"The
future starts today, not tomorrow!"
Pope
John Paul II
Every religion has its
own theory of God. Every religion has its own theory of life and love. Every
religion has its own rites and rituals. Every religion has its own apostle. Are
Popes the apostles of Jesus? Who are
Popes? What makes a Pope? Well, a handful of us might know what it is. For the
rest who don’t. Gear up. We are all set to take a trip down the roads of
Christianity; well, not completely a religious trip but a trip that will enlighten
us on hows and whys and whats of Papacy. Let’s UNMASK the mysteries and secrets
about Papacy!
Begin with the basics, I have been taught. So, Papacy is
the office or jurisdiction of the Pope. The Pope is the bishop of Rome i.e. an
ordained member of the Christian clergy who is entrusted with the authorities.
Generally, in any church, the presiding authority is called a “father”. This goes
back to the origin of the word “Pope” originally “Pappas” in Greek which means
father. Popes are known by various names namely: Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus
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 Vatican
City State, Servant of the servants of God. Papacy
was known by different names over different periods namely Ostrogothic apacy,
Byzantine apacy, Frankish papacy, Avignon papacy, Reformation papacy, Renaissance
papacy etc.
Popes were considered to be the successors of St.Peter
who was designated as the rock upon which Church was to be built. The conflict
over the origin of Popes never ceases to exist. Studies reveal that when Christ
established his Church in the first century he designated some of them as
apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors (bishops). Some believe that Jesus
never elevated one above the rest but gave an equal position to all of them.
The term pope came into existence much later the time of St.Peter. Catholics
however recognize him as the first Pope because he had all the official
declarations of that of a pope within a college of bishops. The popes of the
first three centuries were obscure figures. Papacy is however not widely
accepted by the Protestant Christians. The “Donation of Constantine”, an 8th
century forgery which enhanced the power and prestige of popes was used to
place them more centrally in the Constantine narrative of Christianity. The Donation of Constantine is a
forged Roman
imperial decree by which the emperor Constantine I supposedly
transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to
the Pope. Lorenzo Valla, an Italian Catholic priest
and Renaissance humanist, is credited with first exposing the
forgery with solid philological arguments
in 1439–1440, although the document's authenticity had been repeatedly
contested since 1001.
The first bishop of Rome to be referred to as Pope is
Damasus. He fought for the pontificate and compelled the other cities to
recognize the supremacy of the bishop of Rome over the other bishops. Following
him, Siricius was elected as the Pontif of Rome. It was Pope Damasus and Pope
Siricius who struggled for the development of the universal ecclesiastical
hierarchy. It was Pope Leo I who established the full potential of the Pope
with an unusual span of twenty one years on the throne. On September 13, 590,
Gregory the Great was named Bishop of Rome. Finally, with the appearance of
Boniface III on the papal throne on February 19, 607, Roman papacy
became universally accepted. Boniface III lived only a few months
after his election. It was during his period that papacy was accepted in
England. His successor was Pope Stephen II who was handed over large areas of
Central Italy by the Frankish king Pepin III because of his blind belief in the
Donation of Constantine. This territory was the origin of Papal States. And
hence the story of Rome for the next twenty years since 756 A.D became the
story of papacy. Between the 950 A.D and the 1050 A.D , a clash between the
popes and emperors has been revealed in the study. Pope Gregory VII canonized
in the Catholic reformation is one of the greatest defenders of papal powers.
The monasteries depicted an incorrigible tendency to accumulate wealth. It was
Pope Innocent III who brought out the real meaning of the Christ and propagated
on sacrifice of worldly wealth and pleasures. The great Schism i.e. a great
split or division came into picture in 1378 and the church was entrusted to
three popes namely Pope Gregory XII, Pope Benedict XIII and Pope Alexander V.
It was during Pope Martin V ‘s papacy that the Renaissance and Reformation
phase steered ins way into the history of papacy. Martin Luther created a
revolution with his eccentric theses on Christianity.
