Year of three popes Year of three popes A year of three popes is a common reference to a year when the College of Cardinals of the Catholic Church are required to elect two new popes within the same calendar year. Such a year generally occurs when a newly elected pope dies or resigns very early into his papacy. This results in the Catholic Church being led by three different popes during the same calendar year. The most recent instance of a year of three popes occurred in 1978. The three popes involved were: There have been several instances in which three or more
Three Popes and the Jews this time he does not claim to be an eyewitness. Zuccotti regards this anecdote as unconvincing because "there is little evidence that [Paul VI] ever did much for the Jews" and the ADSS even contains examples of his refusing requests for assistance. The quote is also inconsistent with his 1963 article in "The Tablet" defending Pius XII which claims not that he directed others to save Jews, but that he refrained because it would have been "not only futile but harmful". Three Popes and the Jews Three Popes and the Jews is a 1967 book by Pinchas Lapide, a former