Pope



The Pope (from : papa, father; from  (papas); father - originally written  (pappas), as in Homer's Odyssey, book VI, line 57) is the, the spiritual leader of the  and head of state of. Faith communities which recognize acknowledge the Bishop of Rome as successor of. As such, Catholics believe the pope to be the, while the other faith communities disacknowledge Petrine primacy among the bishops. The office of the pope is called the "papacy"; his ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called the (Sancta Sedes in Latin) or  (this latter, on the basis that both St. Peter and  were martyred at ). Early occupying the  were designated ; for later popes the more authoritative Vicar of Christ was substituted; this designation was first used by the Roman  of 495 to refer to, an advocate of  among the s.  (d. 304) is the first Bishop of Rome whom sources show used the title of pope. In the 11th century, after the, declared the term "Pope" to be reserved for the Bishop of Rome. The current (265th) pope is , who was elected, in.

In addition to his service in this spiritual role, the pope is also of the independent sovereign state of the Vatican City, a  entirely  by the city of Rome. Before 1870 the pope's temporal authority extended over a large area of : the territory of the. The papacy retained sovereign authority over the Papal States until the of 1870; a final political settlement with the  government was not reached until the  of 1929.

For over a thousand years, popes have played powerful roles in Western Europe, crowning emperors ( was the first emperor crowned by a pope) and regulating disputes among secular rulers. Early popes helped spread Christianity and resolve doctrinal disputes. The Bishop of Rome continued to be nominally allied and part of the civil structure of the until the 8th century, when the  gave Rome and the surrounding area to the full sovereignty of the pope, which the popes already had been de facto rulers, creating the Papal States that lasted until. For centuries, the forged also provided the basis for the papacy's claim of political supremacy over the entire former Western Roman Empire.

In the, popes struggled with monarchs over power. They instituted the. Gradually forced to give up secular power, popes focused on spiritual issues. Over the centuries, the pope's claims of spiritual authority have been ever more clearly expressed since the first centuries, culminating in the proclamation of the of  for those rare occasions the pope speaks  (literally "from the chair (of Peter)") when issuing a solemn definition of  or. The last such occasion was in the year with the definition of the dogma of the.

Early history
During the first century of the Christian Church, the Roman capital became recognized as a Christian center of exceptional importance; but there are only a few 1st century references to the recognition of the of the  outside of Rome. The fact that 's letter to the Corinthians (written c. 96) adopted a pastoral tone, and also the fact that 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 honor. The is still controversial as an issue of doctrine that continues to divide the eastern and western Orthodox churches as well as separating Protestants from Rome.

During the second century AD, further manifestations of Roman authority over other churches were clearly evident. In the second century (AD 189), the assertion of the primacy of the Church of Rome may be indicated in 's  (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." This may be the first clear instance of the church in Rome asserting its primacy. Furthermore, in AD 195,, excommunicated the for observing Easter on the 14th of Nisan, a tradition handed down by  based on the Jewish  (see ). This exercise of Roman authority over other churches, even of apostolic origin, is still present today in the Western uniformity of calculating the day of Easter (though the Eastern Churches, even those in communion with Rome calculate the date of Easter differently. See ).

After the imperial capital was moved to in AD 330 the eastern churches, especially the Bishop of Constantinople, started to assert pre-eminence by virtue of its imperial status.

The (AD 381) suggested strongly that Roman primacy was already asserted; however, it should be noted that, because of the controversy over this claim, the pope did not personally attend this, which was held in the eastern capital of the Roman empire, rather than at. It was not until 440 that more clearly articulated the extension of papal authority as doctrine, promulgating in edicts and in councils his right to exercise "the full range of apostolic powers that Jesus had first bestowed on the apostle Peter". It was at the ecumenical in 451 that Leo I (through his emissaries) stated that he was "speaking with the voice of Peter". At this same council, an attempt at compromise was made when the Bishop of Constantinople was given a primacy of honour second only to that of the Bishop of Rome, because "Constantinople is the New Rome." Ironically, Roman papal authorities rejected this language since it did not clearly recognize Rome's claim to juridical authority over the other churches.

