Pope
From The UCSC Wikipedia Trust Project
The Pope (from Latin: papa, Papa, father; from Greek: pappas / Template:Polytonic, father)[1] is the Bishop of Rome and the head of the Roman Catholic Church. He is believed by Catholics to fulfill this role as the Successor of Saint Peter.
The office of the Pope is called the Papacy; his ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called the Holy See (Sancta Sedes in Latin) or Apostolic See (this latter, on the basis that both St. Peter and St. Paul were martyred at Rome). Early bishops occupying the See of Rome were designated Vicar of Peter; for later Popes the more authoritative Vicar of Christ was substituted; this designation was first used by the Roman Synod of 495 to refer to Pope Gelasius I, an advocate of papal supremacy among the patriarchs. Marcellinus (d. 304) is the first Bishop of Rome whom sources show used the title of Pope. The current Pope is Benedict XVI.
In addition to his service in this spiritual role, the Pope is also Head of State of the independent sovereign State of the Vatican City, a city-state and nation entirely enclaved by the city of Rome. Before 1870 the Pope's temporal authority extended over a large area of central Italy: the territory of the Papal States. The Papacy retained sovereign authority over the Papal States until the Italian unification of 1870; a final political settlement with the Italian government was not reached until the Lateran Treaty of 1929.
Contents |
Early history
It is generally accepted amongst most Catholic and non-Catholic historians that the institution of the papacy as it exists today developed through the centuries, although it could not have occurred before the traditional arrival of Peter in Rome c. 50. During the first century of the Christian Church, the Roman capital became recognized as a Christian center of exceptional importance; but there are only a few 1st century references to the recognition of the authoritative primacy of the Roman See outside of Rome. The fact that Clement of Rome's letter to the Corinthians (written c. 96)[2] adapted a pastoral tone, and also the fact that St. Ignatius of Antioch once used the word "preside" in the same sentence that he used the word "Romans" in his letter to the Romans (written c. 105)[3] 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 Petrine Doctrine is still controversial as an issue of doctrine that continues to divide the eastern and western orthodox churches.
In the second century (AD 189), the assertion of the primacy of the Church of Rome may be indicated in St. Irenaeus of Lyon's Against Heresies (3:3:2): "With [the Church of Rome], because of its superior origin, all the churches must agree... and it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition." Although this may be the first clear instance of the church in Rome asserting its primacy (depending on how one reads this passage), there is no historical evidence to show that such a claim was ever accepted by the eastern churches, particularly since the seat of government of the Roman Empire was moved to Constantinople soon after the Eccumenical Council of Nicea.
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 of this claim, the Pope did not personally attend this eccumencial council that was held in the eastern capital of the Roman empire, rather than at Rome. It was not until 440 that Leo the Great more clearly articulated the extension of papal authority as doctrine, promulgating in edicts and in councils his right to exert "the full range of apostolic powers that Jesus had first bestowed on the apostle Peter". It was at the Eccumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451 that Leo I (through his emmissaries) 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 only second 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.[4]
The dogmas and traditions of the Catholic Church teach that the institution of the papacy was first mandated by the Biblical passages:
:Matt.16:18-19: "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." The name "Peter" (Template:Polytonic in Greek) here translates as rock. The reference to the "keys of the kingdom of heaven" here are the basis for the symbolic keys often found in Catholic Papal symbolism, such as in the Vatican Coat of Arms (see below).
Election, death and abdication
Election
The Pope was originally chosen by those senior clergymen resident in and near Rome. In 1059 the electorate was restricted to the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, and the individual votes of all Cardinal Electors were made equal in 1179. Pope Urban VI, elected 1378, was the last Pope who was not already a cardinal at the time of his election. Canon law requires that if a layman or non-bishop is elected, he receives episcopal consecration from the Dean of the College of Cardinals before assuming the Pontificate. Under present canon law, the Pope is elected by the cardinal electors, comprising those cardinals who are under the age of 80.
