Bishop of Rome
Bishopric
Catholic
Incumbent: Benedict XVI Elected: 19 April 2005
Province:	Ecclesiastical Province of Rome
Diocese:	Rome
Cathedral:	Archbasilica of St. John Lateran
First Bishop:	According to traditional Christianity, Saint Peter
Formation:	According to traditional Christianity, the 1st century
Website:	The Holy Father

The Pope (from Latin: papa; from Greek: πάππας (pappas),^[1] a child's word for father)^[2] is the Bishop of Rome and the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church.^[3] In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle. The current office-holder is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected in a papal conclave on 19 April 2005.^{[nb 1]}

The office of the pope is known as the papacy. His ecclesiastical jurisdiction is often called the "Holy See" (Sancta Sedes in Latin), or the "Apostolic See" based upon the Church tradition that the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul were martyred in Rome. The pope is also head of state of Vatican City,^[4] a sovereign city-state entirely enclaved within the city of Rome.

The papacy is one of the most enduring institutions in the world and had a prominent part in human history.^[5] The Popes in ancient times helped in the spread of Christianity and resolve various doctrinal disputes.^[6] In the Middle Ages they played a role of secular importance in Western Europe, often serving as referees between the monarchs and averting several wars.^[7][8][9] Currently, in addition to the expansion of the Christian faith and doctrine, the popes are dedicated to ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, charitable work, and the defense of human rights.^[10][11]

Having been gradually forced to give up temporal power, popes now focus almost exclusively on religious matters.^[6] Over the centuries, papal claims of spiritual authority have been ever more clearly expressed, culminating in 1870 with the proclamation of the dogma of papal infallibility for rare occasions when the pope speaks ex cathedra—literally "from the chair (of St. Peter)"—to issue a formal definition of faith or morals.^[6] The first explicit such occasion (after the proclamation), and so far the last, was in 1950, with the definition of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary.

History[link]

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Title and etymology[link]

The word pope derives from Greek πάππας meaning "Father". In the early centuries of Christianity, this title was applied, especially in the east, to all bishops and other senior clergy, and later became reserved in the west to the Bishop of Rome, a reservation made official only in the 11th century.^{[12][13][14][15][16]} The earliest record of the use of this title was in regard to Patriarch of Alexandria Pope Heraclas of Alexandria (232–248)^[17][18] in a letter written by his successor, Pope Dionysius of Alexandria, to Philemon, a Roman presbyter:

τοῦτον ἐγὼ τὸν κανόνα καὶ τὸν τύπον παρὰ τοῦ μακαρίου πάπα ἡμῶν Ἡρακλᾶ παρέλαβον.^[19]

Which translates into:

I received this rule and ordinance from our blessed father/pope, Heraclas.^[20][21]

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest recorded use of the title "pope" in English is in an Old English translation (c. 950) of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People:

Þa wæs in þa tid Uitalius papa þæs apostolican seðles aldorbiscop.^[22]

In Modern English:

At that time, Pope Vitalian was chief bishop of the apostolic see.

Although the title was from the early 3rd century applied generically to all bishops,^[23] some sources^[who?] suggest that Pope Marcellinus (d. 304) was the first Bishop of Rome to carry the title, while other sources^[who?] suggest that this did not happen until the 6th century, with Pope John I (523–526) the first to assume this title.^[17] Bestowing the title on Rome's Pontiff did not strip it from Alexandria's, and the Roman Catholic Church recognizes this ecclesiastical fact.^[17] Indeed, even in the west, where in the 6th century the title began to be used particularly of the Bishop of Rome, it was only in 1075 that Pope Gregory VII issued a declaration that has been widely interpreted as stating this by then established convention.^[23] By the same 6th century this was also the normal practice of the imperial chancery of Constantinople.^[23]

Monarchical episcopate[link]

Catholics recognize the pope as a successor to Saint Peter, whom, according to Roman Catholic teaching, Jesus named as the "shepherd" and "rock" of the Catholic Church, which according to Catholic dogma is the one true Church founded by Christ.^[24][25] Peter never bore the title of "pope", which came into use three centuries later, but Catholics traditionally recognize him as the first pope,^[26] while official declarations of the Church only speak of the popes as holding within the college of the Bishops a role analogous to that held by Peter within the college of the Apostles, of which the college of the Bishops, a distinct entity, is the successor.^[27][28][29]

