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Pope

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Religious movements,
traditions and organizations

   The current Pope is Benedict XVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger), who was
   elected at the age of 78 on 19 April 2005
   Enlarge
   The current Pope is Benedict XVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger), who was
   elected at the age of 78 on 19 April 2005

   The Pope (from Latin: papa, Papa, father; from Greek: pappas / πάππας,
   father) is the Bishop of Rome, and, as Successor of Saint Peter, is the
   head of the Roman Catholic Church. The office of the Pope is called the
   Papacy; his ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called the Holy See (Sancta
   Sedes in Latin) or Apostolic See (this latter, on the basis that both
   St. Peter and St. Paul were martyred at Rome). Early bishops occupying
   the See of Rome were designated Vicar of Peter; for later Popes the
   more authoritative Vicar of Christ was substituted; this designation
   was first used by the Roman Synod of 495 to refer to Pope Gelasius I,
   an advocate of papal supremacy among the patriarchs. Marcellinus (d.
   304) is the first Bishop of Rome whom sources show used the title of
   Pope. The current Pope is Benedict XVI.

   In addition to his service in this spiritual role, the Pope is also
   Head of State of the independent sovereign State of the Vatican City, a
   city-state and nation entirely enclaved by the city of Rome. Before
   1870 the Pope's temporal authority extended over a large area of
   central Italy: the territory of the Papal States. The Papacy retained
   sovereign authority over the Papal States until the Italian unification
   of 1870; a final political settlement with the Italian government was
   not reached until the Lateran treaties of 1929.

Early history

   It is generally accepted amongst most Catholic and non-Catholic
   historians that the institution of the papacy as it exists today
   developed through the centuries, after the traditional arrival of Peter
   in Rome c. 50.

   During the first century of the Christian Church, the Roman capital
   became recognized as a Christian centre of exceptional note since it
   was founded by St. Peter, the "prince of the apostles"; but there are
   only a few 1st century references to the recognition of the
   authoritative primacy of the Roman See outside of Rome. The fact that
   Clement of Rome's letter to the Corinthians (written c. 96) adapted a
   pastoral tone, and also the fact that St. Ignatius of Antioch once used
   the word "preside" in the same sentence that he used the word, "Romans"
   in his letter to the Romans (written c. 105) are seen by some
   historians to present proof of the existence of a certain early Papal
   primacy. Others argue that these documents refer only to a primacy of
   honour.

   In the second century (AD 189), the primacy of the Church of Rome is
   clearly indicated in St. Irenaeus of Lyon's Against Heresies (3:3:2):
   "With [the Church of Rome], because of its superior origin, all the
   churches must agree... and it is in her that the faithful everywhere
   have maintained the apostolic tradition."

   The third century is marked by many references to the primacy of the
   Church of Rome. (add authors)

   The First Council of Constantinople (AD 381) suggested strongly that
   Roman primacy was already established, but was not until 440 that Leo
   the Great more clearly articulated the extension of papal authority as
   doctrine, promulgating in edicts and in councils his right to exert
   "the full range of apostolic powers that Jesus had first bestowed on
   the apostle Peter".

   It was under Leo I that the bishopric of Rome was first acclaimed in
   ecumenical council at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 as "speaking with
   the voice of Peter". At this same Council the bishop of Constantinople
   was given a primacy of honour only second to that of the Bishop of
   Rome, because "Constantinople is the New Rome".

   The dogmas and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church teach that the
   institution of the papacy was first mandated by the Biblical passages:

          Matt.16:18-19: "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and
          upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the
          netherworld will not prevail against it. I will give you the
          keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will
          be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
          loosed in heaven."

   The name "Peter" (Πέτρος in Greek) here translates as rock. The
   reference to the "keys of the kingdom of heaven" here are the basis for
   the symbolic keys often found in Catholic Papal symbolism, such as in
   the Vatican Coat of Arms (see below).

Election, death and abdication

Election

   Traditional painting by Pietro Perugino depicting "The Giving of the
   Keys to Saint Peter" (1492)
   Enlarge
   Traditional painting by Pietro Perugino depicting "The Giving of the
   Keys to Saint Peter" (1492)

   The Pope was originally chosen by those senior clergymen resident in
   and near Rome. In 1059 the electorate was restricted to the Cardinals
   of the Holy Roman Church, and the individual votes of all Cardinal
   Electors were made equal in 1179. Pope Urban VI, elected 1378, was the
   last Pope who was not already a cardinal at the time of his election.
   Canon law requires that if a layman or non-bishop is elected, he
   receives episcopal consecration from the Dean of the College of
   Cardinals before assuming the Pontificate. Under present canon law, the
   Pope is elected by the cardinal electors, comprising those cardinals
   who are under the age of 80.