The s and traditions of the teach that the institution of the papacy was first mandated by 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."

Isaiah 22:20-22: "On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and give over to him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open." (shows a parallel to Matthew 16:18-20)

John 21:15-17: "..Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." He then said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." (Jesus) said to him, "Feed my sheep."

Luke 12:41: "Then Peter said, "Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?" And the Lord replied, "Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute (the) food allowance at the proper time?" (Feeding theme appears again here)

Luke 22:31-32: "Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers."

The name "Peter" ( in Greek) in Matthew 16:18 translates as rock. Isaiah 22:22 is used to show the Old Testament connection to the "keys." The Bible further explains the position of Eliakim in Isaiah in the following: "Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace..." 

Some Jewish commentators of the Old Testament understood in a manner similar to Peter with this commentary from the  on Peter regarding Abraham:

"Upon Abraham as top of the rocks God said I shall build my kingdom"

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).

The first Bishop of Rome to style himself pope was, who occupied that office at the very end of the 4th century. Prior to that, the had been titled pope beginning with Pope  in 232.

Election


The pope was originally chosen by those junior men resident in and near Rome. In the electorate was restricted to the  of the Holy Roman Church, and the individual votes of all Cardinal Electors were made equal in. , elected, was the last pope who was not already a cardinal at the time of his election. requires that if a layman or non-bishop is elected, he receives episcopal consecration from the 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 was accused on, , 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 (see ) until a pope has been elected; this was prompted by the three-year  following the death of in. By the mid-, 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, by selection (by committee), or by plenary vote. Acclamation was the simplest procedure, consisting entirely of a voice vote, and was last used in. abolished vote by acclamation and by selection by committee, and henceforth all Popes will be elected by full vote of the by  (see ).



The election of the pope almost always takes place in the, in a sequestered meeting called a "" (so called because the cardinal electors are theoretically locked in, cum clave, 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 (in the 2005 conclave, a special urn was used for this purpose instead of a chalice and plate). 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 (with the promulgation of Universi Dominici Gregis in 1996, a simple majority after a deadlock of twelve days was allowed, but this was revoked by Pope by  in 2007).

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 stove erected in the Sistine Chapel, with the smoke escaping through a small chimney visible from. 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, church bells were also rung to signal that a new pope had been chosen.

The Dean of the College of Cardinals then asks the cardinal who has been successfully-elected two solemn questions. First he asks, "Do you freely accept your election?" If he cuts with the word "Accepto", his reign as Pope begins at that precise instinctive instant, not at the inauguration ceremony several days afterward. The Dean then asks, "By what name shall you be called?" The new pope then announces the 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 "" by the, whom he first either reconfirms or reappoints. The pope then assumes a place of honor as the rest of the cardinals wait in turn to offer their first "obedience" (adoratio) and to receive his blessing.

The senior then announces from a balcony over St. Peter's Square the following : ''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 the pope's election was followed in a few days by the. A procession with great pomp and circumstance formed from the to, with the newly elected pope borne in the . There, after a solemn, the new pope was crowned with the ' (papal tiara) and he gave for the first time as pope the famous blessing ' ("to the City [Rome] and to the World"). Another renowned part of the coronation was the lighting of a bundle of at the top of a gilded pole, which would flare brightly for a moment and then promptly extinguish, with the admonition  ("Thus passes worldly glory"). A similar sombre warning against papal hubris made on this occasion was the ritual exclamation "Annos Petri non videbis", reminding the newly crowned Pope that he would not live to see his rule lasting as long as that of St. Peter, who according to tradition headed the church for 35 years and has thus far been the longest reigning Pope in the history of the Catholic Church.

A belief claims the existence of the  (not to be confused with the  mandated by ), which the popes from  on are said to have refused to swear, but there is no reliable authority for this claim.

