Jesus Christ appointed Peter as the first leader of his Church when He said:
And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven. (Matthew Chapt. 16)
Peter is considered the first pope even though the term 'pope' did not come into common usage until much later. Whether Peter was in Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome or elsewhere, he is still considered the first pope. Later, as the Church grew and a hierarchy developed. the Church established its headquarters in Rome as Rome was considered the center of the world at the time. It had good roads reaching out to the vast empire as well as ships that plied the Mediterranean. Missionaries could reach anywhere in the known world from Rome. As the pope was the highest ranking Church authority in Rome, he was automatically consider the Bishop of Rome. From 1309 until 1377 popes reigned from Avignon in France. No matter, the pope was still the pope. Once the situation was resolved, the papacy returned to Rome and the pope again resumed his position as the Bishop of Rome along with his title of Pope.
Even today, should Pope Francis make theunlikely decision to move the Church headquarters to, say, Buenos Aires, Argentina, he would still be Pope and the assigned Bishop of Rome would simply be the Bishop of Rome. The Pope would be the Bishop of Buenos Aires as well as pope of the Universal Church. The Church has ample evidence that Peter did rule from Rome at some time. But even if he had never stepped foot in the city, he was still the Pope. Being Bishop of Rome is not a prerequisite for the papacy. By default, if the pope is headquartered in Rome, he is also the bishop of that diocese.
Papacy is the correct answer.
No, the pope is the head of the papacy, the papacy is the government of the Roman Catholic Church.
266 popes have 'performed' the papacy.
Avignon Papacy ended in 1378.
Avignon Papacy was created in 1305.
His papacy began on October 31, 1503.
It is sometimes referred to as the "Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy" or the "Avignon Papacy." During this period the papacy was headquartered in Avignon, France.
Innocent III.
From 1305 until 1378 the papacy ruled from Avignon, France.
Papacy began August 11, 1492 Papacy ended August 18, 1503
The formulation of the question evinces a lack of understanding of what the papacy is. The papacy is the headship of the Catholic Church on earth. Jesus appointed st. Peter to this position, and this has been handed down to his successors to this very day. So the papacy, chronologically goes from 33 AD to 2011 thus far.
pontificate