Everything about Papacy totally explained
The
Pope (from
Latin: "papa" or "father" from
Greek πάπας,
pápas, "papa", originally written πάππας,
páppas, as in
Odyssey VI.57;
Papa in
Italian) is the
Bishop of Rome, the leader of the
Roman Catholic Church and head of state of
Vatican City. The current (265th) pope is
Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected
April 19,
2005 in
papal conclave.
The office of the pope is called the
Papacy; his ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called the
"Holy See" (
Sancta Sedes in Latin) or
"Apostolic See" (the latter on the basis that both St. Peter and
St. Paul were martyred at
Rome).
In addition to his spiritual role, the pope is
Head of State of the independent sovereign state of the Vatican City, a
city-state 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 wasn't reached until the
Lateran Treaty of 1929.
For over a thousand years popes played powerful roles in Western Europe, often struggling with monarchs for power over wide-ranging affairs of church and state, crowning emperors (
Charlemagne was the first emperor crowned by a pope) and regulating disputes among secular rulers. The Bishop of Rome continued to be nominally allied with and part of the civil structure of the
(Byzantine) Roman Empire until the 8th century, when the
Donation of Pepin gave Rome and the surrounding area to the full sovereignty of the pope, over which the popes already had been
de facto rulers, creating the Papal States that lasted until 1870. For centuries, the forged
Donation of Constantine also provided the basis for the papacy's claim of political supremacy over the entire former Western Roman Empire.
Gradually forced to give up secular power, popes have come to focus again almost exclusively on spiritual matters. Over the centuries, popes' claims of spiritual authority have been ever more clearly expressed since the first centuries, culminating in the proclamation of the
dogma of
papal infallibility for those rare occasions the pope speaks
ex cathedra (literally "from the chair (of Peter)") when issuing a solemn definition of
faith or
morals. The last such occasion was in the year 1950 with the definition of the dogma of the
Assumption of Mary.
History
In the early Christian era, Rome and a few other cities had claims on the leadership of worldwide ("Catholic") 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's first bishop was the disciple Peter, to whom Jesus had given church authority. Paul the Apostle was also martyred there. Five bishops were recognized as patriarchs, the bishop of Rome first among them.
Early Christianity (c 30 - 325)
During the first century of the Christian Church (
ca. 30-130), the Roman capital became recognized as a Christian center of exceptional importance; but there are only a few references of that time to recognition of the
authoritative primacy of the
Roman See outside of Rome.
Later in the second century AD, there were further 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 [theChurch of Rome], because of its superior origin, all the churches must agree... and it's in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition." And in 195,
Pope 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
St. 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).
Early popes helped spread Christianity and resolve doctrinal disputes.
Nicea to Great Schism (325 - 1054)
With the conversion of Roman Emperor Constantine to Christianity and the Council of Nicea, Christian unity and Rome's primacy were well-established.
After the imperial capital was moved to
Constantinople in AD 330 the eastern churches, especially the Bishop of Constantinople, started to assert pre-eminence by virtue of its imperial status.
The
First Council of Constantinople (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 didn't personally attend this
ecumenical council, which was held in the eastern capital of the Roman empire, rather than at
Rome. It wasn't 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 exercise "the full range of apostolic powers that Jesus had first bestowed on the apostle Peter". It was at the ecumenical
Council of Chalcedon in 451 that Leo I (through his emissaries) stated that he was "speaking with the voice of Peter". At this same council, the Bishop of Constantinople was given a primacy of honour equal to that of the Bishop of Rome, because "Constantinople is the New Rome."
Although the Website
Religion Facts
says that the first Bishop of Rome to style himself
pope was
Pope Siricius, who occupied that office at the very end of the fourth century, more weighty resources say that the title of Pope was from the early third century used for
any bishop in the West. It seems that in the East it was used only for the Bishop of Alexandria, but the imperial chancery of
Constantinople normally reserved it for the Bishop of Rome. From the sixth century it began to be confined in the West to the Bishop of Rome, a practice that was firmly in place by the eleventh century.
