Leo List

The Name Leo throughout Papal History

by Gary D. Penkala

With Pope Leo ascending the papal throne as the 266th successor of Saint Peter, there are now fourteen popes named Leo. This is the fourth most frequent name, tied with Clement [23 Johns, 16 Benedicts, 16 Gregorys, 14 Clements]. Let's look at these fourteen (five of whom are saints), whose pontificates run from the fifth century to today. A little of their story will be told — and some involve music!

1. Saint Leo I, the Great

   reigning 29 September 440 - 10 November 461
   given name: unknown

   Hailing from Tuscany, Saint Leo, designated a doctor of the Church, earned the moniker, "the Great" for the impressive nature of his twenty-one year reign. He solidified papal authority and upheld the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD), which affirmed the two natures of Christ (human and divine) in one Person [the hypostatic union]. Saint Leo condemned the Pelagian heresy (which denied Original Sin) and the Manichæen heresy (which denied personal responsibility for sin). He encouraged fasting and almsgiving on the quarterly Ember Days. Perhaps his most famous and dramatic feat was turning back Attila the Hun, who invaded Italy and threatened the city of Rome in 452.

2. Saint Leo II

   reigning 16 April 682 - 28 June 683
   given name: unknown

   Saint Leo II was born in Sicily, and developed an interest in music. He was an eloquent preacher and upheld the teachings of Third Council of Constatinople (680-681).

3. Saint Leo III

   reigning 27 December 795 - 12 June 816
   given name: unknown

   Saint Leo III was born in Rome. He became the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Susanna, which from 1921 to its closure in 2017, served as the American church in Rome. Saint Leo was a strong proponent of Western theology, maintaining the doctrine that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. This was a point of dissension between the East and the West. He protected Frankish King Charlemagne and crowned him the first Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day 800 AD.

4. Saint Leo IV

   reigning 10 April 847 - 17 July 855
   given name: unknown

   Saint Leo IV was born in Rome and rebuilt many churches in that city. He eventually built a protective wall (the Leonine Wall) around Vatican City. As shown in the Raphael painting in the Apostolic Palace, Saint Leo defeated the Saracens in the Battle of Ostia. Another nearby Raphael work is The Fire in the Borgo, which is the area btween Castel Sant'Angelo and Saint Peter's Basilica. The fresco shows Saint Leo stopping the flames with the Sign of the Cross. He began the tradition of placing a rooster on the church steeple, in remembrance of Peter's denial of Christ. Saint Leo IV was buried with three other papal namesakes in Saint Peter's Basilica.

5. Leo V

   reigning September 903
   given name: unknown

   Leo V was born in Priapi, Italy. He had an extremely short pontificate, less than a month, and died of suspicious causes.

6. Leo VI

   reigning June 928 - February 929
   given name: unknown

   He was born into the Sanguini family in Rome. Like his predecessor Saint Leo III, he was named the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Susanna, the 20th century American church in Rome. During his rather brief pontificate (only eight months), he settled quite a few disputes within the Church. He is buried in Saint Peter's Basilica.

7. Leo VII

   reigning 03 January 936 - 13 July 939
   given name: unknown

   Likely born in Rome, Leo VII became a Benedictine monk and assumed the papacy reluctantly. He had good relations with abbeys, including the Abbey of Cluny, which was founded by William of Aquitaine, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, and from the fifth century, was the largest church in the world, until the completion of Old Saint Peter's Basilica. Pope Leo settled a great many political disputes in Italy and Germany.

8. Leo VIII

   reigning 23 June 964 - 01 March 965
   given name: unknown

   Born in Rome, Leo VIII was considered an antipope for the early part of his Petrine ministry. He was elected pope as a layman amid controversy. During his brief official reign of less than a year, there was much political and ecclesial turmoil surrounding Holy Roman Emperor Otto I.

