STEPHEN

born , Rome died March 25, 752, Rome unconsecrated pope from March 23 to March 25, 752. He was a priest when he was elected on March 23, 752, to succeed Pope St. Zacharias, but he died of apoplexy two days later without having been consecrated. Because consecration is the act considered necessary to mark the official beginning of a pontificate, Stephen is listed neither in the catalog of the popes nor in the Liber Pontificalis (Book of the Popes). His successor, who also took the name Stephen, is called both Stephen II and Stephen III. Hence, the succession of Stephens is somewhat irregular.