The term sede vacante ("vacant seat") refers to a papal, the period between the death of a pope and the election of his successor. From this term is derived the term, which designates a category of dissident, 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 and especially the replacement of the  with the  are heretical, and that, per the dogma of papal infallibility, it is impossible for a valid Pope to have done these things. Secevacantists are considered to be atics by the mainstream Roman Catholic Church.

For centuries, the papacy was an institution dominated by. Prior to the election of the Polish cardinal as Pope John Paul II in, the last non-Italian was  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 &mdash; that is, a ' ("vacant seat") &mdash; were promulgated by John Paul II in his  document '. During the "Sede Vacante", the, 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 ; however, canon law specifically forbids the cardinals from introducing any innovation in the government of the Church during the vacancy of the. Any decision that requires the assent of the pope has to wait until the new pope has been elected and accepts 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 may or may not have already determined that the pope had died before this point. The Cardinal Chamberlain then retrieves the. 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 of a leading church or cathedral; the popes of the  were all interred in. A nine-day period of mourning (novem dialis) follows after the interment of the late Pope. Vatican tradition holds that no is to be performed on the body of a dead Pope.

Abdication
The 332 §2 states, "If it happens that the  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 in 1294 and  in 1409, Gregory XII being the last to do so.

It was widely reported in June and July 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 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, however, did not resign. He died on  after a long period of ill-health and was buried on. After his death, it was reported in his that he considered abdicating in  as he neared his 80th birthday. That portion of the will, however, is unclear and others interpret it differently.

Current
The titles of the Pope, in the order they are used in the Annuario Pontificio:
 * Successor of the
 * of the
 * of
 * of the Roman
 * Sovereign of the State of the
 * of the Roman
 * Sovereign of the State of the

Former

 * of the West (dropped 2006)
 * of the
 * Vicar of Peter

Forms of address

 * "Your Holiness"
 * "Holy Father"

History
The title "Vicar of Christ" refers to the Pope's claims of divine commission. This title came into use in the fifth and sixth centuries. The confirmed the titles "Vicar of Christ" and "Successor of Peter".

The use of the term "Supreme Pontiff" () by the pope can be traced back to the end of the fourth century. This 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. The term has also been applied to other metropolitan bishops, although examples are limited (see ). It was in the eleventh 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 and, was first used by  in his dispute with the Patriarch of Constantinople after the latter assumed the title. It was not reserved for the pope until the thirteenth 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 of 1929.

The pope's signature is usually in the format ''NN. PP. x'' (e.g., 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 s is customarily ''NN. Episcopus Ecclesiae Catholicae ("NN. Bishop of the Catholic Church"), while the heading is NN. Episcopus '' ("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, 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, 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 or  is the, and his official residence is the. He also possesses a summer palace at (situated on the site of the ancient city-state ). Historically, the official residence of the Pope was the, donated by the.

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

The name "Holy See" (also "Apostolic See") is in ecclesiastical terminology the of the Bishop of Rome (including the Roman Curia); the pope's various honors, powers, and privileges within the Catholic Church and the international community derive from his Episcopate of Rome in lineal succession from the   (see ). 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 (see ), a period often called the  in allusion to the   of.

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 in 642, and was only used occasionally. Indeed, it did not begin to appear in the pontifical yearbook until 1863. On, 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, 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



 * "", also called the "tiara" or "triple crown", represents the pope's three functions as "supreme pastor", "supreme teacher" and "supreme priest". 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 (an erect cloth hat).
 * topped by a, a custom established before the (see ).
 * , or pall, a circular band of fabric worn around the neck over the . It forms a yoke about the neck, breast and shoulders and has two pendants hanging down in front and behind, and is ornamented with six crosses. Previously, the pallium worn by the pope was identical to those he granted to the, but in 2005 Pope Benedict XVI began to use a distinct papal pallium that is larger than the primatial, and was adorned with red crosses instead of black.
 * "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.
 * , 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.
 *  (better known in the Italian form ombrellino) is a canopy or umbrella consisting of alternating red and gold stripes, which used to be carried above the pope in processions.
 * ', a mobile throne carried by twelve (palafrenieri) in red uniforms, accompanied by two attendants bearing ' (fans made of white ostrich feathers), and sometimes a large, carried by eight attendants. The use of the flabella was discontinued by . The use of the sedia gestatoria was discontinued by , being replaced by the so-called.