9. Saint Leo IX

   reigning 12 February 1049 - 19 April 1054
   given name: Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg

   As the first Pope Leo of the second millennium, he enjoys several others attributes: the first papal Saint Leo since the ninth century, the first Pope Leo who was not Italian [coming from Alsace, France], and the first pope elected in Germany. Owing to this latter fact, he wished to travel to Italy to have his papacy secured by validation of the clergy of Rome. He was a talented musician. Saint Leo settled conflicts with the Normans in southern Italy. He promoted Church reform and championed clerical celibacy and denounced the practice of simony. Unfortunately, he was on the throne of Peter during the Eastern Schism in 1054.

10. Leo X

    reigning 09 March 1513 - 01 December 1521
    given name: Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici

    He was born in Florence, the second son of Lorenzo de' Medici, into a powerful political and banking family. He loved music very much, with a good ear and a pleasant voice. He was elected pope as a non-priest, having been created cardinal at the age of thirteen. As pope he hired well-paid singers, instrumentalists and composers from throughout Europe, enhancing the dignity of the Sistine Chapel Choir. He gathered musical scores from Florence along with quality instruments and fostered innovation in the printing of music. Ottaviano Petrucci was awarded the right to print organ music for fifteen years. At his behest the Gospel was chanted in Greek in his private chapel.

    A lover of not only music, but theater, poetry, art and architecture, he rebuilt Saint Peter's Basilica using money from indulgences. This deed, among others, infuriated the Augustinian monk Martin Luther, and sparked the Protestant Reformation. Pope Leo excomunicated that friar in January 1521. A supporter of culture and wide knowledge, Leo was a spendthrift; he made plans for a Crusade to the Holy Land in 1517, which never occurred. He canonized 11 saints, including Francis of Paola in 1519, who had founded (as a layman) the Order of Minims. Pope Leo held the record for creating the most number of cardinals at once [31 in a day], until Saint John Paul II outdid him, naming 42 at a consistory in 2001.

11. Leo XI

    reigning 01 April 1605 - 27 April 1605
    given name: Alessandro di Ottaviano de' Medici

    Another pope from the Medici family in Florence (his uncle was Pope Leo X), Leo XI had served as Cardinal-Priest of the city of Palestrina, Italy (1602-1605). He collaborated with Saint Philip Neri in Rome, who predicted his pontificate. Among the papabili in his conclave was Saint Robert Bellarmine. Leo was elected at almost 70, and died from a fever 27 days later, from fatigue and cold during his taking possession of his cathedral of Saint John Lateran. His was one of the briefest pontificates in history; that of Blessed John Paul I was 33 days. An imposingly large statuary tomb of Pope Leo XI is in the south transept of Saint Peter's Basilica.

12. Leo XII

    reigning 28 September 1823 - 10 February 1829
    given name: Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiorre Girolamo Nicola della Genga

    From a noble family in Genga (Italy), Annibale was of ill health. He enjoyed listening to music and the study of archeology. As cardinal he was sent as Apostolic Nuncio to both Switzerland and Germany and became Archpriest of Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Tall and thin, with an austere, melancholic look, Pope Leo XII was considered an archconservative because of his extreme domestic policies. He declared Saint Peter Damian a doctor of the church in 1828.

13. Leo XIII

    reigning 20 February 1878 - 20 July 1903
    given name: Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci

    Gioacchino Pecci, born in Rome, was elected to the papacy in 1878, beginning the fourth longest pontificate in history, after Saint Peter, Pius XI and Saint John Paul II. He was an intellect and a diplomat, promoting a revival of Thomistic theology. Prior to his election to the papacy, he was Apostoic Nuncio to Belgium and Camerlengo [Chamberlain] of the Catholic Church. He was a semi-vegetarian, eating eggs and milk, but little meat. Pope Leo XIII championed the rights of workers, particularly in his powerful encyclical Rerum novarum (1891). He was known as "The Rosary Pope" for his eleven encyclicals on the topic. He refounded the Vatican Observatory, seeing no conflict between faith and science, and founded Catholic University of America in Washington DC on April 10, 1887.

