[Verginius Rufus]

There was a pope who resigned more recently than Celestine V--Pope Gregory XII in 1415.

Pope Pontian (230-235) resigned when he was sent by the authorities to mines in Sardinia. He died soon afterwards and is considered a saint and a martyr. So St. Celestine is not the only pope who resigned who is considered a saint.

If I remember correctly, Dante put Celestine V in hell--he didn't approve of his resignation.

[NYer]

Yes, there have been several popes that resigned. It's just been a loooonnnnngggg time since that occurred.

I try to avoid the mainstream media coverage of anything catholic since they are so ignorant and make no pretense about it. Not surprisingly, someone on Fox today raised the possibility of an African being elected and exclaimed "this would be the first black pope". ;-) We catholics know otherwise.