Sir, - On a UTV programme last Friday night "Bishop" Buckley stated that Pope Joan ruled the church for two years. Legend has placed her papacy after the death of Pope Leo IV in 855. According to the legend, which first appears in a tale by Martin of Troppau in the 13th century, she was a girl from Mainz, dressed as a young man, who studied in Athens, then visited Rome and was elected Pope on the death of Leo IV. The imposition was noticed when, after a pontificate of two years, she suddenly gave birth to a child during a procession to the Lateran basilica and died on the spot.
The facts of the case are that Leo IV died on July 17th 855 and his successor Benedict III was elected on September 29th 855. So there is no room for poor Pope Joan. - Yours, etc., Peter O'Dwyer,
O.Carm., D.Eccl. Hist., Carmelite Friary, Dundrum, Dublin 16.