A nonexistent pope stayed on the listSourced
Donus II had a portrait and praise, but apparently never existed.
A medieval papal list seems to have mistaken the title domnus for a person's name. Later writers gave the supposed tenth-century pope a life and even a portrait. The Vatican regarded him as real for more than two centuries before a 1947 review corrected the roster.
An old reading error can acquire a biography.
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Pope Donus II · Wikimedia contributors
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Reviewed: 2026-10-01