Vatican says by its count Pope John Paul surpasses Leo XIII March 14

Published: 2004-03-01

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As Pope John Paul II approached the mark of having the third-longest pontificate in history, the Vatican press office moved into the numbers game. Most people count pontificate length in total number of years, months and days. In that case, the pope would surpass Pope Leo XIII on March 17, after reigning for 25 years, five months and two days. But the press office said that if calculated in total number of days served since election -- taking into account the extra day in leap years and the different number of days in each month -- Pope John Paul would move into third place three days earlier, on March 14. The picture gets even more complicated if pontificate length is computed from the date of ceremonial inauguration, once called coronation, instead of election. It was 11 days before Pope Leo XIII celebrated his coronation Mass, while Pope John Paul celebrated his inaugural Mass only six days after election. So if tallied this way the pope would pick up another five days on Pope Leo and gain third place even earlier, on March 9.

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