Learn about past popes who have resigned from the office.

Pope Benedict the sixteenth recently announced that he is resigning due to health reasons. Such resignations are rare with only the following four in the past one thousand years

Number 4 – In 1045, Pope Benedict the ninth decided to step down from his position. The then 33-year-old Roman pope resigned so he could get married and collect a sum from his godfather. Essentially a bribe, the Godfather wanted to take Pope Benedict IX's place.

Number 3 – In 1294, Pope Celestine the fifth abruptly used his right to resign citing “the desire for humility, for a purer life, for a stainless conscience, the deficiencies of his own physical strength, his ignorance, the perverseness of the people, his longing for the tranquility of his former life”.

Number 2 – After serving for 10 years, Pope Gregory the twelfth stepped down in 1415. There were two Popes at the time, one in the French city of Avignon and another in Rome. Gregory the twelfth resigned so that a council in Constance could discharge the Avignon pope and start over with only one church leader.

Number 1 – Remember Pope Benedict the ninth's Godfather? He left a year after taking that position. Pope Gregory the sixth resigned in 1046 after bishops urged him to leave for paying his way into the office. Apparently, Benedict IX returned to office when the things went wrong with the woman who was slated to be his bride. Turmoil ensued as both men claimed that they were the leader of the Catholic Church.