomas Aquinas Siger of Brabant Thomism Roger Bacon
Mysticism and reforms	Ramon Llull Duns Scotus Dante Alighieri William of Ockham Richard Rolle John of Ruusbroec Catherine of Siena Bridget of Sweden Meister Eckhart Johannes Tauler Walter Hilton The Cloud of Unknowing Heinrich Seuse Geert Groote Devotio Moderna Julian of Norwich Thomas à Kempis Nicholas of Cusa Marsilio Ficino Girolamo Savonarola Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
Reformation Counter-Reformation	Erasmus Thomas Cajetan Thomas More John Fisher Johann Eck Francisco de Vitoria Thomas of Villanova Ignatius of Loyola Francisco de Osuna John of Ávila Francis Xavier Teresa of Ávila Luis de León John of the Cross Peter Canisius Luis de Molina (Molinism) Robert Bellarmine Francisco Suárez Lawrence of Brindisi Francis de Sales
Baroque period to French Revolution	Tommaso Campanella Pierre de Bérulle Pierre Gassendi René Descartes Mary of Jesus of Ágreda António Vieira Jean-Jacques Olier Louis Thomassin Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet François Fénelon Cornelius Jansen (Jansenism) Blaise Pascal Nicolas Malebranche Giambattista Vico Alphonsus Liguori Louis de Montfort Maria Gaetana Agnesi Alfonso Muzzarelli Johann Michael Sailer Clement Mary Hofbauer Bruno Lanteri
19th century	Joseph Görres Félicité de La Mennais Luigi Taparelli Antonio Rosmini Ignaz von Döllinger John Henry Newman Henri Lacordaire Jaime Balmes Gaetano Sanseverino Giovanni Maria Cornoldi Wilhelm Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler Giuseppe Pecci Joseph Hergenröther Tommaso Maria Zigliara Matthias Joseph Scheeben Émile Boutroux Modernism Neo-scholasticism Léon Bloy Désiré-Joseph Mercier Friedrich von Hügel Vladimir Solovyov Marie-Joseph Lagrange George Tyrrell Maurice Blondel Thérèse of Lisieux
20th century	G. K. Chesterton Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange Joseph Maréchal Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Jacques Maritain Étienne Gilson Ronald Knox Georges Bernanos Dietrich von Hildebrand Gabriel Marcel Marie-Dominique Chenu Romano Guardini Edith Stein Fulton Sheen Henri de Lubac Dorothy Day Henri Daniel-Rops Jean Guitton Josemaría Escrivá Nouvelle théologie Karl Rahner Yves Congar Bernard Lonergan Emmanuel Mounier Jean Daniélou Hans Urs von Balthasar Marcel Lefebvre Frederick Copleston Alfred Delp Edward Schillebeeckx Thomas Merton René Girard Hans Küng Johann Baptist Metz Jean Vanier Henri Nouwen
21st century	Pope John Paul II Alice von Hildebrand Carlo Maria Martini Pope Benedict XVI Gustavo Gutiérrez Alasdair MacIntyre Walter Kasper Raniero Cantalamessa Michał Heller Peter Kreeft Jean-Luc Marion Tomáš Halík Aidan Nichols Scott Hahn
Catholicism portal

Statistical overview

Table of popes by country

Popes from the Roman Empire

Syria

Italy

Roman Italy

Byzantine Italy

Byzantine Sicily

Greeks

Roman Judaea

Roman Africa

Roman Dalmatia

Roman Lusitania

Byzantine Anatolia

Popes since the creation of Vatican City

Italy

Poland

Germany

Argentina

United States

See also

Lists

Bibliography

Notes

References

External links