   The Second Council of Lyons was convened on May 7, 1274, to regulate
   the election of the Pope. This Council decreed that the cardinal
   electors must meet within ten days of the Pope's death, and that they
   must remain in seclusion until a Pope has been elected; this was
   prompted by the three-year Sede Vacante following the death of Pope
   Clement IV in 1268. By the mid- sixteenth century, the electoral
   process had more or less evolved into its present form, allowing for
   alteration in the time between the death of the Pope and the meeting of
   the cardinal electors.

   Traditionally, the vote was conducted by acclamation, by selection (by
   committee), or by plenary vote. Acclamation was the simplest procedure,
   consisting entirely of a voice vote, and was last used in 1621. Pope
   John Paul II abolished vote by acclamation and by selection by
   committee, and henceforth all Popes will be elected by full vote of the
   Sacred College of Cardinals by ballot.

   The election of the Pope almost always takes place in the Sistine
   Chapel, in a meeting called a " conclave" (so called because the
   cardinal electors are theoretically locked in, cum clavi, until they
   elect a new Pope). Three cardinals are chosen by lot to collect the
   votes of absent cardinal electors (by reason of illness), three are
   chosen by lot to count the votes, and three are chosen by lot to review
   the count of the votes. The ballots are distributed and each cardinal
   elector writes the name of his choice on it and pledges aloud that he
   is voting for "one whom under God I think ought to be elected" before
   folding and depositing his vote on a plate atop a large chalice placed
   on the altar. The plate is then used to drop the ballot into the
   chalice, making it difficult for any elector to insert multiple
   ballots. Before being read, the number of ballots are counted while
   still folded; if the total number of ballots does not match the number
   of electors, the ballots are burned unopened and a new vote is held.
   Otherwise, each ballot is read aloud by the presiding Cardinal, who
   pierces the ballot with a needle and thread, stringing all the ballots
   together and tying the ends of the thread to ensure accuracy and
   honesty. Balloting continues until a Pope is elected by a two-thirds
   majority (since the promulgation of Universi Dominici Gregis, the rules
   allow for a simple majority after a deadlock of twelve days).

   One of the most famous aspects of the papal election process is the
   means by which the results of a ballot are announced to the world. Once
   the ballots are counted and bound together, they are burned in a
   special oven erected in the Sistine Chapel, with the smoke escaping
   through a small chimney visible from St Peter's Square. The ballots
   from an unsuccessful vote are burned along with a chemical compound in
   order to produce black smoke, or fumata nera. (Traditionally, wet straw
   was used to help create the black smoke, but a number of "false alarms"
   in past conclaves have brought about this concession to modern
   chemistry.) When a vote is successful, the ballots are burned alone,
   sending white smoke (fumata bianca) through the chimney and announcing
   to the world the election of a new Pope. At the end of the conclave
   that elected Pope Benedict XVI, church bells were also rung to signal
   that a new Pope had been chosen.

   The Dean of the College of Cardinals then asks the successfully elected
   Cardinal two solemn questions. First he asks, "Do you freely accept
   your election?" If he replies with the word "Accepto", his reign as
   Pope begins at that instant, not at the coronation ceremony several
   days afterward. The Dean then asks, "By what name shall you be called?"
   The new Pope then announces the regnal name he has chosen for himself.
   (If the Dean himself is elected Pope, the Vice Dean performs this
   duty).

   The new Pope is led through the "Door of Tears" to a dressing room in
   which three sets of white Papal vestments ("immantatio") await: small,
   medium, and large. Donning the appropriate vestments and reemerging
   into the Sistine Chapel, the new Pope is given the " Fisherman's Ring"
   by the Cardinal Camerlengo, whom he either reconfirms or reappoints.
   The Pope then assumes a place of honour as the rest of the Cardinals
   wait in turn to offer their first "obedience" ("adoratio") and to
   receive his blessing.

   The senior Cardinal Deacon then announces from a balcony over St.
   Peter's Square the following proclamation: Annuntio vobis gaudium
   magnum! Habemus Papam! ("I announce to you a great joy! We have a
   Pope!"). He then announces the new Pope's Christian name along with the
   new name he has adopted as his regnal name.

   Until 1978 the Pope's election was followed in a few days by a
   procession in great pomp and circumstance from the Sistine Chapel to
   St. Peter's Basilica, with the newly elected Pope borne in the sedia
   gestatoria. There the Pope was crowned with the triregnum and he gave
   his first blessing as Pope, the famous Urbi et Orbi ("to the City
   [Rome] and to the World"). Another famed part of the coronation was the
   lighting of a torch which would flare brightly and promptly extinguish,
   with the admonition Sic transit gloria mundi ("Thus fades worldly
   glory"). Beginning with Pope John Paul I's election, this has been
   discontinued.

