Who was the past Pope who’s mother was still alive to see her son become Pope?
Interesting question. I’m looking on Wikipedia and have gotten as far back as Benedict XIV, who became Pope in 1740, and I haven’t found one yet.
For a few of the popes in the 1800s and several in the 1700s, their mothers’ names are given, but no date of death is provided. It’s remotely possible but unlikely that one of these popes had a living mother, since they were at least in their late 60s.
I thought that John Paul II, who was only 58 when he became pope, would have been a possibility, but his mother died when he was 8. And she was 37 when he was born and would have been 93 in 1978.
Boniface IX was one of those medieval popes with a reputation for nepotism, and in his case records say that he provided generously for his family, including his mother. I don’t know if there are more recent ones whose mother died after the beginning of their papacy, but it’s at least a starting point. I also asked ChatGPT this question and it gave John XXIII as an answer, but this must be wrong because he was elected in 1958 and various online sources say his mother died in 1939.
LOL, I’m always amused to see ChatGPT misstatements. John XXIII was 78 when he was elected and his mother would have been 103 if she hadn’t died 19 years earlier.
Never mind…I was waaay off (and wrong).