Protestants generally agree that Jesus singled out Peter as the focal point of the first-century church. However, they contend that the New Testament offers no proof that Jesus established the papacy nor even that he established Peter as the first bishop of Rome.^[30] The Catholic Church teaches that Jesus personally appointed Peter as leader of the Church and in its dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium makes a clear distinction between apostles and bishops, presenting the latter as the successors of the former, with the pope as successor of Peter in that he is head of the bishops as Peter was head of the apostles.^[31] Some historians have argued that the notion that Peter was the first bishop of Rome and founded the episcopal see there can be traced back no earlier than the 3rd century.^[32] The writings of the Church Father Irenaeus who wrote around AD 180 reflect a belief that Peter "founded and organised" the Church at Rome.^[33] Moreover, Irenaeus was not the first to write of Peter's presence in the early Roman Church. Clement of Rome wrote in a letter to the Corinthians, c. 96^[34] about the persecution of Christians in Rome as the "struggles in our time" and presented to the Corinthians its heroes, "first, the greatest and most just columns, the "good apostles" Peter and Paul.^[35] St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote shortly after Clement and in his letter from the city of Smyrna to the Romans he said he would not command them as Peter and Paul did.^[36] Given this and other evidence, many scholars agree that Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero, although some scholars argue that he may have been martyred in Palestine.^[37][38][39]

Various Christian communities would have had a group of presbyter-bishops functioning as leaders of their local churches. Gradually, episcopacies were established in metropolitan areas.^[40] Antioch may have developed such a structure before Rome.^[40] In Rome there were many who claimed to be the rightful bishop though again Irenaeus stressed the validity of one line of bishops from the time of St. Peter up to his contemporary Pope Victor I and listed them.^[41] Some^[who?] writers claim that the emergence of a single bishop in Rome probably did not occur until the middle of the 2nd century. In their view, Linus, Cletus and Clement were possibly prominent presbyter-bishops but not necessarily monarchical bishops.^[32]

In the 1st century and early 2nd century the Holy See had pre-eminence and prominence in the Church as a whole.^[42]

[edit] Early Christianity (c. 30–325)

It seems that at first the terms "episcopos" and "presbyter" were used interchangeably.^[43] The consensus among scholars has been that, at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, local congregations were led by bishops and presbyters whose offices were overlapping or indistinguishable.^[44] There was probably no single "monarchical" bishop in Rome before the middle of the 2nd century...and likely later."^[45] Other scholars and historians disagree, citing the historical records of St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Irenaeus who recorded the linear succession of Bishops of Rome (the popes) up until their own times. They also cite the importance accorded to the popes in the ecumenical councils, including the early ones.^[46]

In the early Christian era, Rome and a few other cities had claims on the leadership of worldwide Church. James the Just, known as "the brother of the Lord", served as head of the Jerusalem church, which is still honored as the "Mother Church" in Orthodox tradition. Alexandria had been a center of Jewish learning and became a center of Christian learning. Rome had a large congregation early in the apostolic period whom Paul the Apostle addressed in his Epistle to the Romans, and according to tradition Paul was martyred there.

During the 1st century of the Church (ca. 30–130), the Roman capital became recognized as a Christian center of exceptional importance. Clement I at the end of the 1st century wrote an epistle to the Church in Corinth intervening in a major dispute, and apologizing for not having taken action earlier.^[47] However, there are only a few other references of that time to recognition of the authoritative primacy of the Roman See outside of Rome. In the Ravenna Document of 13 October 2007, theologians chosen by the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches stated: "41. Both sides agree...that Rome, as the Church that 'presides in love' according to the phrase of St Ignatius of Antioch (To the Romans, Prologue), occupied the first place in the taxis, and that the bishop of Rome was therefore the protos among the patriarchs. They disagree, however, on the interpretation of the historical evidence from this era regarding the prerogatives of the Bishop of Rome as protos, a matter that was already understood in different ways in the first millennium."

In the late 2nd century AD, there were more manifestations of Roman authority over other churches. In 189, assertion of the primacy of the Church of Rome may be indicated in Irenaeus of Lyons'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." In AD 195, Victor I, in what is seen as an exercise of Roman authority over other churches, excommunicated the Quartodecimans for observing Easter on the 14th of Nisan, the date of the Jewish Passover, a tradition handed down by John the Evangelist (see Easter controversy). Celebration of Easter on a Sunday, as insisted on by the pope, is the system that has prevailed (see computus).