   Some traditionalist Catholics claim the existence of a Papal oath (the
   so-called "Oath against modernism") which they assert that Popes up
   from John Paul I refused to swear, but there is no reliable authority
   for this claim.

   The Latin term sede vacante ("vacant seat") refers to a papal
   interregnum, the period between the death of the Pope and the election
   of his successor. From this term is derived the name Sedevacantist,
   which designates a category of dissident, schismatic Catholics who
   maintain that there is no canonically and legitimately elected Pope,
   and that there is therefore a Sede Vacante; one of the most common
   reasons for holding this belief is the idea that the reforms of the
   Second Vatican Council and especially the replacement of the Tridentine
   Mass with the Mass of Paul VI are heretical, and that, per the dogma of
   Papal infallibility (see above), it is impossible for a valid Pope to
   have done these things.

   For many years, the Papacy was an institution dominated by Italians.
   Before the election of the non-Italian Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul
   II in 1978, the last non-Italian was the Dutch-German Pope Adrian VI of
   the Netherlands, elected in 1522. John Paul II was followed by the
   German-born Benedict XVI, leading some to believe the Italian
   domination of the Papacy to be over.

Death

   The current regulations regarding a papal interregnum — that is, a sede
   vacante ("vacant seat") — were promulgated by John Paul II in his 1996
   document Universi Dominici Gregis. During the "Sede Vacante", the
   Sacred College of Cardinals, composed of the Pope's principal advisors
   and assistants, is collectively responsible for the government of the
   Church and of the Vatican itself, under the direction of the Cardinal
   Chamberlain; however, canon law specifically forbids the Cardinals from
   introducing any innovation in the government of the Church during the
   vacancy of the Holy See. Any decision that needs the assent of the Pope
   has to wait until a new Pope has been elected and takes office.

   It has long been claimed that a Pope's death is officially determined
   by the Cardinal Chamberlain by gently tapping the late Pope's head
   thrice with a silver hammer and calling his birth name three times,
   though this is disputed and has never been confirmed by the Vatican;
   there is general agreement that even if this procedure ever actually
   occurred, it was likely not employed upon the death of John Paul II. A
   doctor may or may not have already determined that the Pope had died
   before this point. The Cardinal Chamberlain then retrieves the
   Fisherman's Ring. Usually the ring is on the Pope's right hand. But in
   the case of Paul VI, he had stopped wearing the ring during the last
   years of his reign. In other cases the ring might have been removed for
   medical reasons. The Chamberlain cuts the ring in two in the presence
   of the Cardinals. The deceased Pope's seals are defaced, to keep them
   from ever being used again, and his personal apartment is sealed.

   The body then lies in state for a number of days before being interred
   in the crypt of a leading church or cathedral; the Popes of the 20th
   century were all interred in St. Peter's Basilica. A nine-day period of
   mourning (novem dialis) follows after the interment of the late Pope.

Abdication

   The Code of Canon Law 332 §2 states, "If it happens that the Roman
   Pontiff resigns his office, it is required for validity that the
   resignation is made freely and properly manifested but not that it is
   accepted by anyone."

   This right has been exercised by Pope Celestine V in 1294 and Pope
   Gregory XII in 1409, Gregory XII being the last to do so.

   It was widely reported in June and July 2002 that Pope John Paul II
   firmly refuted the speculation of his resignation using Canon 332, in a
   letter to the Milan daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.

   Nevertheless, 332 §2 caused speculation that:
     * Pope John Paul II would have resigned as his health failed, or
     * a properly manifested legal instrument had been prepared which
       effected his resignation if he could not perform his duties.

   Pope John Paul II did not resign. He died on 2 April 2005 after a long
   period of ill-health and was buried on 8 April 2005.

   After his death it was reported in his last will and testament that he
   considered abdicating in 2000 as he neared his 80th birthday. However,
   that portion of the will is unclear and others interpret it
   differently.

Titles of the Pope

Currently used

   The titles of His Holiness, the Pope, in the order they are used in the
   Annuario Pontificio:

          + Bishop of Rome
          + Vicar of Christ
          + Successor of the Prince of the Apostles
          + Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church
          + Primate of Italy
          + Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province
          + Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City
          + Servant of the Servants of God

Formerly used

          + Patriarch of the West (dropped 2006)
          + Vicar of the Apostolic See

History of Papal titles

   As mentioned above, the Pope's titles include: Bishop of Rome, Vicar of
   Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the
   Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the
   Roman province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, and Servant
   of the Servants of God.

   The title "Vicar of Christ" refers to the Pope's divine commission.
   This title came into use in the 5th and 6th centuries. The Second
   Vatican Council confirmed the titles "Vicar of Christ" and "Successor
   of Peter".