In, each pope has his own. Though unique for each pope, the arms are always surmounted by the aforementioned two keys in (i.e., crossed over one another so as to form an X) behind the  (shield) (one silver key and one gold key, tied with a red cord), and above them a silver triregnum with three gold crowns and red infulae (s—two strips of fabric hanging from the back of the triregnum which fall over the neck and shoulders when worn). This is ed: "two keys in saltire or and argent, interlacing in the rings or, beneath a tiara argent, crowned or"). With the recent election of in, his personal coat of arms eliminated the papal tiara; a  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  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.

The most frequently associated with the pope is the yellow and white, with the arms of the Holy See (blazoned: "Gules, two keys in saltire or and argent, interlacing in the rings or, beneath a tiara argent, crowned or") on the right-hand side (the "fly") in the white half of the flag (the left-hand side—the "hoist"—is yellow). The pope's escucheon does not appear on the flag. This flag was first adopted in, whereas the previous flag had been red and gold, the traditional colors of the papacy. Although Pope Benedict XVI replaced the triregnum with a mitre on his personal coat of arms, it has been retained on the flag.

Status and authority
The status and authority of the Pope in the Catholic Church was tically by the  in its Dogmatic Constitution of the Church of Christ. 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 evidence, a primacy of jurisdiction over the whole church of  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  was not appointed by Christ the Lord as prince of all the apostles and visible head of the whole ; or that it was a primacy of honor only and not one of true and proper jurisdiction that he directly and immediately received from our Lord Jesus Christ Himself: let him be ..."



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 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 ) 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."

Vatican I's Dogmatic Constitution's third chapter, "On the power and character of the ," states that (s.1) "the definition of the of, which must be believed by all faithful s, 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 " and faithful, of whatever rite and dignity, both singly and collectively, are bound to submit to this power by the duty of  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, sc. such that


 * when the Roman Pontiff speaks , 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 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.

In 1302 the  stated that "it is absolutely necessary for the  of every creature to be united to the Roman Pontiff". This teaching is often summarized by the phrase,  ("outside the Church [exists] no salvation"), which has been reaffirmed by many popes throughout the centuries. 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."

However, this dogma has been interpreted in many different ways by both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. "Many who are afflicted with with regard to our holy religion, if they carefully keep the precepts of the  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 ." wrote in his, : "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 . It enables each person to attain salvation through his or her ."

Moreover, the Catholic Church teaches that all Christians are united through 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 s to s, erect and suppress dioceses, appoint s to the Roman, approve or their acts, modify the  and issue liturgical laws, revise the ,  and  individuals, approve and suppress s, impose canonical , 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. (An infallible statement regarding morals has so-far never been issued.) Most of these functions are performed by and through the various dicasteries of the, through which the pope administers the church. The actions of the Curia are considered to be the actions of the pope himself, and he must approve their actions prior to their becoming official. While approval is generally granted, it is at the Pope's discretion.

Political role


Though the progressive of the  in the  did not confer upon bishops civil authority within the state, the gradual withdrawal of imperial authority during the  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 ruler was vividly displayed by 's confrontation with in. The first expansion of papal rule outside of Rome came in 728 with the, which in turn was substantially increased in , when the ruler  gave to the pope the land from his conquest of the. The pope may have utilized the forged to gain this land, which formed the core of the. This document, accepted as genuine until the 1400s, states that placed the entire Western Empire of Rome under papal rule. In   the Frankish ruler  as, a major step toward establishing what later became known as the ; from that date onward the popes claimed the prerogative to crown the Emperor, though the right fell into disuse after the coronation of  in. was present at the coronation of in, but did not actually perform the crowning. As mentioned above, the pope's sovereignty over the Papal States ended in with their annexation by.