Nicaea to East-West Schism (325–1054)[link]

The Edict of Milan in 313 granted freedom to all religions in the Roman Empire,^[48] beginning the Peace of the Church. In 325, the First Council of Nicaea condemned Arianism, declaring trinitarianism dogmatic, and in its sixth canon recognized the special role of the sees of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch.^[49] Great defenders of Trinitarian faith included the Popes, especially Pope Liberius, who was exiled to Berea by Constantius II for his Trinitarian faith,^[50] Damasus I, and several other bishops.^[51]

In 380 Catholicism was declared the sole state religion of the Roman Empire.^[52][53] While the civil power in the East controlled the church and the bishop of Constantinople, the capital, wielded much power,^[54] in the West the Bishops of Rome was able to consolidate the influence and power they already possessed.^[54] After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, barbarian tribes were converted to Arian Christianity or Catholicism;^[55] Clovis I, king of the Franks, was the first important barbarian ruler to convert to Catholicism rather than Arianism, allying himself with the papacy. Other tribes, such as the Visigoths, later abandoned Arianism in favour of Catholicism.^[55]

Medieval Age[link]

Gregory the Great (c 540–604) who established medieval themes in the Church, in a painting by Carlo Saraceni, c. 1610, Rome.

After the fall of Rome, the pope served as a source of authority and continuity. Gregory the Great (c 540–604) administered the church with strict reform. From an ancient senatorial family, Gregory worked with the stern judgement and discipline typical of ancient Roman rule. Theologically, he represents the shift from the classical to the medieval outlook; his popular writings are full of dramatic miracles, potent relics, demons, angels, ghosts, and the approaching end of the world.^[56]

Gregory's successors were largely dominated by the Exarch of Ravenna, the Byzantine emperor's representative in Italy. These humiliations, the weakening of the empire in the face of Muslim expansion, and the inability of the emperor to protect the papal estates against the Lombards, made Pope Stephen II turn from Emperor Constantine V. He appealed to the Franks to protect his lands. Pepin the Short subdued the Lombards and donated Italian land to the papacy. When Leo III crowned Charlemagne (800), he established the precedent that, in the West, no man would be emperor without anointment by a pope.^[56]

From the seventh century it became common for European monarchies and nobility to found churches and perform investiture or deposition of clergy in their states and fiefdoms, their personal interests causing corruption among the clergy.^[57][58] This practice had become common because often the prelates and secular rulers were also participants in public life.^[59] To combat this and other practices that had corrupted the Church between the years 900 and 1050, centres emerged promoting ecclesiastical reform, the most important being the Abbey of Cluny, which spread its ideals throughout Europe.^[58] This reform movement gained strength with the election of Pope Gregory VII in 1073, who adopted a series of measures in the movement known as the Gregorian Reform, in order to fight strongly against simony and the abuse of civil power and try to restore ecclesiastical discipline, including celibacy.^[51] The conflict between popes and secular autocratic rulers such as the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and Henry I of England, known as the question of investiture, was only resolved in 1122, by the Concordat of Worms, in which the pope decreed that clerics were to be invested by clerical leaders, and temporal rulers by lay investiture.^[57] Soon after, Pope Alexander III began reforms that would lead to the establishment of canon law.^[56]

Since the beginning of the seventh century the Islamic Caliphate had conquered much of the southern Mediterranean, and represented a threat to Christianity.^[60] In 1095, the Byzantine emperor Alexius I asked for military aid from Pope Urban II against the Muslim invasionns.^[61] Urban, at the council of Clermont, called the First Crusade to assist the Byzantine Empire to regain the old Christian territories, especially Jerusalem.^[62]

The low point of the papacy was 867–1049.^[63] The papacy came under the control of vying political factions. Popes were variously imprisoned, starved, killed, and deposed by force. The family of a certain papal official made and unmade popes for fifty years. The official's great-grandson, Pope John XII, held orgies of debauchery in the Lateran palace. Emperor Otto I of Germany had John accused in an ecclesiastical court, which deposed him and elected a layman as Pope Leo VIII. John mutilated the Imperial representatives in Rome and had himself reinstated as pope. Conflict between the Emperor and the papacy continued, and eventually dukes in league with the emperor were buying bishops and popes almost openly.^[63]

In 1049, Leo IX became pope, at last a pope with the character to face the papacy's problems. He traveled to the major cities of Europe to deal with the church's moral problems firsthand, notably simony and clerical marriage and concubinage. With his long journey, he restored the prestige of the papacy in the north.^[63]

East–West Schism to Reformation (1054–1517)[link]

A historical map of the Mediterranean states in 1400. The Western Schism lasted from 1378 to 1417.