   The use of the term "Supreme Pontiff" (Pontifex Maximus) can be traced
   back to the end of the 4th century. The ancient title of the Roman
   High-Priest, whose origins date from the foundation of Rome, was
   assumed by the Bishops of Rome after being relinquished by the Emperor
   Gratian. The term has also been applied to other metropolitan bishops,
   although examples are limited (see Pontifex Maximus). It was in the
   11th century that the title came to be applied exclusively to the
   Bishop of Rome. The addition of the phrase "of the Universal Church" is
   a more recent alteration of this title.

   Finally, the title attached to the Pope, "Servant of the Servants of
   God", although used by Church leaders including St. Augustine and St.
   Benedict, was first used by Pope Gregory the Great' in his dispute with
   the Patriarch of Constantinople after the latter assumed the title
   Ecumenical Patriarch. It was not reserved for the Pope until the 13th
   century. The documents of Vatican II reinforced the understanding of
   this title as a reference to the Pope's role as a function of collegial
   authority, in which the Bishop of Rome serves the world's bishops.

   The titles "Primate of Italy", "Archbishop and Metropolitan of the
   Roman province", and "Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City" are
   references to the legal and canonical authority of the Pope as defined
   by the laws of the Church and the Lateran Treaties of 1929.

   The Pope's signature is usually in the format NN. PP. x (e.g., Pope
   Paul VI signed his name as "Paulus PP. VI"), the "PP." standing for
   Papa ("Pope"), and his name is frequently accompanied in inscriptions
   by the abbreviation "Pont. Max." or "P.M." (abbreviation of the Latin
   title Pontifex Maximus, usually translated as "Supreme Pontiff"). The
   signature of Papal bulls is customarily NN. Episcopus Ecclesiae
   Catholicae ("NN. Bishop of the Catholic Church"), while the heading is
   NN. Episcopus Servus Servorum Dei ("NN. Bishop and Servant of the
   Servants of God"). Other titles used in some official capacity in the
   past include Summus Pontifex ("Highest Pontiff"), Sanctissimus Pater
   and Beatissimus Pater ("Most Holy Father" and "Most Blessed Father"),
   Sanctissimus Dominus Noster ("Our Most Holy Lord"), and, in the
   Medieval period, Dominus Apostolicus ("Apostolic Lord"). This title,
   however, was not abandoned altogether: the Pope is still referred to as
   "Dominum Apostolicum" in the Latin version of the Litany of the Saints,
   a solemn Catholic prayer. Writing informally, Catholics will often use
   the abbreviation H.H. (His Holiness), as in H.H. Benedict XVI.

   The Pope's official seat or cathedral is the Basilica of St. John
   Lateran, and his official residence is the Palace of the Vatican. He
   also possesses a summer palace at Castel Gandolfo (situated on the site
   of the ancient city-state Alba Longa). Historically, the official
   residence of the Pope was the Lateran Palace, donated by the Roman
   Emperor Constantine the Great.

   The Pope's ecclesiastical jurisdiction (the Holy See) is distinct from
   his secular jurisdiction (Vatican City). It is the Holy See which
   conducts international relations; for hundreds of years, the Pope's
   court (the Roman Curia) has functioned as the government of the
   Catholic Church.

   The name "Holy See" (also "Apostolic See") is in ecclesiastical
   terminology the ordinary jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome (including
   the Roman Curia); the Pope's various honours, powers, and privileges
   within the Catholic Church and the international community derive from
   his Episcopate of Rome in lineal succession from the Apostle St. Peter
   (see Apostolic Succession). Consequently, Rome has traditionally
   occupied a central position in the Catholic Church, although this is
   not necessarily so. The Pope derives his Pontificate from being Bishop
   of Rome but is not required to live there; according to the Latin
   formula ubi Papa, ibi Curia, wherever the Pope resides is the central
   government of the Church, provided that the Pope is Bishop of Rome. As
   such, between 1309 and 1378, the Popes lived in Avignon (the Avignon
   Papacy), a period often called the Babylonian Captivity in allusion to
   the Biblical exile of Israel.

   The title Patriarch of the West did not appear in the 2006 pontifical
   yearbook, and this led to considerable media speculation. The title
   Patriarch of the West was first used by Pope Theodore in 642, and was
   only used occasionally. Indeed, it did not begin to appear in the
   pontifical yearbook until 1863. On 22 March 2006, the Vatican released
   a statement explaining this omission on the grounds of expressing a
   "historical and theological reality" and of "being useful to ecumenical
   dialogue". The title Patriarch of the West symbolized the Pope's
   special relationship with, and jurisdiction over, the Latin Church —
   and the omission of the title neither symbolizes in any way a change in
   this relationship, nor distorts the relationship between the Holy See
   and the Eastern churches, as solemnly proclaimed by Vatican II.

