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Stephen, a priest of Rome elected pope in March of 752 to succeed Pope Zachary, died of apoplexy three days later, before being ordained a bishop.

In those times, the pope was chosen from among the priests and deacons of Rome and never from among bishops from other dioceses ^[1]. By definition, the pope was the bishop of Rome and was considered legitimate only from the day of his ordination. As a result, Stephen was not considered a legitimate pope and as such, omitted from all lists of popes. His immediate successor, also called Stephen, is as a rule numbered Stephen II, since the name Stephen had been already borne by Pope Stephen I (242-257).

From 752 to 942, seven popes reigned bearing the name of Stephen. Originally, they were not otherwise distinguished, as regnal numbering was not applied to popes until the 10th century. They were named Stephens II to VIII respectively after their death. But the next pope to take the name Stephen in 1057, after numbering has become a custom, was called Stephen IX during his life and signed all his documents "Stephanus Nonus Papa".

Approximately from the beginning of the 13th century, election began to prevail de facto over papal consecration, or enthronement, not only because nearly all popes were now already bishops when elected ^[2], but especially because the pope was now seen more like an absolute ruler than a mere bishop. Papal consecration, which never had the same nature as an ordination, was just a ceremonial formality, since the title of pope was not a sacramental order. An unconsecrated pope was thus legitimate from his election, rather than from the moment of consecration. According to this new point of view, when Pope Celestine IV (1241) or Pope Urban VII (1590) died just after their election, before their papal consecration, they were still considered legitimate. The most extreme case is Pope Adrian V who was elected pope in 1276 without ever having been ordained to the priesthood, and died one month later, still not ordained: he has always been considered a legitimate pope.

In the 16th century, at the time of the Council of Trent and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, the supremacy of the Church and its leader was reinforced. The role of the pope evolved towards that of a sovereign by Divine Right and a bit more away from the role of a priest. According to this point of view, the pope owed his election only to the Holy Spirit and thus from the moment of election. Therefore it came to be believed that this Pope-elect Stephen was indeed a legitimate pope. He had then to be called Stephen II and the following Stephens had to be requalified from Stephen III to Stephen X — even if the last one was called officially Stephen IX during his life.

During the reign of Pope John XXIII, just before the Second Vatican Council, Stephen was again erased from the lists. The Annuario pontificio, which gives what is considered the "authorized" list of popes, was modified in its 1961 edition, and the regnal numbers of the subsequent Stephens reverted to II to IX.

Contrary to a widespread idea, the removal of pope Stephen from the list is accepted by most historians and is no longer a debate within the Church, but many articles and internet sites rely on the outdated 1913 edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia, because it is in the public domain. Also, because some list-makers still count him as a pope, one can sometimes find lists with an awkward nomenclature for popes who chose the name Stephen: later Stephens are numbered with parentheses, e.g. his immediate successor is sometimes referred to either as Stephen (II) III or as Stephen II (III).

This matter has no real theological significance or historical consequence: Stephen died without having made any decisions. Thus, the only aspect affected by his recognition, or lack thereof, is the list of popes.

1. ^ Pope Marinus I was in 882 the first bishop from another diocese elected bishop of Rome.
2. ^ Pope Gregory XVI was in 1831 the last man thus far elected Pope who was not already a bishop.

• Bishop of Rome, Patrick Saint-Roch
• Onomastics, Pontifical, Bernd-Ulrich Hergemöller

  in Philippe Levillain (editor), The Papacy: An Encyclopedia, Routledge, 2002, 1780 p. ISBN 0-415-93752-3

• List of 10 shortest-reigning popes
• Pope John XX