After the fall of Rome, the Church served as a source of knowledge, authority, and continuity. The crowning of emperors (
Charlemagne was the first emperor crowned by a pope) and regulating disputes among secular rulers also became a function of the Papacy. The Bishop of Rome continued to be nominally allied and part of the civil structure of the
Byzantine Empire until the 8th century, when the
Donation of Pepin gave Rome and the surrounding area to the full sovereignty of the pope, of which the popes already had been
de facto rulers, creating the Papal States that lasted until 1870. For centuries, the forged
Donation of Constantine also provided the basis for the papacy's claim of political supremacy over the entire former Western Roman Empire.
Great Schism to Reformation (1054 to 1517)
In the
Middle Ages, popes struggled with monarchs over power.
Popes also contended with the cardinals, who sometimes attempted to assert the authority of councils over the pope's.
Various antipopes challenged papal authority, especially during the
Western Schism (1378 - 1417).
Reformation to present (1517 to today)
Protestant Reformers criticized the Papacy as corrupt and characterized the pope as the antichrist.
Popes instituted the
Catholic Reformation (1560 - 1648), which addressed challenges of the
Protestant Reformation and instituted internal reforms.
Gradually forced to give up secular power, popes focused on spiritual issues.
The pope's claims of spiritual authority have been ever more clearly expressed since the first centuries. In the 19th century, the church proclaimed the
dogma of
papal infallibility for those rare occasions the pope speaks
ex cathedra (literally "from the chair (of Peter)") when issuing a solemn definition of
faith or
morals.
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 as well as separating Protestants from Rome.
The pope in Roman Catholic theology
The
dogmas and traditions of the
Roman Catholic Church teach that the institution of the papacy was first mandated by Biblical passages:
Apologists the most important passage used to defend the Papacy is Matthew 16:18-19. Catholics believe that this passage shows Jesus establishing his church on the shoulders of Simon son of John, whom Jesus re-named Peter (meaning rock). Thus Peter was the rock upon which Christ's Church was built, therefore Jesus established a head to his earthly Church, calling for a successor to that head and thus the Papacy was established.
However, this interpretation of events is challenged by non-Catholics. Some say it was Peter's confession of faith that Jesus referred to. However, others propose that Jesus never called Peter rock at all but instead he was called "small stone".
The names "Petros" and "Peter" are Greek and Latin translations of the Aramaic word "Cephas," spoken by Jesus Christ. "Cephas" means "rock."
The Aramaic word for small stone is "Evna" John (1:41) is scriptural proof that, in the original Aramaic language, Jesus didn't name Simon "Evna" (small stone) Christ named Simon "Cephas" (rock):
The translation of Matthew's Gospel into Greek named Simon "Petros" rather than "petra" because "petra" is a feminine noun and unsuitable for a man's name. The translator had no problem substituting the masculine form "Petros" because in Koine Greek, which was the dialect in use at the time of the New Testament, "petra" and "petros" both meant the same thing, "rock."
"Petros" and "petras" meant "small stone" and "large rock" in some ancient Greek poetry, centuries before the time of Christ, but that distinction had disappeared from the language by the time Matthew’s Gospel was rendered in Greek. As Greek scholars—even non-Catholic ones—admit, the words "petros" and "petra" were synonyms in first century Greek.
The difference between "petros" and "petras" can only be found in Attic Greek, but the New Testament was written in Koine Greek—an entirely different dialect. In Koine Greek, both "petros" and "petra" simply meant "rock." If Jesus had wanted to call Simon a small stone, the translation of Christ's Aramaic into Greek would have been "lithos," which means "small stone" in Koine Greek.
Simon-Peter's Aramaic name given by Christ is also preserved at later points in the New Testament:
"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
Jewish Encyclopedia on Peter regarding Abraham:
"Upon Abraham as top of the rocks God said I'll 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).
Election, death and abdication
Election
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 wasn't 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 (see
Papal conclave) 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 (see
Papal election).
The election of the pope almost always takes place in the
Sistine Chapel, in a sequestered meeting called a "
conclave" (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's 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 doesn't 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
Benedict XVI by
motu proprio 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're burned in a special stove 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 cardinal who has been successfully-elected 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 inauguration ceremony several days afterward. The Dean then asks, "By what name shall you be called?" The new pope then announces the
regnal name he's 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 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
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's adopted as his regnal name.