The Second Council of Lyons was convened on May 7, 1274, to regulate the election of the Pope. This Council decreed that the cardinal electors must meet within ten days of the Pope's death, and that they must remain in seclusion until a Pope has been elected; this was prompted by the three-year Sede Vacante following the death of Pope Clement IV in 1268. By the mid-sixteenth century, the electoral process had more or less evolved into its present form, allowing for alteration in the time between the death of the Pope and the meeting of the cardinal electors.
Traditionally, the vote was conducted by acclamation, by selection (by committee), or by plenary vote. Acclamation was the simplest procedure, consisting entirely of a voice vote, and was last used in 1621. Pope John Paul II abolished vote by acclamation and by selection by committee, and henceforth all Popes will be elected by full vote of the Sacred College of Cardinals by ballot.
The election of the Pope almost always takes place in the Sistine Chapel, in a meeting called a "conclave" (so called because the cardinal electors are theoretically locked in, cum clavi, until they elect a new Pope). Three cardinals are chosen by lot to collect the votes of absent cardinal electors (by reason of illness), three are chosen by lot to count the votes, and three are chosen by lot to review the count of the votes. The ballots are distributed and each cardinal elector writes the name of his choice on it and pledges aloud that he is voting for "one whom under God I think ought to be elected" before folding and depositing his vote on a plate atop a large chalice placed on the altar. The plate is then used to drop the ballot into the chalice, making it difficult for any elector to insert multiple ballots. Before being read, the number of ballots are counted while still folded; if the total number of ballots does not match the number of electors, the ballots are burned unopened and a new vote is held. Otherwise, each ballot is read aloud by the presiding Cardinal, who pierces the ballot with a needle and thread, stringing all the ballots together and tying the ends of the thread to ensure accuracy and honesty. Balloting continues until a Pope is elected by a two-thirds majority (since the promulgation of Universi Dominici Gregis, the rules allow for a simple majority after a deadlock of twelve days).
One of the most famous aspects of the papal election process is the means by which the results of a ballot are announced to the world. Once the ballots are counted and bound together, they are burned in a special oven erected in the Sistine Chapel, with the smoke escaping through a small chimney visible from St Peter's Square. The ballots from an unsuccessful vote are burned along with a chemical compound in order to produce black smoke, or fumata nera. (Traditionally, wet straw was used to help create the black smoke, but a number of "false alarms" in past conclaves have brought about this concession to modern chemistry.) When a vote is successful, the ballots are burned alone, sending white smoke (fumata bianca) through the chimney and announcing to the world the election of a new Pope. At the end of the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI, church bells were also rung to signal that a new Pope had been chosen.
The Dean of the College of Cardinals then asks the successfully elected Cardinal two solemn questions. First he asks, "Do you freely accept your election?" If he replies with the word "Accepto", his reign as Pope begins at that instant, not at the coronation ceremony several days afterward. The Dean then asks, "By what name shall you be called?" The new Pope then announces the regnal name he has chosen for himself. (If the Dean himself is elected Pope, the Vice Dean performs this duty).
The new Pope is led through the "Door of Tears" to a dressing room in which three sets of white Papal vestments ("immantatio") await: small, medium, and large. Donning the appropriate vestments and reemerging into the Sistine Chapel, the new Pope is given the "Fisherman's Ring" by the Cardinal Camerlengo, whom he either reconfirms or reappoints. The Pope then assumes a place of 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 has adopted as his regnal name.
Until 1978 the Pope's election was followed in a few days by a procession in great pomp and circumstance from the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter's Basilica, with the newly elected Pope borne in the sedia gestatoria. There the Pope was crowned with the triregnum and he gave his first blessing as Pope, the famous Urbi et Orbi ("to the City [Rome] and to the World"). Another famed part of the coronation was the lighting of a torch which would flare brightly and promptly extinguish, with the admonition Sic transit gloria mundi ("Thus fades worldly glory"). Beginning with Pope John Paul I's election, this has been discontinued.
Some traditionalist Catholics claim the existence of a Papal oath (the so-called "Oath against modernism") which they assert that Popes up from John Paul I refused to swear, but there is no reliable authority for this claim.