   Since in the Eastern Churches the title "Pope" does not unambiguously
   refer to the Bishop of Rome, within them the construction "Pope of
   Rome" is frequently used whether they are in communion with Rome or
   not.

Regalia and insignia

   Emblem of the Papacy
   Enlarge
   Emblem of the Papacy

     * " Triregnum", also called the "tiara" or "triple crown"; recent
       Popes have not, however, worn the triregnum, though it remains the
       symbol of the Papacy and has not been abolished. In liturgical
       ceremonies Popes wear an episcopal mitre (an erect cloth hat).
     * Pastoral Staff topped by a crucifix, a custom established before
       the 13th century.
     * Pallium (a circular band of fabric about two inches wide, worn over
       the chasuble about the neck, breast and shoulders and having two
       twelve-inch-long pendants hanging down in front and behind,
       ornamented with six small black crosses distributed about the
       breast, back, shoulders, and pendants)(this form is no longer used
       by the current pontiff).
     * "Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven", the image of two keys, one gold
       and one silver. The silver key symbolizes the power to bind and
       loose on Earth, and the gold key the power to bind and loose in
       Heaven.
       Window of one of Rome's unique Papal shops
       Enlarge
       Window of one of Rome's unique Papal shops
     * Fisherman's Ring, a gold ring decorated with a depiction of St.
       Peter in a boat casting his net, with the name of the reigning Pope
       around it.
     * Umbracullum (better known in the Italian form ombrellino) is a
       canopy or umbrella (consisting of alternating red and gold
       stripes).
     * Sedia gestatoria, a mobile throne carried by twelve footmen
       (palafrenieri) in red uniforms, accompanied by two attendants
       bearing flabella (fans made of white ostrich feathers). The use of
       the sedia gestatoria and of the flabella was discontinued by Pope
       John Paul II, with the former being replaced by the so-called
       Popemobile.

   In heraldry each Pope has his own Papal Coat of Arms. Though unique for
   each Pope, the arms are always surmounted by the aforementioned two
   keys in saltire (i.e., crossed over one another so as to form an X)
   behind the escutcheon (one key silver and one key gold, tied with a red
   cord), and above them a silver triregnum with three gold crowns and red
   infulae, or the red strips of fabric hanging from the back over the
   shoulders when worn ("two keys in saltire or and argent, interlacing in
   the rings or, beneath a tiara argent, crowned or"). The flag most
   frequently associated with the Pope is the yellow and white flag of
   Vatican City, with the arms of the Holy See ("Gules, two keys in
   saltire or and argent, interlacing in the rings or, beneath a tiara
   argent, crowned or") on the right hand side in the white half of the
   flag. This flag was first adopted in 1808, whereas the previous flag
   had been red and gold, the traditional colors of the Pontificate. With
   the recent election of Benedict XVI in 2005, his personal coat of arms
   eliminated the papal tiara; a mitre with three horizontal lines is used
   in its place, with the pallium, a papal symbol of authority more
   ancient than the tiara, the use of which is also granted to
   metropolitan archbishops as a sign of communion with the See of Rome,
   was added underneath of the shield. The distinctive feature of the
   crossed keys behind the shield was maintained. The omission of the
   tiara in the Pope's personal coat of arms, however, did not mean the
   total disappearance of it from papal heraldry, since the coat of arms
   of the Holy See was kept unaltered.

Status and authority

   The status and authority of the Pope in the Catholic Church was
   dogmatically defined by the First Vatican Council in its Dogmatic
   Constitution of the Church of Christ ( July 18, 1870). The first
   chapter of this document is entitled "On the institution of the
   apostolic primacy in blessed Peter", and states that (s.1) "according
   to the Gospel evidence, a primacy of jurisdiction over the whole church
   of God was immediately and directly promised to the blessed apostle
   Peter and conferred on him by Christ the Lord" and that (s.6) "if
   anyone says that blessed Peter the apostle was not appointed by Christ
   the Lord as prince of all the apostles and visible head of the whole
   church militant; or that it was a primacy of honour only and not one of
   true and proper jurisdiction that he directly and immediately received
   from our Lord Jesus Christ Himself: let him be anathema..."

   The Dogmatic Constitution's second chapter, "On the permanence of the
   primacy of blessed Peter in the Roman pontiffs", states that (s.1)
   "that which our Lord Jesus Christ [...] established in the blessed
   apostle Peter [...] must of necessity remain forever, by Christ's
   authority, in the church which, founded as it is upon a rock, will
   stand firm until the end of time," that (s.3) "whoever succeeds to the
   chair of Peter obtains by the institution of Christ Himself, the
   primacy of Peter over the whole church", and that (s.5) "if anyone says
   that it is not by the institution of Christ the Lord Himself (that is
   to say, by divine law) that blessed Peter should have perpetual
   successors in the primacy over the whole church; or that the Roman
   pontiff is not the successor of blessed Peter in this primacy: let him
   be anathema."

