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Just as the head of the Roman Empire was translated as "emperor", the translation of the Catholic Pope of Rome into "pope" also caused considerable misunderstanding.
First, as the head of the church, the position was elected in succession—even if corruption and depravity prevailed.
Second, in terms of the source and functioning of power, it is more like the head of the bishops than the almighty master.
The Shadow of the Roman Emperors of the West
This distinction is self-evident in the eyes of St. Bernard of Minggu, who slammed in a confrontation with the Pope:
"Remember, the Holy Roman Church, which you control, is first and foremost the mother of the churches, not the mistress who rules them. You yourself are not the head of the bishops, but one of them. ”
At least in the first centuries of the rise of the Christian church, this was indeed a reflection of the actual position of the pope.
The original title of Pope (derived from the Latin papa, meaning father) was Bishop of Rome, who also enjoyed the power of the "patriarch" as the leader of the western dioceses.
"patriarch" is derived from the Latin word "patriarchēs" and means the head of a large family, that is, the head of the family.
However, the position of the Roman Patriarch was by no means unique, and the bishops of Constantinople, Antiochus, Jerusalem and Alexandria also enjoyed the power and status of the Patriarch, so that in the late empire, five patriarchal jurisdictions were actually formed.
At that time, the great decisions of the Church had to be taken by the Council of All Priests, especially on issues involving doctrinal controversies, which had to be decided jointly by the Patriarchs.
So, as Jeffrey Paleclaff said, the Bishop of Rome enjoyed only honor and not authority.
Let's not underestimate the spiritual appeal of the Eternal City, which exudes an irreplaceable and enduring charm for all Christians.
Although it was the only patriarchate in the west, it was the site of the mission of the apostle Peter.
The head of the twelve apostles of Jesus is buried here, giving the thousand-year-old emperor more of an aura of divine faith.
In the wave of barbarian migration, Bishop Leo of Rome stepped forward and assumed the responsibility of guarding the people, forcing Attila's army to retreat.
Several bishops succeeded in freeing themselves from the control of the Eastern Roman Emperor, and even if the "Gift of Constantine" proved to be the most famous forgery in history, it could not change the roman bishop's character as the shadow of the Western emperor.
In the 4th century, Constantine abolished Diocletian's four-emperor rule and divided the empire into four administrative divisions (Diocese), namely Gaul, Italy, Illyria, and the Eastern Cantons. The map shows the great administrative divisions of the Roman Empire in 400 AD, with different colors representing different administrative divisions, and the red color is the province of Provence (proconsul provincia), directly under the leadership of the emperor.
The Theory of the Holy Church in the Middle Ages
The special status of the city of Rome will naturally make the role of the bishop of Rome very special.
From very early times, theoreticians and bishops of the Church of Rome began to construct the medieval theory of the Holy Church in order to elevate their reputation as the successor of St. Peter and the custodian of the key of heaven.
The core part of this theory is the "double sword theory": both Christianity and the Roman Empire were cosmopolitan, and the two actually coincided.
God gave the bishop of Rome and the emperor of Rome, who took charge of the souls of the earthly people as God's agents, and the emperors as God's agents in charge of the affairs of the earthly people.
This seemingly perfect theory of interdependence actually implies that ecclesiastical power is higher than secular power.
Between the soul and the body, who is the lord and who is the inferior, who is the essence and who is the appearance, is evident in the Christian conception.
This also became one of the deeper causes of the later large-scale conflict between the Pope and the German Emperor.
As the bishop of Rome rose through the centuries and largely gained an advantage in successive confrontations with the emperor, he gradually attained the title of "Pontifex Maximus," the "High Priest."
This title was one of many titles for the Führer during the Roman Empire.
So in a religious sense, the bishop of Rome gained some of the power of the ancient Roman emperor, which is the main reason why later generations translated it as "pope" (emperor of the church).
The italian Renaissance painter Pedro Perugino's famous painting "Christ Gives the Key to St. Peter" in 1492, which is based on a biblical New Testament story, marking Peter's accession to the apostolic leader and later pope.
In 1417, at the Papal Election Conference in Constance (now Part Switzerland) of the Holy Roman Empire, the Roman magnate Odone Colonna was elected Pope, known as Martin V, and his election ended nearly 40 years of great divisions in the Holy See.