Popes

Any institution requires a leader or visible hierarchy in order to function. This is natural to human nature and is thus present in human society and social groups.

When Christ set up His Church He thus naturally gave it a visible hierarchy. The pope functions not only as a leader and thus rallying point for an institution but also ensures the visible continuity between the Church and Its founder, thus maintaining the Church's authenticity of origin as well as maintaining its authority and jurisdiction in Christian matters. In addition to this, the pope has several offices proper to a leader. The pope is the top administrator of the Catholic Church and thus appoints and ratifies managerial positions (bishops, cardinals, manages rules and discipline, guards and safe checks beliefs and rulings, acts as the final court of appeal, calls councils, and leads the Catholic Faithful and guides the Church in the times It finds itself. In addition to this, Catholics believe the pope is further endowed with supernatural powers, specifically that of being able to definitively discern which beliefs are truly part of the deposit of the Catholic Faith if a question arises concerning them. The pope can thus, when acting in virtue of his papal office, and with the intent of addressing the universal Church on a point of doctrine concerning Faith and Morals, pronounce infallibly upon a doctrine of the Faith. This keeps the deposit of the Faith intact and preserves the Church from falling into heresy and helps avoid the formation of a dispute to the point it causes splinter groups within the Church that will eventually become heresies.

Pope Gregory the Great was a reformer (someone who got the early Church back on track during tough times). He worked at showing the kings and rulers that they should not rule the Church and make the Church decisions, such as choosing the bishops. He was, in fact, one of the main starters of the reformation of the Catholic Church (although it took about 300 more years before this really started taking effect).

The establishment of peace with the Catholic Church was one of the first things that Napoleon straightened out after rising to power. Though Napoleon had no personal religious faith, he recognized the importance of acknowledging religions in order to maintain his power. In 1801 he made an agreement with the pope recognizing Catholicism as the religion of majority in France at that time. In return the pope agreed not to ask for the return of the church lands seized in the revolution.

The Pope does not get paid. He is actually living on and is supported by the people in and out of the Vatican City State, and all his needs are catered by the people of the Papal Household. If he wishes to spend on for example, a new set of Tridentine vestments, with a not-so-big embroidery of his papal seal, he must ask and he will get it depending upon the availability and the reason why he wants it.

He only receives paychecks for and from:

a. gift by some clergy or any person who wishes it to be directed at his expense, but I think he divides it for this and that

b. for his family in his place, either if they want it or not.

c. if he wishes to ask one, and give it to somebody else he wants (like victims of calamities etc.)

but still it passes through the Papal Household.

The conflict was called the Investiture Controversy- who had the authority to name bishops and abbots. The pope stated that only he could appoint them but some secular leaders stated that they, alone, could could appoint bishops and abbots in their kingdoms. The Concordat of Worms in 1122 settled the question (somewhat, there were still future controversies) by giving the pope authority to name Church officials but with input from secular leaders. Whether it weaken or strengthened the popes is really dependent on what year it was, which ruler, and which pope. Some popes greatly strengthened the papacy over this, while others not so much. There have been 266 popes in 2,000 years, and the issue was all over the map throughout the medieval period.

Leo the Great died of natural causes. He was not a martyr.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the current (2014) Pope Francis, elected on March 13, 2013.

There have been 6 popes who chose the name of Paul.

From 1305 until 1378 the papacy ruled from Avignon, France.

"They" did not change the name of the new pope, When elected, the new pope has the choice of keeping his Christian name or choosing a regnal name that he wishes to be known as while serving. When Christ named Simon as the first pope he changed his name to Peter. After Peter, the next pope to choose a new name was Pope John II who was elected in the year 533. His given name was Mercurius and he did not think it proper for a Catholic pope to be named for a pagan Roman god - Mercury.

When it comes at the beginning of a sentence, it is combined with the name, used as an honorific or title, yes. * Popes have lived in Vatican City for centuries. * Pope Peter was the first pope. * I read about Pope John Paul, III. * The Pope (a particular individual) discussed the duties of the office of the pope (no specific pope).

Pope John XXIII was canonized on April 27, 2014, by Pope Francis.

Peter was chosen by Christ as the leader of His apostles and His church (see Gospel according to Matthew, Ch 16, V 18). Tradition has each Pope as the successor of Saint Peter, as the other Bishops, Archbishops and Cardinals are successors of the Apostles. So, each Pope assumes the role of Saint Peter as leader of the Church. St. Peter's is built over the necropolis (city of the dead, or cemetery), where the bones of Saint Peter were buried after he was crucified on Vatican Hill. So, the Church really is built upon Saint Peter, just as Christ had said.

There have been 266 popes in Catholic history, starting with Saint Peter. Three other popes were Saint Pius X from August 4 1903 until August 20, 1914, Leo XIII from February 1878 until July 20, 1903 and Marcellus II from April 9, 1955 until May 1, 1955.

His papacy began on 16th October 1978 and it ended on 2nd April 2005. He was a pope for more than two and a half decades.

All the popes listed below had the given name of Giovanni, In some cases it was a second or third name.

Pope John I

Pope John VIII

Pope John IX

Pope John X

Pope John XI

Pope John XVIII

Pope Gelasius II

Pope Nicholas III

Pope Innocent VIII

Pope Leo X

Pope Julius III

Pope Paul IV

Pope Pius IV

Pope Urban VII

Pope Innocent IX

Pope Innocent X

Pope Clement XI

Pope Clement XIV

Pope Pius VI

Pope Pius IX

Pope Benedict XV

Pope Pius XII

Pope Paul VI

If you mean the Malachi Pope Prophesy, Benedict was the last Pope. Originally Malachi predicted only 111 future Popes. Benedict was the 111th. The 112th name on the list was added 400 years after the death of Malachi by a Benedictine monk that felt the Church should go 'out' on a more positive note. He added Peter the Roman, not Malachi. So, Peter the Roman is not a valid part of the Malachi predictions.

There have been numerous popular legends of a woman pope, and while entertaining and thrilling, like legends of the headless horseman, there is no documentary evidence for a woman pope's existence that is accepted among serious scholars.

The tradition of the Pope wearing a white Cassock started with Pope Pius V who was a Dominican, and instead of adopting the red worn by previous Popes, he continued to wear his Dominican Habit [with the distinctions of his Office, of course]

Each level of the Church's hierarchy has its traditional color: popes wear white, cardinals wear red, bishops wear violet and priests wear black.

There's no actual limit, other than the natural limitation of human lifespan and the fact that at least in modern times most popes aren't elected until they're at least well into middle age (the average age at coronation of popes since the 1500s has been over 60; John Paul II, who was elected at 58, was considered to be unusually young for the position).

The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the popes. There are six extant papal tombs inside the Archbasilica: Alexander III, Pope Sergius IV, Pope Clement XII, Pope Martin V, Pope Innocent III and Pope Leo XIII. A number of other popes were also buried there but these tombs were lost in two terrible fires in the 14th century.