Popes are elected by the senior clergymen of Rome. The
eligibility of Pope opens doors to any male baptized Catholic. The last to be
elected when not yet a bishop was Pope Gregory XVI in
1831, and the last to be elected when not even a priest was Pope Leo X in
1513, and the last to be elected when not a cardinal was Pope Urban VI in
1378. If someone who is not a bishop is elected, he must be given
episcopal ordination before the election is announced to the people. The
election of Pope takes place in the Sistine chapel in a meeting called
“conclave”. Once the ballots are counted, they are burnt in a special stove
erected at Sistine Chapel. The ballots from an unsuccessful vote are burned
along with a chemical compound to create black smoke, or fumata nera.
(Traditionally, wet straw was used to produce the black smoke, but this was not
completely reliable. The chemical compound is more reliable than the straw.)
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.
Since the 2005 conclave, church bells are also rung as a signal that a new
pope has been chosen. The Dean of the college of Cardinal asks the newly
elected pope two questions: Do you freely accept your election as supreme
pontiff? And if the pope replies in acceptance, his tenure begins from that
very instant. He is also questioned about his regnal name. Habemus papum! (We have a pope) And hence begins one’s papacy.
Followed by this is the Papal coronation and the Papal oath. A new Pope is elected
after the death or resignation of an existing Pope. There have been over 266
popes till date. Whether popes can be married or not is another question of
controversy. St.Peter himself has been said to be a married man. However, there
has been very few clear evidences on that.
The
regalia and insignia which means the official items of attire and decoration of
the pope consists of the following: Triregnum, also called the
"tiara" or "triple crown", represents the pope's three
functions as "supreme pastor", "supreme teacher" and
"supreme priest". Recent popes have not, however, worn the triregnum,
though it remains the symbol of the papacy and has not been abolished. Pallium, or
pall, a circular band of fabric is worn around the neck over the chasuble. It
forms a yoke about the neck, breast and shoulders and has two pendants hanging
down in front and behind, and is ornamented with six crosses. Previously, the
pallium worn by the Pope was identical to those he granted to the primates, but
in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI began to use a distinct papal pallium that is larger
than the primatial, and was adorned with red crosses instead of black. Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven is the
image of two keys, one of gold and one of silver. The silver key symbolizes the
power to bind and loose on Earth, and the gold key the power to bind and loose
in Heaven. Ring of the
Fisherman, a gold
ring decorated with a depiction of St. Peter in a boat casting his net, with
the Pope's name around it. Umbraculum is
an umbrella consisting of alternating red and gold stripes, which used to be
carried above the pope in processions. Sedia gestatoria, a
mobile throne carried by twelve footmen in red
uniforms, accompanied by two attendants bearing flabella,
however they were discontinued by Pope John Paul II and Paul I respectively.
Papal garment is the white Dominican habit. The Pope’s official seat is the
Arch basilica of St.John Lateran while his summer residence is the Castel
Gandolfo. The U.S Justice department ruled that the Pope enjoys the
head-of-state immunity which means the immunity of the state to be sued in American
courts with some exceptions though.
For
the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ also is the head of the church, being Himself the savior of
the body (5:23, emp. added).
-Apostle
Paul
Just as there should be only one husband with authority over one wife, there is only one Person with authority over the one
church. That Person is Jesus Christ!
Papacy has evolved from being religious to being powerful
to being wealthy. It has come a full cycle. Well, we don’t really know whether
it is Jesus or the Pope or anybody else who holds authority. All that we know
is the authority of our words and actions lie entirely in our hands. Bible is
said to be etched with more atheist principles than any other religious books.
Bible feeds on the idea of love and no violence. How well we stick to the Bible
or any other religious book or religious principle is the big question. We as
humans always take the worst out of everything; be it religion or science. Maybe
that’s where God chose to have fun in human anatomy- making of human minds and
hearts. Throwing the ball in our court; tricking us with so many options- the
good, bad, the beneficial and the futile, he sits back and enjoys the game
while we fight it out. Like the famous proverb goes, God helps those who help
themselves. Help yourself and be worthy of your God’s help.
-N & N
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