That papacy

Cathal Barry takes a look at what the Church teaches on the papacy

The title Pope stems from the Greek word papas, which simply means ëfatherí. Doctrinally, the Pope is regarded as the successor of St Peter, leader of the apostles after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Catholics believe that the Bishop of Rome inherits the mantle of Peter, the apostle of Jesus Christ who was entrusted with the administration of his church after he died. Peter travelled to Rome where he is believed to have established a Christian community before he was martyred.

All Popes are, then, successors of Peter not only as leading the Christian community in Rome, but also as leading the Christian community in general, and are believed maintain a direct connection to the original apostles.

The papacy is the term for the office and the authority of the Pope of Rome. The understanding of the papacy has changed over time, as the Church has come to recognise the importance of the role. Once regarded simply as the primus inter pares, the ëfirst among equalsí, the Pope, by virtue of being the successor to Saint Peter, was seen as worthy of the greatest respect of any of the bishops of the Church. From this emerged the idea of the Pope as arbiter of disputes, and very early in Church history, other bishops began appealing to Rome as the centre of orthodoxy in doctrinal arguments.

The Pope is also the chief administrator of the Church. He appoints bishops and the cardinals, who will elect his successor. He is the final arbiter of both administrative and doctrinal disputes.

While doctrinal matters are normally resolved by an ecumenical council (a meeting of all of the bishops of the Church), such a council can only be called by the Pope, and its decisions are not official until confirmed by the Pope.

One such council, the First Vatican Council of 1870, recognised the doctrine of papal infallibility. Widely misunderstood, this doctrine is simply a full understanding of Christís response to Peter, that it was God the Father who revealed to him that Jesus was the Christ.

Papal infallibility does not mean that the Pope can never do anything wrong. However, when he is speaking on matters of faith and morals and intends to instruct the whole Church by defining a doctrine, the Church believes that he is protected by the Holy Spirit and cannot speak in error.

The actual invocation of papal infallibility has been very limited. In recent times, only two Popes have declared doctrines of the Church, both having to do with the Virgin Mary: Pius IX, in 1854, declared the Immaculate Conception of Mary (the doctrine that Mary was conceived without the stain of Original Sin); and Pius XII, in 1950, declared that Mary had been assumed into Heaven bodily at the end of her life (the doctrine of the Assumption).

Despite concerns about the doctrine of papal infallibility, today many people have a deep respect for the moral force of the office, especially as it is being exercised by Pope Francis, who seems to be truly revolutionising the papacy in his own right.