Little is known about many of the popes of the second century. Several of them were martyrs. They had to deal with different heresies that made their way to Rome, and there was also a controversy over the correct date of...

The first three popes after St. Peter likely knew the Prince of the Apostles personally and may even have been hand-selected by him. We know little of Sts. Linus and Cletus, but the first writing we possess by a pope after St. Peter himself...

They have governed the world’s largest religion for the past two millennia—yet their fascinating history is strangely little-known. These are the lives and reigns of the popes of the Catholic...

The first four of the six popes covered in this installment found themselves in conflict with a priest named Hippolytus, the most brilliant intellectual of the Roman Church at the time. Hippolytus would become the first antipope in the...