Until 1978 the pope's election was followed in a few days by the
Papal Coronation. A procession with great pomp and circumstance formed from the
Sistine Chapel to
St. Peter's Basilica, with the newly elected pope borne in the
sedia gestatoria. There, after a solemn
Papal Mass, the new pope was crowned with the
triregnum (papal tiara) and he gave for the first time as pope the famous blessing
Urbi et Orbi ("to the City [Rome] and to the World"). Another renowned part of the coronation was the lighting of a bundle of
flax at the top of a gilded pole, which would flare brightly for a moment and then promptly extinguish, with the admonition
Sic transit gloria mundi ("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 wouldn't 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
traditionalist Catholic belief claims the existence of the
Papal Oath (not to be confused with the
Oath Against Modernism mandated by
Pope Pius X), which the popes from
John Paul I on are said to have refused to swear, but there's no reliable authority for this claim.
The
Latin term
sede vacante ("vacant seat") refers to a papal
interregnum, the period between the death of a pope and the election of his successor. From this term is derived the term
sedevacantism, which designates a category of dissident, Catholics who maintain that there's no canonically and legitimately elected Pope, and that there's 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, it's impossible for a valid Pope to have done these things. Secevacantists are considered to be
schismatics by the mainstream Roman Catholic Church.
For centuries, the papacy was an institution dominated by
Italians. Prior to the election of the Polish cardinal
Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II in 1978, the last non-Italian was
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 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's 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
Ring of the Fisherman. Usually the ring is on the pope's right hand. But in the case of Paul VI, he'd 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. Vatican tradition holds that no
autopsy is to be performed on the body of a dead Pope.
Abdication
The
Code of Canon Law 332 §2 states, "If it happens that the
Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it's required for validity that the resignation is made freely and properly manifested but not that it's 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 couldn't perform his duties.
Pope John Paul II, however, didn't 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. That portion of the will, however, is unclear and others interpret it differently.
Titles
Though the progressive
Christianisation of the
Roman Empire in the fourth century didn't 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 ruler was vividly displayed by
Pope Leo I's confrontation with
Attila in 452. The first expansion of papal rule outside of Rome came in 728 with the
Donation of Sutri, which in turn was substantially increased in 754, when the
Frankish ruler
Pippin the Younger gave to the pope the land from his conquest of the
Lombards. The pope may have utilized the forged
Donation of Constantine to gain this land, which formed the core of the
Papal States. This document, accepted as genuine until the 1400s, states that
Constantine I placed the entire Western Empire of Rome under papal rule. 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 onward the popes claimed the prerogative to crown the Emperor, though the right fell into disuse after the coronation of
Charles V in 1530.
Pope Pius VII was present at the coronation of
Napoleon I in 1804, but didn't actually perform the crowning. As mentioned above, the pope's sovereignty over the Papal States ended in 1870 with their annexation by
Italy.
Popes like
Alexander VI, an ambitious if spectacularly corrupt politician, and
Pope Julius II, 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
Pope Gregory VII and
Pope Alexander III).
Papal bulls,
interdict, and
excommunication (or the threat thereof) have been used many times to increase papal power. The Bull
Laudabiliter in 1155 authorized
Henry II of England to invade
Ireland. In 1207,
Innocent III placed England under interdict until
King John made his kingdom a
fiefdom to the Pope, complete with yearly
tribute, 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
Inter Caeteras in 1493 led 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 excommunicated
Elizabeth I of England and declared that all her subjects were released from all allegiance to her. The Bull
Inter Gravissimas in 1582 established the
Gregorian Calendar.
Objections to the papacy
The Pope's claim of being the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church is recognized as
dogmatic and not considered open to debate within the
Roman Church. The First Vatican Council
anathematized all who dispute the pope's claims of primacy of honor and of jurisdiction.
The Pope's claim to authority is disputed outside the
Roman 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 (
Assyrian Church of the East, the
Oriental Orthodox Church, the
Eastern Orthodox Church, the
Old Catholic Church, the
Anglican Communion, the
Independent Catholic Churches, etc.) accept the doctrine of
Apostolic Succession, 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
Roman Empire, a definition explicitly spelled out in the 28th
canon of the
Council of Chalcedon. These churches see no foundation to papal claims of
universal immediate jurisdiction, or to claims of
papal infallibility. Several of these communities refer to such claims as
ultramontanism.
Some Christian denominations reject the doctrine of
Apostolic Succession, and thereby also reject the claims of
Petrine primacy of honor, Petrine primacy of jurisdiction, and papal infallibility. These denominations vary from simply not accepting the Pope's claim to authority as legitimate and valid, to believing that the Pope is the
Antichrist 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.