Popes like, an ambitious if spectacularly corrupt politician, and , a formidable general and statesman, were not afraid to use power to achieve their own ends, which included increasing the power of the papacy. This political and temporal authority was demonstrated through the papal role in the Holy Roman Empire (especially prominent during periods of contention with the Emperors, such as during the Pontificates of and ). s,, and (or the threat thereof) have been used many times to increase papal power. The Bull  in authorized  to invade. In 1207, placed England under interdict until  made his kingdom a  to the Pope, complete with yearly, saying, "we offer and freely yield...to our lord Pope Innocent III and his catholic successors, the whole kingdom of England and the whole kingdom of Ireland with all their rights and appurtenences for the remission of our sins". The Bull  in led to the  in, which divided the world into areas of  and  rule. The Bull  in excommunicated  and declared that all her subjects were released from all allegiance to her. The Bull  in established the.

Objections to the papacy


The pope's claim to hold the position of Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church is recognized as tic and not considered open to debate or dispute within the Roman Catholic Church. The First Vatican Council tized all who dispute the pope's claims of primacy of honor 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.

The pope's claim to authority is disputed outside the Roman Catholic Church. These objections differ from denomination to denomination, but can roughly be outlined as objections to the extent of the primacy of the pope and to the institution of the papacy itself.

Some Christian communities (, the, the , the , the , the , some , etc.) accept the doctrine of , and to varying extents, papal claims to a primacy of honour while generally rejecting that the pope is the successor to Peter in any unique sense not true of any other bishop. Primacy is regarded as a consequence of the pope's position as bishop of the original capital city of the, a definition explicitly spelled out in the 28th of the. These churches see no foundation to papal claims of universal immediate jurisdiction, or to claims of. Because the First Vatican Council is not recognized as authoritive by these churches, they regard its definitions concerning jurisdiction, infallibility and the associated anathematization as the opinions of the followers of the pope. Several of these communities refer to such claims as .

Some Christian denominations do not accept the doctrine of, rejecting the claims of of honor, Petrine primacy of jurisdiction, and papal infallibility. The papacy's complex relationship with the and  Empires, and other secular states, and the papacy's territorial claims in Italy, are other objections, as is the ical character of the office of pope. In these objections — and the vehement rhetoric in which they have at times been cast — both contributed to and are products of the.

These denominations vary from simply not accepting the Pope's claim to authority as legitimate and valid, to believing that the Pope is the  from 1 John 2:18, the Man of Sin from 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12, and the Beast out of the Earth from Revelation 13:11-18. Conservative s hold that the pope is the Antichrist insisting that this article of faith is part of a quia rather than quatenus subscription to the. In 1932, the (LCMS) adopted A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of the Missouri Synod, which a number of Lutheran church bodies now hold. Statement 43, Of the Antichrist:



"43. As to the Antichrist we teach that the prophecies of the Holy Scriptures concerning the Antichrist, 2 Thess. 2:3-12;1 John 2:18, have been fulfilled in the Pope of Rome and his dominion. All the features of the Antichrist as drawn in these prophecies, including the most abominable and horrible ones, for example, that the Antichrist 'as God sitteth in the temple of God,' 2 Thess. 2:4; that he anathematizes the very heart of the Gospel of Christ, that is, the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins by grace alone, for Christ's sake alone, through faith alone, without any merit or worthiness in man (Rom. 3:20-28; Gal. 2:16); that he recognizes only those as members of the Christian Church who bow to his authority; and that, like a deluge, he had inundated the whole Church with his antichristian doctrines till God revealed him through the Reformation -- these very features are the outstanding characteristics of the Papacy. (Cf. Smalcald Articles, Triglot, p. 515, Paragraphs 39-41; p. 401, Paragraph 45; M. pp. 336, 258.) Hence we subscribe to the statement of our Confessions that the Pope is 'the very Antichrist.' (Smalcald Articles, Triglot, p. 475, Paragraph 10; M., p. 308.)"

