List of sexually active popes

This is a list of sexually active popes, Catholic priests who were not celibate before they became pope, and those who were legally married before becoming pope. Some candidates were allegedly sexually active before their election as pope, and others were accused of being sexually active during their papacies. A number of them had offspring.

There are various classifications for those who were sexually active during their lives. Allegations of sexual activities are of varying levels of reliability, with several having been made by political opponents and being contested by modern historians.

Background

For many years of the Church's history, celibacy was considered optional. Based on the customs of the times, it is assumed^{[by whom?]} by many that most of the Twelve Apostles were married and had families. The New Testament (Mark 1:29–31;^[1] Matthew 8:14–15;^[2] Luke 4:38–39;^[3] 1 Timothy 3:2, 12;^[4] Titus 1:6)^[5] depicts at least Peter as being married, and bishops, priests and deacons of the Early Church were often married as well. In epigraphy, the testimony of the Church Fathers, synodal legislation, and papal decretals in the following centuries, a married clergy, in greater or lesser numbers, was a feature of the life of the Church. Celibacy was not required for those ordained and was accepted in the early Church, particularly by those in the monastic life.

Although various local Church councils had demanded celibacy of the clergy in a particular area,^[6] the Second Lateran Council (1139) made the promise to remain celibate a prerequisite to ordination, abolishing the married priesthood in the Latin Church. Subsequently sexual relationships were generally undertaken outside the bond of matrimony and each sexual act thus committed considered a mortal sin.

Popes who were legally married

Name	Reign(s)	Relationship	Offspring	Notes
Saint Peter	30/33–64/68	Mother-in-law (Greek πενθερά, penthera) is mentioned in the Gospel verses Matthew 8:14–15, Luke 4:38, Mark 1:29–31, and who was healed by Jesus at her home in Capernaum. 1 Cor. 9:5 asks whether others have the right to be accompanied by Christian wives as does "Cephas" (Peter). Clement of Alexandria wrote: "When the blessed Peter saw his own wife led out to die, he rejoiced because of her summons and her return home, and called to her very encouragingly and comfortingly, addressing her by name, and saying, 'Remember the Lord.' Such was the marriage of the blessed, and their perfect disposition toward those dearest to them."^[7]	Yes^[8]	Later legends, dating from the 6th century onwards, suggested that Peter had a daughter – identified as Saint Petronilla. This is likely to be a result of the similarity of their names.^[9]^[10]
Felix III	483–492	Widowed before his election as pope	Yes	Himself the son of a priest, he fathered two children, one of whom was the mother of Pope Gregory the Great.^[11]
Hormisdas	514–523	Widowed before he took holy orders	Yes	Father of Pope Silverius.^[12]
Adrian II	867–872	Married to Stephania before he took holy orders,^[13] she was still living when he was elected pope and resided with him in the Lateran Palace	Yes (a daughter)	His wife and daughter both resided with him until they were murdered by Eleutherius, brother of Anastasius Bibliothecarius, the Church's chief librarian.^[14]
John XVII	1003	Married before his election as pope	Yes (three sons)	All of his children became priests.^[15]
Clement IV	1265–1268	Married before taking holy orders	Yes (two daughters)	Both children entered a convent^[16]
Honorius IV	1285–1287	Widowed before entering the clergy	Yes (at least two sons)^[17]

Fathered illegitimate children before holy orders

Name	Reign	Relationship	Offspring	Notes
Pius II	1458–1464	Not married	Yes (at least two)	Two children, both born before he formally entered the clergy. The first child, fathered while in Scotland, died in infancy. A second child fathered while in Strasbourg with a Breton woman named Elizabeth died 14 months later. He delayed becoming a cleric because of the requirement of chastity.^[18]
Innocent VIII	1484–1492	Not married	Yes (two)	Both born before he entered the clergy.^[19] Married elder son Franceschetto Cybo to the daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici, who in return obtained the cardinal's hat for his 13-year-old son Giovanni, who became Pope Leo X.^[20] His daughter Teodorina Cybo married Gerardo Usodimare.
Clement VII	1523–1534	Not married. Relationship with a slave girl – possibly Simonetta da Collevecchio	Yes (one)	Identified as Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence.^[21]^[22]

Known to or suspected of having fathered illegitimate children after receiving holy orders

Name	Reign	Relationship	Offspring	Notes
Julius II	1503–1513	Not married	Yes (three daughters)	Three illegitimate daughters, one of whom was Felice della Rovere (born in 1483, twenty years before his election as pope, and twelve years after his enthronement as bishop of Lausanne).^[23] The schismatic Conciliabulum of Pisa, which sought to depose him in 1511, also accused him of being a "sodomite".^[24]
Paul III	1534–1549	Not married. Silvia Ruffini as mistress	Yes (three sons and one daughter)	Held off ordination in order to continue his lifestyle, fathering four illegitimate children (three sons and one daughter) by Silvia Ruffini after his appointment as cardinal-deacon of Santi Cosimo and Damiano. He broke his relations with her ca. 1513. He made his illegitimate son Pier Luigi Farnese the first duke of Parma.^[25]^[26]
Pius IV	1559–1565	Not married	Allegedly three	One was a son born in 1541 or 1542. He also had two daughters.^[27]
Gregory XIII	1572–1585	Not married. Affair with Maddalena Fulchini	Yes	Received the ecclesiastical tonsure in Bologna in June 1539, and subsequently had an affair that resulted in the birth of Giacomo Boncompagni in 1548. Giacomo remained illegitimate, with Gregory later appointing him Gonfalonier of the Church, governor of the Castel Sant'Angelo and Fermo.^[28]^[29]
Leo XII	1823–1829	Not married	Allegedly three	As a young prelate, he came under suspicion of having a liaison with the wife of a Swiss Guard soldier and as nuncio in Germany allegedly fathered three illegitimate children.^[30]

Popes alleged to be sexually active during pontificate

A majority of the allegations made in this section are disputed by modern historians.