The Latin term sede vacante ("vacant seat") refers to a papal interregnum, the period between the death of the Pope and the election of his successor. From this term is derived the name Sedevacantist, which designates a category of dissident, schismatic Catholics who maintain that there is no canonically and legitimately elected Pope, and that there is therefore a Sede Vacante; one of the most common reasons for holding this belief is the idea that the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and especially the replacement of the Tridentine Mass with the Mass of Paul VI are heretical, and that, per the dogma of Papal infallibility (see above), it is impossible for a valid Pope to have done these things.
For many years, the Papacy was an institution dominated by Italians. Before the election of the non-Italian Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II in 1978, the last non-Italian was the Dutch-German Pope Adrian VI of the Netherlands, elected in 1522. John Paul II was followed by the German-born Benedict XVI, leading some to believe the Italian domination of the Papacy to be over.
Death
The current regulations regarding a papal interregnum — that is, a sede vacante ("vacant seat") — were promulgated by John Paul II in his 1996 document Universi Dominici Gregis. During the "Sede Vacante", the Sacred College of Cardinals, composed of the Pope's principal advisors and assistants, is collectively responsible for the government of the Church and of the Vatican itself, under the direction of the Cardinal Chamberlain; however, canon law specifically forbids the Cardinals from introducing any innovation in the government of the Church during the vacancy of the Holy See. Any decision that needs the assent of the Pope has to wait until a new Pope has been elected and takes office.
It has long been claimed that a Pope's death is officially determined by the Cardinal Chamberlain by gently tapping the late Pope's head thrice with a silver hammer and calling his birth name three times, though this is disputed and has never been confirmed by the Vatican; there is general agreement that even if this procedure ever actually occurred, it was likely not employed upon the death of John Paul II. A doctor may or may not have already determined that the Pope had died before this point. The Cardinal Chamberlain then retrieves the Fisherman's Ring. Usually the ring is on the Pope's right hand. But in the case of Paul VI, he had stopped wearing the ring during the last years of his reign. In other cases the ring might have been removed for medical reasons. The Chamberlain cuts the ring in two in the presence of the Cardinals. The deceased Pope's seals are defaced, to keep them from ever being used again, and his personal apartment is sealed.
The body then lies in state for a number of days before being interred in the crypt of a leading church or cathedral; the Popes of the 20th century were all interred in St. Peter's Basilica. A nine-day period of mourning (novem dialis) follows after the interment of the late Pope.
Abdication
The Code of Canon Law 332 §2 states, "If it happens that the Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it is required for validity that the resignation is made freely and properly manifested but not that it is accepted by anyone."
This right has been exercised by Pope Celestine V in 1294 and Pope Gregory XII in 1409, Gregory XII being the last to do so.
It was widely reported in June and July 2002 that Pope John Paul II firmly refuted the speculation of his resignation using Canon 332, in a letter to the Milan daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Nevertheless, 332 §2 caused speculation that:
- Pope John Paul II would have resigned as his health failed, or
- a properly manifested legal instrument had been prepared which effected his resignation if he could not perform his duties.
Pope John Paul II did not resign. He died on 2 April 2005 after a long period of ill-health and was buried on 8 April 2005.
After his death it was reported in his last will and testament that he considered abdicating in 2000 as he neared his 80th birthday. However, that portion of the will is unclear and others interpret it differently.
Titles of the Pope
Currently used
The titles of His Holiness, the Pope, in the order they are used in the Annuario Pontificio: :*Bishop of Rome
:*Successor of the Prince of the Apostles :*Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church :*Primate of Italy:*Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province:*Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City:*Servant of the Servants of God
Formerly used
:* Patriarch of the West (dropped 2006) :* Vicar of the Apostolic See
History of Papal titles
As mentioned above, the Pope's titles include: Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, and Servant of the Servants of God.
The title "Vicar of Christ" refers to the Pope's divine commission. This title came into use in the 5th and 6th centuries. The Second Vatican Council confirmed the titles "Vicar of Christ" and "Successor of Peter".