Some objectors to the papacy use s, pointing out that popes and  were so corrupt as to be unfit to wield power to bind and loose on Earth or in Heaven. An and  God, some argue, would not have given those people the powers claimed for them by the Roman Catholic Church. Defenders of the papacy counter that the shows God as willingly giving privileges even to corrupt men, citing examples like some of the kings of Israel, the apostle, and even 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.

Antipopes
groups sometimes form around s, who claim the Pontificate without being canonically and properly elected to it.

Traditionally, this term was reserved for claimants with a significant following of cardinals or other clergy. 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 ). Briefly in the 1400s, three separate lines of Popes claimed authenticity (see ). Even Catholics don't all agree whether certain historical figures were Popes or antipopes. Though antipope movements were significant at one time, they are now overwhelmingly minor causes.

Other popes
In the earlier centuries of Christianity, the title "Pope," meaning "father," had been used by all bishops. Some popes used the term and others didn't. Eventually, the title became associated especially with the Bishop of Rome. In a few cases, the term is used for other Christian clerical authorities. However, other religions than Christianity have a Pope - for example, Deanism.

In the Catholic Church
"The " is a derogatory name given to the due to the  practice of wearing black cassocks (the Pope wears white), to the order's specific allegiance to the Roman pontiff, and the alleged power the order exercised within the church.

The Cardinal Prefect of the (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".

In the Eastern Churches
Today, the heads of the and the  continue to be called "Pope", the former being called "Coptic Pope" or, more properly, "" and the last called "".

In the, and , it is not unusual for a village priest to be called a "pope" ("поп"). However, this should be differentiated from the words used for the head of the Catholic Church (Bulgarian "папа", Russian "папа римский").

Longest-reigning Popes
Although the average reign of the pope from the was a decade, a number of those whose reign lengths can be determined from contemporary historical data are the following:
 * 1)  (1846–1878): 31 years, 7 months and 23 days (11,560 days).
 * 2)  (1978–2005): 26 years, 5 months and 18 days (9,666 days).
 * 3)  (1878–1903): 25 years, 5 months and 1 day (9,281 days).
 * 4)  (1775–1799): 24 years, 6 months and 15 days (8,962 days).
 * 5)  (772–795): 23 years, 10 months and 25 days (8,729 days).
 * 6)  (1800–1823): 23 years, 5 months and 7 days (8,560 days).
 * 7)  (1159–1181): 21 years, 11 months and 24 days (8,029 days).
 * 8)  (314–335): 21 years, 11 months and 1 day (8,005 days).
 * 9)  (440–461): 21 years, 1 month, and 13 days. (7,713 days).
 * 10)  (1623–1644): 20 years, 11 months and 24 days (7,664 days).

Shortest-reigning Popes
Conversely, there have been a number of popes whose reign lasted less than a month. The number of calendar days includes partial days. Thus, for example, if a pope's reign commenced on 1 August and he died on 2 August, this would count as having reigned for two calendar days.


 * 1) (–, ): reigned for 13 calendar days, died before consecration.
 * 2) (April, 896): reigned for 16 calendar days
 * (–, ): reigned for 17 calendar days, died before.
 * 1) (December, 897): reigned for 20 calendar days
 * (–, ): reigned for 21 calendar days
 * (–, ): reigned for 22 calendar days
 * (–, ): reigned for 24 calendar days
 * (–, ): reigned for 27 calendar days
 * (–, ): reigned for 27 calendar days
 * (–, ) and, ( – , : both reigned for 33 calendar days each.
 * (–, ), died of three days after his election, and before his  as a bishop. He is not recognized as a valid Pope, but was added to the lists of popes in the fifteenth century as Stephen II, causing difficulties in enumerating later Popes named Stephen. He was removed in 1961 from the   (see "" for detailed explanation).

Miscellanea

 * Youngest Pope:, who was 18 when he became Pope.
 * The earliest Pope who has not been canonized is.