Confessional Lutherans hold that the pope is the Antichrist, stating that this article of faith is part of a
quia rather than
quatenus subscription to the
Book of Concord. In 1932, the
Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (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'd 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.)
The claim of temporal power over all secular governments, including territorial claims in Italy, raises objection. The papacy's complex relationship with secular states such as the
Roman and
Byzantine Empires are also objections. Some disapprove of the autocratic character of the papal office. In
Western Christianity these objections both contributed to and are products of the
Protestant Reformation.
Some objectors to the papacy use
empirical arguments, pointing out that popes
Callixtus III(recognized by the Roman Catholic Church to be an anti-pope) and
Alexander VI 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, wouldn't have given those people the powers claimed for them by the Roman Catholic Church. Defenders of the papacy counter that the
Bible shows God as willingly giving privileges even to corrupt men, citing examples like some of the kings of Israel and the apostle
Judas Iscariot, as well as St. Peter's rejection of Jesus during the period leading up to the crucifixion.
Antipopes
Groups sometimes form around
antipopes, 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 (
heresy) or to confusion as to who is the legitimate pope at the time (see
schism). Briefly in the 1400s, three separate lines of Popes claimed authenticity (see
Papal Schism). Even Catholics don't all agree whether certain historical figures were Popes or antipopes. Though antipope movements were significant at one time, they're now overwhelmingly minor
fringe 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.
In the Roman Church
"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 (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
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's a cardinal; "Pope", because he's almost absolute power over mission territories for Catholicism, essentially the Churches of Africa and Asia".
In the Eastern Churches
Today, the heads of the
Coptic Orthodox Church and the
Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria continue to be called "Pope", the former being called "Coptic Pope" or, more properly, "
Pope and Patriarch of All Africa on the Holy Orthodox and Apostolic Throne of Saint Mark the Evangelist and Holy Apostle" and the last called "
Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa".
In the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church,
Russian Orthodox Church and
Serbian Orthodox Church, it isn't 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
middle ages was a decade, a number of those whose reign lengths can be determined from contemporary historical data are the following:
Pius IX (1846–1878): 31 years, 7 months and 23 days (11,560 days).
John Paul II (1978–2005): 26 years, 5 months and 18 days (9,665 days).
Leo XIII (1878–1903): 25 years, 5 months and 1 day (9,281 days).
Pius VI (1775–1799): 24 years, 6 months and 15 days (8,962 days).
Adrian I (772–795): 23 years, 10 months and 25 days (8,729 days).
Pius VII (1800–1823): 23 years, 5 months and 7 days (8,560 days).
Alexander III (1159–1181): 21 years, 11 months and 24 days (8,029 days).
St. Sylvester I (314–335): 21 years, 11 months and 1 day (8,005 days).
St. Leo I (440–461): 21 years, 1 month, and 13 days. (7,713 days).
Urban VIII (1623–1644): 20 years, 11 months and 24 days (7,664 days).
Saint Peter is thought to have reigned for over thirty years (AD 29 - 64?/67?), but the exact length isn't reliably known.
Shortest-reigning Popes
Conversely, there have been a number of popes whose reign lasted less than a month. In the following list 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.
Urban VII (September 15–September 27, 1590): reigned for 13 calendar days, died before consecration.
Boniface VI (April, 896): reigned for 16 calendar days
Celestine IV (October 25–November 10, 1241): reigned for 17 calendar days, died before consecration.
Theodore II (December, 897): reigned for 20 calendar days
Sisinnius (January 15–February 4, 708): reigned for 21 calendar days
Marcellus II (April 9–May 1, 1555): reigned for 22 calendar days
Damasus II (July 17–August 9, 1048): reigned for 24 calendar days
Pius III (September 22–October 18, 1503): reigned for 27 calendar days
Leo XI (April 1–April 27, 1605): reigned for 27 calendar days
Benedict V (May 22–June 23, 964): reigned for 33 calendar days.
Note: Stephen (March 23–March 26, 752), died of apoplexy three days after his election, and before his consecration as a bishop. He isn't 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 Vatican's list (see "Pope-elect Stephen" for detailed explanation).
Further Information
Get more info on 'Papacy'.
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