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The first two to three centuries of popes fade into oblivion. After that, the Catholic church couldn’t even keep track of who’s on first.

What are the sources to verify that the list is reliable and accurate? From the looks of it, what with there being so little known about the first *popes*, it looks like someone just went through and picked names out of a hat to fill in the blanks.

*Not much is known about this pope....*

*Very little is known about this pope...*

*Based upon his name, it seems likely ...*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Schism

http://www.christian-history.org/western-great-schism.html
The Western Great Schism began on September 20, 1378 with the election of Clement VII in Avignon, France. He was the second pope elected by the same college of cardinals in six months, and for the first time in history there were two “legitimate” claimants to be head of the church in Rome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Constance

At the time the council was called, there were three claimants to the Papacy (Benedict XIII, Gregory XII and John XXIII). A few years earlier, in one of the first blows to the Conciliar movement, the bishops at the Council of Pisa had deposed the two claimant popes and elected a third pope, claiming that in such a situation, a council of bishops had greater authority than just one bishop, even if he were the bishop of Rome.

Where did Peter leave instructions on choosing his successor?

How did such evil men as the top ten corrupt popes manage to get their names on the list of legitimate popes of the Roman church?

http://listverse.com/2007/08/17/top-10-most-wicked-popes/

"How did such evil men as the top ten corrupt popes manage to get their names on the list of legitimate popes of the Roman church?"

It is the office of the Pope and not any occupant that we hold infallible. It is only Protestants who demand Pope's be without sin.

Catholics are smart enough to know that all are sinners, differing only in degree and repentance. Even the hand picked by Jesus were highly flawed. Judas betrayed Jesus. Peter denied Jesus three times and Thomas doubted Jesus. We do not expect any better from those who seek only to serve Him.