The use of the term "Supreme Pontiff" (Pontifex Maximus) can be traced back to the end of the 4th century. The ancient title of the Roman High-Priest, whose origins date from the foundation of Rome, was assumed by the Bishops of Rome after being relinquished by the Emperor Gratian. The term has also been applied to other metropolitan bishops, although examples are limited (see Pontifex Maximus). It was in the 11th century that the title came to be applied exclusively to the Bishop of Rome. The addition of the phrase "of the Universal Church" is a more recent alteration of this title.
Finally, the title attached to the Pope, "Servant of the Servants of God", although used by Church leaders including St. Augustine and St. Benedict, was first used by Pope Gregory the Great in his dispute with the Patriarch of Constantinople after the latter assumed the title Ecumenical Patriarch. It was not reserved for the Pope until the 13th century. The documents of Vatican II reinforced the understanding of this title as a reference to the Pope's role as a function of collegial authority, in which the Bishop of Rome serves the world's bishops.
The titles "Primate of Italy", "Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman province", and "Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City" are references to the legal and canonical authority of the Pope as defined by the laws of the Church and the Lateran Treaties of 1929.
The Pope's signature is usually in the format NN. PP. x (e.g., Pope Paul VI signed his name as "Paulus PP. VI"), the "PP." standing for Papa ("Pope"), and his name is frequently accompanied in inscriptions by the abbreviation "Pont. Max." or "P.M." (abbreviation of the Latin title Pontifex Maximus, usually translated as "Supreme Pontiff"). The signature of Papal bulls is customarily NN. Episcopus Ecclesiae Catholicae ("NN. Bishop of the Catholic Church"), while the heading is NN. Episcopus Servus Servorum Dei ("NN. Bishop and Servant of the Servants of God"). Other titles used in some official capacity in the past include Summus Pontifex ("Highest Pontiff"), Sanctissimus Pater and Beatissimus Pater ("Most Holy Father" and "Most Blessed Father"), Sanctissimus Dominus Noster ("Our Most Holy Lord"), and, in the Medieval period, Dominus Apostolicus ("Apostolic Lord"). This title, however, was not abandoned altogether: the Pope is still referred to as "Dominum Apostolicum" in the Latin version of the Litany of the Saints, a solemn Catholic prayer. Writing informally, Catholics will often use the abbreviation H.H. (His Holiness), as in H.H. Benedict XVI.
The Pope's official seat or cathedral is the Basilica of St. John Lateran, and his official residence is the Palace of the Vatican. He also possesses a summer palace at Castel Gandolfo (situated on the site of the ancient city-state Alba Longa). Historically, the official residence of the Pope was the Lateran Palace, donated by the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great.
The Pope's ecclesiastical jurisdiction (the Holy See) is distinct from his secular jurisdiction (Vatican City). It is the Holy See which conducts international relations; for hundreds of years, the Pope's court (the Roman Curia) has functioned as the government of the Catholic Church.
The name "Holy See" (also "Apostolic See") is in ecclesiastical terminology the ordinary jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome (including the Roman Curia); the Pope's various honors, powers, and privileges within the Catholic Church and the international community derive from his Episcopate of Rome in lineal succession from the Apostle St. Peter (see Apostolic Succession). Consequently, Rome has traditionally occupied a central position in the Catholic Church, although this is not necessarily so. The Pope derives his Pontificate from being Bishop of Rome but is not required to live there; according to the Latin formula ubi Papa, ibi Curia, wherever the Pope resides is the central government of the Church, provided that the Pope is Bishop of Rome. As such, between 1309 and 1378, the Popes lived in Avignon (the Avignon Papacy), a period often called the Babylonian Captivity in allusion to the Biblical exile of Israel.
The title Patriarch of the West did not appear in the 2006 pontifical yearbook, and this led to considerable media speculation. The title Patriarch of the West was first used by Pope Theodore in 642, and was only used occasionally. Indeed, it did not begin to appear in the pontifical yearbook until 1863. On 22 March 2006, the Vatican released a statement explaining this omission on the grounds of expressing a "historical and theological reality" and of "being useful to ecumenical dialogue". The title Patriarch of the West symbolized the Pope's special relationship with, and jurisdiction over, the Latin