Relationships with women

Name	Reign	Relationship	Offspring	Notes
Sergius III^[a]	904–911	Not married	Yes (at least one)	Accused of being the illegitimate father of Pope John XI by Marozia, the fifteen year old daughter of Theodora and Theophylact I, Count of Tusculum.^[31]^[32] Such accusations lay in Liutprand of Cremona's Antapodosis^[33] and the Liber Pontificalis.^[34]^[35]^[36] The accusations have discrepancies with another early source, the annalist Flodoard (c. 894–966): John XI was the brother of Alberic II, the latter being the offspring of Marozia and her husband Alberic I, so John too may have been the son of Marozia and Alberic I.^{[citation needed]} Fauvarque emphasizes that contemporary sources are dubious, Liutprand being "prone to exaggeration" while other mentions of this fatherhood appear in satires written by supporters of Pope Formosus.^[37]
John X^[a]	914–928	Not married. Affairs with Theodora and Marozia.	No	Had romantic affairs with both Theodora and her daughter Marozia, according to Liutprand of Cremona in his Antapodosis.^[38]^[39] However, Monsignor Johann Peter Kirsch (ecclesiastical historian and Catholic priest) wrote, "This statement is, however, generally and rightly rejected as a calumny. Liutprand wrote his history some fifty years later, and constantly slandered the Romans, whom he hated."^[40]
John XII	955–964	Not married	No	Accused by adversaries of adultery and incest.^[41]^[42] Benedict of Soracte noted that he had "a collection of women". According to Liutprand of Cremona,^[33] "they testified about his adultery, which they did not see with their own eyes, but nonetheless knew with certainty: he had fornicated with the widow of Rainier, with Stephana his father's concubine, with the widow Anna, and with his own niece, and he made the sacred palace into a whorehouse". According to Chamberlin, John was "a Christian Caligula whose crimes were rendered particularly horrific by the office he held".^[43] Some sources report that he died eight days after being stricken by paralysis while in the act of adultery,^[41] others that he was killed by the jealous husband while in the act of committing adultery.^[44]^[45]^[46]^[47]
Alexander VI	1492–1503	Not married. Relationships with Vanozza dei Catanei and Giulia Farnese.	Possibly	Had a long affair with Vannozza dei Cattanei while still a priest, and before he became pope; and by her had his illegitimate children Cesare Borgia, Giovanni Borgia, Gioffre Borgia, and Lucrezia.^[48] G. J. Meyer has argued that the birth dates of the four in comparison with Alexander's known whereabouts actually preclude him having fathered any of them.^[49] A later mistress, Giulia Farnese, was the sister of Alessandro Farnese, giving birth to a daughter Laura while Alexander was in his 60s and reigning as pope.^[50]

Relationships with men

Name	Reign	Relationship	Notes
Paul II	1464–1471	Not married. Alleged affair with a page	Thought to have died of indigestion arising from eating melon,^[51]^[52] though his opponents alleged he died while being sodomized by a page.^[53]^[54]^[55]
Sixtus IV^[a]	1471–1484	Not married	According to Stefano Infessura, Sixtus was a "lover of boys and sodomites" – awarding benefices and bishoprics in return for sexual favours, and nominating a number of young men as cardinals, some of whom were celebrated for their good looks.^[56]^[57]^[58] Infessura had partisan allegiances to the Colonna family and so is not considered to be always reliable or impartial.^[59]
Leo X^[a]	1513–1521	Not married	Posthumously accused of homosexuality (by Francesco Guicciardini and Paolo Giovio). Falconi suggests he may have offered preferment to Marcantonio Flaminio because he was attracted to him.^[60] Historians have dealt with the issue of Leo's sexuality at least since the late 18th century, and few have given credence to the imputations made against him in his later years and decades following his death, or else have at least regarded them as unworthy of notice; without necessarily reaching conclusions on whether he was homosexual.^[61]
Julius III	1550–1555	Not married. Alleged affair with enobled cardinal	Accusations of his homosexuality spread across Europe during his reign due to the favouritism shown to Innocenzo Ciocchi Del Monte, who rose from beggar to cardinal under Julius' patronage.^[62]^[63]

Relationships with women and men

Name	Reign	Relationship	Offspring	Notes
Benedict IX	1032–1044, 1045, 1047–1048	Not married	No	Accused by Bishop Benno of Piacenza of "many vile adulteries".^[64]^[65] Pope Victor III referred in his third book of Dialogues to "his rapes… and other unspeakable acts".^[66] In May 1045, Benedict IX resigned his office to get married.^[67]

Notes

References

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[a]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

[39]

[40]

[41]

[42]

[43]

[44]

[45]

[46]

[47]

[48]

[49]

[50]

[51]

[52]

[53]

[54]

[55]

[56]

[57]

[58]

[59]

[60]

[61]

[62]

[63]

[64]

[65]

[66]

[67]

Search