U know, there was a time when the popes lived for a very short time?
http://www.reformation.org/murder-in-vatican.html
I did reach last night and I just realized that there have been 4 black popes.
First there was Pope Victor I who served from 186 A.D. until 197 A.D. He was responsible for continuation of the Easter feast on Sundays. He also condemned and excommunicated a dignitary, Theodore of Byzantium for not believing in the divinity of Jesus. Pope Victor I was made a martry by a black Roman Emperor called Emperor Septimus Severus. Emperor Septimus Severus lead Roman legions in Britain.
There was a Saint Miltiades I also called Melchiades. He served from 311 to 314 A.D. He lead the church against the Roman Empire.
There was Pope Gelasius 1 who served from 492 A.D. until 496 A.D. He was responsible from repossessing church from wealth citizen of Rome including a wealth woman called Femina. He condemned the Roman fertility rite Lupercailia and saved Roman from imminent starvation. He wrote many epistles including one to the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius explaining the relationship between church and state.
Another one was Pope Clement VII (Giulio de Medici) from 1523 to about 1534. He wa a diplomat first and a pope second which many people didn't like.