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
Mariology of the popes Marian themes a key part of their papacy, e.g. Leo XIII issued a record eleven encyclicals on the rosary, Pius XII invoked the first (and to date only) case of "ex cathedra" papal infallibility to establish a Marian dogma and John Paul II built his personal coat of arms around the Marian Cross. Popes have also highlighted the key Catholic Mariological theme of the link between the study of Mary and the development of a full Christology, e.g. as in Pius XII's "Mystici corporis Christi" and John Paul II's "Redemptoris Mater". Popes were highly important for the development of doctrine