    This pope confirmed the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore and created James Gibbons cardinal in 1886. He likewise created John Henry Newman cardinal in 1879 and encouraged Katherine Drexel of Philadelphia to do missionary work for poor black Americans. Pope Leo XIII had a strong devotion to the Sacred Heart, and led a consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on 11 June 1899. He began the practice of monthly papal prayer intentions and composed the Prayer to Saint Michael, to be said after every low Mass. He was the first pope on film and the first pope whose voice was recorded. The Basilica of Saint John Lateran holds his statuary funeral monument and he was the last pope not buried in Saint Peter's Basilica until Francis.

14. Leo XIV

    began reigning 08 March 2025
    given name: Robert Francis Prevost

    Wow! This is amazing — they said it would never happen. A pope from the United States! Robert Francis Prevost was raised in Dolton, Illinois. He attended Saint Mary of the Assumption Church and School in Riverdale, where he was an altar boy. His mother sang in the church choir; he sang in the school choir.

    His schooling:

    • Saint Augustine Minor Seminary [high school] 1969-1973 / headed bowling team and speech/debate team
    • Villanova University – B.S. in Mathematics 1977 / worked as Catholic cemetery groundskeeper in Haverton PA
    • Catholic Theological Union; MDiv degree 1982 / taught physics and math at Saint Rita Hish School
    • Angelicum (Rome) – Licentiate in Canon Law (JCL) and Doctor of Canon Law (JCD) / learned Italian

    His ecclesiatical progress:

    • Joined the Order of Saint Augustine 1977; solemn vows 1981
    • Ordained a priest in Rome 1982
    • Missionary work in Peru 1985-86 / learned Spanish
    • Augustinian work in U.S. 1986-88
    • Worked in Peruvian seminary 1988-1998
    • Elected Prior Provincial for OSA in Chicago 1998
    • Served as Prior General for OSA in Rome 2001-2013
    • Back in Chicago 2013-14 at OSA province headquarters
    • Bishop of Chicalyo (Peru) 2015-2023
    • Appointed Prefect of Dicastry for Bishops 2023
    • Created cardinal Sept 30, 2023
    • Elected pope on fourth ballot, May 8, 2025

    Pope Leo led the faithful in singing the Regina cæli in Saint Peter's Square on Sunday, May 11, 2025. He has a very strong and clear singing voice, and plays the piano well. He also likes playing tennis and taking long drives. The first U.S.-born pope is also the first pope from the Baby Boomer generation. He wears a Smartwatch; is a fan of the Chicago White Sox and plays Wordle. The pope speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portugese and some German, and can read Latin. He is actually the second native English speaker to sit on the papal throne — Adrian IV spoke Middle English in the 12th century.

    Pope Leo on liturgy:

    • In Peru, his vestments were "impeccable," regardless of the heat.
    • He called himself "very obedient" in liturgical matters, and urged that the liturgy be prepared "in the best way possible."
    • He said, "liturgy needs to be beautiful to help us, to strengthen us in our faith."
    • In his first papal Mass in the Sistine Chapel, he chose to use a papal ferula, or ceremonial staff, made for Benedict XVI, not used of late.
    • During his Inauguration Mass in Saint Peter's Square on May 18, 2025, Leo XIV used the modernistic ferula of Pope Paul VI which is most commonly associated with Pope John Paul II.
    • His new pectoral cross is one of silver, with relics of Saint Leo the Great, Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas of Villanova, and Blessed Anselmo Polanco Fontecha, an Augustinian martyr of 1939.
    • The pope has chosen to restore the custom of him personally giving archbishops the pallium, which was not done since 2015.

And here is the name Leo in various languages:

Latin: Leo

Italian: Leone

Greek: Leon

French: Léo

Spanish: León

German: Löwe

Polish: Lew

Portuguese: Leão

Welsh: Llew

Romanian: Leu

Hebrew: Aryeh

Russian: Lev

Korean: Reo

Tagalog: Leo