   The Dogmatic Constitution's third chapter, "On the power and character
   of the primacy of the Roman pontiff," states that (s.1) "the definition
   of the ecumenical council of Florence, which must be believed by all
   faithful Christians, namely that the apostolic see and the Roman
   pontiff hold a worldwide primacy, and that the Roman pontiff is the
   successor of blessed Peter, the prince of the apostles, true vicar of
   Christ, head of the whole church and father and teacher of all
   Christian people," that (s.2) "by divine ordinance, the Roman church
   possesses a preeminence of ordinary power over every other church, and
   that the jurisdictional power of the Roman pontiff is both episcopal
   and immediate" and that " clergy and faithful, of whatever rite and
   dignity, both singly and collectively, are bound to submit to this
   power by the duty of hierarchical subordination and true obedience, and
   this not only in matters concerning faith and morals, but also in those
   which regard the discipline and government of the church throughout the
   world."

   The powers of the Pope are defined by the Dogmatic Constitution (ch.3,
   s.8) such that "he is the supreme judge of the faithful, and that in
   all cases which fall under ecclesiastical jurisdiction recourse may be
   had to his judgment" and that "the sentence of the apostolic see (than
   which there is no higher authority) is not subject to revision by
   anyone, nor may anyone lawfully pass judgment thereupon" (can. 331
   defines the power of the Pope as "supreme, full, immediate and
   universal ordinary power in the Church, and he can always freely
   exercise this power"). It also dogmatically defined (ch.4, s.9) the
   doctrine of Papal infallibility, sc. such that

          when the Roman Pontiff speaks ex cathedra, that is, when in the
          exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all
          Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he
          defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the
          whole church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to
          him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine
          Redeemer willed His church to enjoy in defining doctrine
          concerning faith or morals. Therefore, such definitions of the
          Roman pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the
          church, irreformable.

   The Catholic Church teaches that "it is absolutely necessary for the
   salvation of every creature to be united to the Roman Pontiff" ( Pope
   Boniface VIII). This teaching is often summarized by the phrase "extra
   Ecclesiam nulla salus" (outside the Church exists no salvation), which
   has been reaffirmed by many Popes throughout the centuries. Blessed
   John XXIII said: "Into this fold of Jesus Christ no man may enter
   unless he be led by the Sovereign Pontiff, and only if they be united
   to him can men be saved." Pope Paul VI also said: "Those outside the
   Church do not possess the Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church alone is the
   Body of Christ... and if separated from the Body of Christ he is not
   one of His members, nor is he fed by His Spirit."

   However, this dogma has been interpreted in many different ways by both
   Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Many Popes stressed that those who
   are " invincibly ignorant of the Catholic religion" can still obtain
   salvation. Pope Pius IX stated in his encyclical Quanto conficiamur
   moeror (1868): "We all know that those who are afflicted with
   invincible ignorance with regard to our holy religion, if they
   carefully keep the precepts of the natural law that have been written
   by God in the hearts of all men, if they are prepared to obey God, and
   if they lead a virtuous and dutiful life, can attain eternal life by
   the power of divine light and grace." Pope John Paul II wrote in his
   encyclical Redemptoris Missio: "But it is clear that today, as in the
   past, many people do not have an opportunity to come to know or accept
   the Gospel revelation or to enter the Church.... For such people,
   salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while
   having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them
   formally a part of the Church but enlightens them in a way which is
   accommodated to their spiritual and material situation. This grace
   comes from Christ; it is the result of his sacrifice and is
   communicated by the Holy Spirit. It enables each person to attain
   salvation through his or her free cooperation."

   Moreover, the Catholic Church teaches that all Christians are
   "mysteriously" united through Baptism and the "invisible Church" (body
   of believers). However, Christians are not fully / "formally" united
   due to divisions in beliefs etc.

   As stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

   817 In fact, "in this one and only Church of God from its very
   beginnings there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly
   censures as damnable. But in subsequent centuries much more serious
   dissensions appeared and large communities became separated from full
   communion with the Catholic Church- for which often enough, men of both
   sides were to blame" (UR 3 1). The ruptures that wound the unity of
   Christ's Body - here we must distinguish heresy, apostasy and schism-do
   not occur without human sin:

          Where there are sins, there are also divisions, schisms,
          heresies and disputes. Where there is virtue, however, there
          also are harmony and unity, from which arise the one heart and
          one soul of all believers (Cf. CIC, can.751.).

   818 "However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those
   who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such
   separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the
   Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers...
   All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into
   Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with
   good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the
   Catholic Church" (UR 3 1).

