Pope Benedict IX ( 1012 – 1056),
Pope Benedict IX ( 1012 – 1056), born in Rome as Theophylactus of Tusculum, was Pope on three occasions between 1032 and 1048.One of the youngest popes, he was the only man to have been Pope on more than one occasion and the only man ever to have sold the papacy which he sold to his godfather Gregory VI and resigned in 1045.Benedict was born the son of Alberic III, Count of Tusculum, and was a nephew of Pope Benedict VIII and Pope John XIX. His father obtained the Papal chair for him, granting it to his son in October 1032.Benedict IX was around 18 to 20 years old when made Pope.He had few qualifications for the papacy other than connections with a socially powerful family, although in terms of theology and the ordinary activities of the Church he was entirely unorthodox. He reportedly led an extremely dissolute life and St. Peter Damian is alleged to have described him as "feasting on immorality"The Catholic Encyclopedia calls him "a disgrace to the Chair of Peter."
