The Pope (from Latin: "papa" or "father" from Greek , pápas, "papa", Papa in Italian) is the Bishop of Rome and as such is the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church (that is, all Latin Rite and Eastern Rite churches which are in full communion with the Roman Pontiff). The Pope is also head of state of Vatican City. The current (265th) pope is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected April 19, 2005 in papal conclave.
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The Pope (from Latin: "papa" or "father" from Greek , pápas, "papa", Papa in Italian) is the Bishop of Rome and as such is the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church (that is, all Latin Rite and Eastern Rite churches which are in full communion with the Roman Pontiff). The Pope is also 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.
Early popes helped spread Christianity and resolve doctrinal disputes. After the conversion of the Roman Empire, the pope's secular ally was the Roman Emperor. In the 8th century, however, Pope Stephen II was forced to appeal to the Franks for help,Durant, Will. The Age of Faith. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1972. Chapter XXI: Christianity in Conflict 529-1085. p. 517-551 beginning a period of close interaction with the rulers of the West. 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. In medieval times, 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.
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
main: History of the Papacy
Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and "rock" of the Church.
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 had a large congregation early in the apostolic period, and Paul the Apostle was martyred in there.