   819 "Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth" (LG 8
   2) are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the
   written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope and charity, with
   the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as the visible
   elements" (UR 3 2; cf. LG 15.). Christ's Spirit uses these Churches and
   ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from
   the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the
   Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to Him,
   (Cf. UR 3.) and are in themselves calls to "Catholic unity" (Cf. LG
   8.).

   The Pope has many powers which he exercises. He can appoint bishops to
   dioceses, erect and suppress dioceses, appoint prefects to the Roman
   dicasteries, approve or veto their acts, modify the Liturgy and issue
   liturgical laws, revise the Code of Canon Law, canonize and beatify
   individuals, approve and suppress religious orders, impose canonical
   sanctions, act as a judge and hear cases, issue encyclicals, and issue
   infallible statements on matters pertaining to faith and morals which,
   according to the Church, must be believed by all Catholics. Most of
   these functions are performed by and through the various dicasteries of
   the Roman Curia, with the Pope simply approving their actions prior to
   becoming official. While approval is generally granted, it is at the
   Pope's discretion.

Political role

   Though the progressive Christianisation of the Roman Empire in the
   fourth century did not confer upon bishops civil authority within the
   state, the gradual withdrawal of imperial authority during the fifth
   century left the Pope the senior Imperial civilian official in Rome, as
   bishops were increasingly directing civil affairs in other cities of
   the Western Empire. This status as a secular and civil leader was
   vividly displayed by Pope Leo I's confrontation with Attila in 452 and
   was substantially increased in 754, when the Frankish ruler Pippin the
   Younger donated to the Pope a strip of territory which formed the core
   of the so-called Papal States (properly, the Patrimony of St. Peter).
   In 800 Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish ruler Charlemagne as Roman
   Emperor, a major step toward establishing what later became known as
   the Holy Roman Empire; from that date it became the Pope's prerogative
   to crown the Emperor or any monarch with affiliations with the church
   until the crowning of Napoleon. As has been hitherto mentioned, the
   Pope's sovereignty over the Papal States ended in 1870 with their
   annexation by Italy.

   In addition to the Pope's position as a territorial ruler and foremost
   prince bishop of Christianity (especially prominent with the
   Renaissance Popes like Pope Alexander VI, an ambitious if spectacularly
   corrupt politico, and Pope Julius II, a formidable general and
   statesman) and as the spiritual head of the Holy Roman Empire
   (especially prominent during periods of contention with the Emperors,
   such as during the Pontificates of Pope Gregory VII and Pope Alexander
   III), the Pope also possessed a degree of political and temporal
   authority in his capacity as Supreme Pontiff. Some of the most striking
   examples of Papal political authority are the Bull Laudabiliter in 1155
   (authorizing Henry II of England to invade Ireland), the Bull Inter
   Caeteras in 1493 (leading to the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, which
   divided the world into areas of Spanish and Portuguese rule), the Bull
   Regnans in Excelsis in 1570 ( excommunicating Elizabeth I of England
   and purporting to release all her subjects from their allegiance to
   her), and the Bull Inter Gravissimas in 1582 (establishing the
   Gregorian Calendar).

Objections to the Papacy

   The Pope's position as Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church is
   dogmatic and therefore not open to debate or dispute within the
   Catholic Church; the First Vatican Council anathematized all who
   dispute the Pope's primacy of honour and of jurisdiction (it is lawful
   to discuss the precise nature of that primacy, provided that such
   discussion does not violate the terms of the Council's Dogmatic
   Constitution). However, the Pope's authority is not undisputed outside
   the Catholic Church; these objections differ from denomination to
   denomination, but can roughly be outlined as (1) objections to the
   extent of the primacy of the Pope; and (2) objections to the
   institution of the Papacy itself.

   Some non-Roman-Catholic Christian communities, such as the Assyrian
   Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Church, the Eastern Orthodox
   Church, the Old Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the
   Independent Catholic Churches, and even some Lutherans, accept the
   doctrine of Apostolic Succession, and therefore accept (to varying
   extents) the papal claims to a primacy of honour. However, these
   churches generally reject that the Pope is the successor to St. Peter
   in any unique sense not true of any other bishop, or raise questions
   about whether St. Peter was ever bishop of Rome at all. The primacy is
   therefore regarded primarily as a consequence of the Pope's position as
   bishop of the original capital city of the Roman Empire, a definition
   explicitly spelled out in the 28th canon of the Council of Chalcedon.
   In any event, these churches see no foundation at all to papal claims
   of universal immediate jurisdiction, nor to claims of Papal
   Infallibility. Because none of them recognize the First Vatican Council
   as truly ecumenical, they regard its definitions concerning
   jurisdiction and Infallibility (and anathematization of those who do
   not accept them) as invalid. Several of these communities refer to such
   claims as " Ultramontanism".