The East and West churches split definitively in 1054. This fracture was caused more by political events than by slight diversities of creed. Popes had galled the emperors by siding with the king of the Franks, crowning a rival Roman emperor, appropriating the Exarchate of Ravenna, and driving into Greek Italy.^[63]

In the Middle Ages, popes struggled with monarchs over power.^[6]

From 1309 to 1377, the pope resided not in Rome but in Avignon. The Avignon Papacy was notorious for greed and corruption.^[64] During this period, the pope was effectively an ally of France, alienating France's enemies, such as England.^[65]

The pope was understood to have the power to draw on the "treasury" of merit built up by the saints and by Christ, so that he could grant indulgences, reducing one's time in purgatory. The concept that a monetary fine or donation accompanied contrition, confession, and prayer eventually gave way to the common assumption that indulgences depended on a simple monetary contribution. The popes condemned misunderstandings and abuses, but were too pressed for income to exercise effective control over indulgences.^[64]

Popes also contended with the cardinals, who sometimes attempted to assert the authority of councils over the pope's. Conciliar theory holds that the supreme authority of the church lies with a General Council, not with the pope. Its foundations were laid early in the 13th century, and it culminated in the 15th century. The failure of the conciliar theory to gain broad acceptance after the 15th century is taken as a factor in the Protestant Reformation.^[66]

Various anti-popes challenged papal authority, especially during the Western Schism (1378–1417). In this schism, the papacy had returned to Rome from Avignon, but an anti-pope was installed in Avignon, as if to extend the papacy there.

The Eastern Church continued to decline with the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, undercutting Constantinople's claim to equality with Rome. Twice an Eastern Emperor tried to force the Eastern Church to reunify with the West. Papal claims of superiority were a sticking point in reunification, which failed in any event. In the 15th century, the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople.

Reformation to present (1517 to today)[link]

As part of the Catholic Reformation, Pope Paul III (1534–49) initiated the Council of Trent (1545–63), which established the triumph of the papacy over those who sought to reconcile with Protestants or oppose Papal claims.

Protestant Reformers criticized the papacy as corrupt and characterized the pope as the antichrist.

Popes instituted a Catholic Reformation^[6] (1560–1648), which addressed the challenges of the Protestant Reformation and instituted internal reforms. Pope Paul III initiated the Council of Trent, whose definitions of doctrine and whose reforms sealed the triumph of the papacy over elements in the church that sought conciliation with Protestants and opposed papal claims.^[67]

Gradually forced to give up secular power, the popes focused on spiritual issues.^[6]

In 1870, the First Vatican Council proclaimed the dogma of papal infallibility for those rare occasions the pope speaks ex cathedra when issuing a solemn definition of faith or morals.^[6]

Later the same year, Victor Emmanuel II seized Rome from the pope's control and substantially completed the unification of Italy.^[6]

In 1929, the Lateran Treaty between Italy and Pope Pius XI established the Vatican City State, guaranteeing papal independence from secular rule.^[6]

In 1950, the pope defined the Assumption of Mary as dogma, the only time that a pope has spoken ex cathedra since papal infallibility was explicitly declared.

The Petrine Doctrine is still controversial as an issue of doctrine that continues to divide the eastern and western churches and separate Protestants from Rome.

Saint Peter and the origin of the office[link]

The dogmas and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church teach that the institution of the papacy was first mandated by interpretations of several Biblical passages, mainly Matthew 16:13–19:^{[nb 2]}

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? …And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 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.

Catholics believe that this passage shows Jesus establishing his church on the shoulders of Simon son of John (Peter). The Catholic scholarly community agrees with the church's interpretation that the "rock" Jesus refers to in this passage is Peter, an interpretation that some other scholars agree with.^[68]

Since the Protestant reformation, Protestant scholars have asserted that the "rock" Jesus referred to was Jesus himself, or Peter's faith. The argument follows that, when Jesus says, "You are Peter (Greek: Πέτροζ(Petros), small stone as a pebble), and upon this rock Greek: πέτρα(petra), a large stone edifice as a cliff or ledge) I will build my Church", Jesus is pointing to something much larger than Peter, based on the clear distinction in the Greek of a small stone and a large rock cliff as well as the Greek grammatical structure, as the basis for his kingdom, not making a pope of Peter as Catholics claim.^[69] The truth that Peter affirmed in verse 16 is that Jesus is Christ and faith in Him serves as the foundation of the Church and the whole set of the apostles teaching not solely or even mainly, little pebble, that is Peter.^[70][71][72] Others, using Peter's own words, argue that Christ intended himself as the foundation of the church and not Peter.^[73] Others have argued that the church is indeed built upon Jesus and faith, but also on the disciples as the roots and foundations of the church on the basis of Paul's teaching in Romans and Ephesians, though not primarily Peter.^[74]