Pope Reviews

Honest reviews of the Holy See since 33 AD*

*site launched considerably more recently

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How long until the next pope?

—

There have been roughly 266 popes across about two thousand years, which works out to an average tenure of —. Leo XIV was elected on 8 May 2025 and has served — so far.

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Recent reviews

Sorted by relevance. Reviewers were, in every case, not present.

  1. Benedict XVI

    2005–2013

    ★☆☆☆☆

    Quit. You cannot quit this. Six hundred years since the last person quit and he looked at that record and thought: I could take that. Went and lived in the garden afterwards. In the garden. While the new one worked.

    — the entire reason this website exists

  2. Celestine V

    1294, briefly

    ★★☆☆☆

    Was a hermit. Was made pope against his stated preferences. Issued a decree confirming that a pope is allowed to resign, then immediately used it, which is the single most efficient piece of legislative self-service in recorded history. Five months. Dante put him in Hell for it. Two stars for the paperwork.

    — verified reader of the footnotes

  3. Urban VII

    1590

    ★★★☆☆

    Thirteen days. Died before the coronation. In that window he banned smoking in church, which means the shortest papacy in history is also one of the few with a clear public-health legacy. Cannot fault the focus. Would have liked more.

    — brief encounter, mostly positive

  4. Gregory XIII

    1572–1585

    ★★★★☆

    Deleted ten days. Went straight from the 4th of October 1582 to the 15th and told everyone the calendar had been wrong the whole time. He was correct, which is somehow worse. Docking one star on behalf of everyone with a birthday in there.

    — still owed a week and a half

  5. Pius IX

    1846–1878

    ★★★☆☆

    Thirty-one years, seven months. The longest confirmed tenure of anyone in the role. Outlasted the Papal States themselves, which is a bit like outlasting your own employer and continuing to come in. Commitment: unimpeachable. Flexibility: not the headline.

    — longest-serving, by a distance

  6. Leo XIV currently serving

    2025–

    ☆☆☆☆☆

    First American in the role. From Chicago. Has not quit. It has been over a year and he has not quit even slightly. Early days, but the fundamentals look strong. Rating withheld pending a longer observation window, which is more courtesy than some previous entries received.

    — under review

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