   Other non-Catholic Christian denominations do not accept the doctrine
   of Apostolic Succession, or do not understand it in hierarchical terms,
   and therefore do not accept the claim that the Pope is heir either to
   Petrine primacy of honor or to Petrine primacy of jurisdiction, or they
   reject both claims of honour or jurisdiction, as well as claims of
   Papal Infallibility, as unscriptural. The Papacy's complex relationship
   with the Roman and Byzantine Empires, and other secular states, and the
   Papacy's territorial claims in Italy, are another focal point of these
   objections; as is the monarchical character of the office of Pope. In
   Western Christianity these objections — and the vehement rhetoric they
   have at times been cast in — both contributed to and are products of
   the Protestant Reformation. These denominations vary from simply not
   accepting the Pope's authority as legitimate and valid, to believing
   that the Pope is the Antichrist or the False Prophet spoken in the Book
   of Revelation . These denominations tend to be more heterogeneous
   amongst themselves than the aforementioned hierarchical churches, and
   their views regarding the Papacy and its institutional legitimacy (or
   lack thereof) vary considerably.

   Some objectors to the Papacy use empirical arguments, pointing to the
   corrupt characters of some of the holders of that office. For instance,
   some argue that claimed successors to St. Peter, like Callixtus III and
   Alexander VI from the Borgia family, were so corrupt as to be unfit to
   wield power to bind and loose on Earth or in Heaven. An omniscient and
   omnibenevolent God, some argue, would not have given those people the
   powers claimed for them by the Roman Catholic Church. Defenders of the
   papacy argue that the Bible shows God as willingly giving privileges
   even to corrupt men (citing examples like some of the kings of Israel,
   the apostle Judas Iscariot, and even St. Peter after he denied Jesus).
   They also argue that not even the worst of the corrupt Popes used the
   office to try to rip the doctrine of the Church from its apostolic
   roots, and that their failure to achieve that goal is evidence that the
   office is divinely protected.

   Some objectors to the papacy habitually refer to the Catholic Church
   and its members by the pejorative term papist to point up what they
   believe to be an inappropriate focus of attention on the office and an
   improper attribution of certain divine favors ex officio.

Other Popes

   In the earlier centuries of Christianity, the title "Pope," meaning
   "father," had been used by all Bishops. Through time, however, the
   title largely been restricted to the Bishop of Rome. Today, the heads
   of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Coptic Catholic Church, and the Eastern
   Orthodox Church of Alexandria continue to be called "Popes", the former
   two being called "Coptic Pope" or, more properly, "Pope of Alexandria
   and Patriarch of the Holy See of St. Mark" and the last called "Pope
   and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa".

   An antipope is a person who claims the Pontificate without being
   canonically and properly elected to it. The existence of an antipope is
   usually due either to doctrinal controversy within the Church or to
   confusion as to who is the legitimate Pope at the time (see Papal
   Schism). Though antipope movements were significant at one time, they
   are now overwhelmingly minor fringe causes.

   "The Black Pope" is a derogatory name given to the Superior General of
   the Society of Jesus due to the Jesuits' practice of wearing black
   cassocks (compared to the Pope's always wearing white robes), and to
   the order's specific allegiance to the Roman pontiff.

   The Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of
   Peoples (formerly the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the
   Faith) is known as the "Red Pope": "red, because he is a cardinal;
   Pope, because he has almost absolute power over mission territories for
   Catholicism, essentially the Churches of Africa and Asia" ( Sandro
   Magister, www.chiesa).

   In the Russian Orthodox Church and Serbian Orthodox Church, it is not
   unusual for a village priest to be called a "pope" (поп). However,
   depending on the Russian speaker, this term might be one that is used
   derogatorily against the priest.

Trivia

     * When choosing a new name, according to tradition, a Pope can choose
       any regnal name but one, Peter.
     * Youngest Pope: Pope John XII, who was 18 when he became Pope.
     * Shortest reign: Pope Urban VII, who was elected pope September 15,
       1590, and died September 27, 1590.
     * The Cardinal Camerlengo used to gently strike the Pope on the head
       three times with a silver hammer while saying his name to determine
       if he was dead.
     * Last Pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII.
     * Papal burial traditions forbid autopsies.

Histories

     * Brusher, Joseph H. Popes Through The Ages. Princeton: D. Van
       Nostland Company, Inc. 1959.
     * Chamberlain, E.R. The Bad Popes. 1969. Reprint: Barnes and Noble.
       1993.
     * Dollison, John Pope - Pourri. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1994.
     * Kelly, J.N.D. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford: University
       Press. 1986. ISBN 0-19-213964-9
     * Maxwell-Stuart, P.G. Chronicles of the Popes - The Reign By Reign
       Record of The Papacy From St. Peter To The Present. London: Thames
       and Hudson. 1997. ISBN 0-500-01798-0

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