PAPAL SUPREMACY

PAPAL SUPREMACY

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Papal Supremacy

The Catholic Church is one of the major religious groups and in this case, it is under Christianity. Most people tend to think of the Catholic Church when the term Christianity is mentioned. This is because the Catholic Church has a very big role to play when it comes to the issue of Christianity and the other sub-sections of the Christian faith. Even though the other sections of the Christian faith are very essential in the lives of many people the role of the Catholic Church is of very great significance. Apart from the role the organization of this church is also plausible as it serves as one of the few non-governmental organizations that have a wide world effect and structures such that all its members are known and recognized through one particular practice of baptism. The Catholic Church has many teachings which are based on morality, however, this paper concentrates on an issue not based on morality and which is the papal supremacy. Therefore the discussion herein is about the history of papal supremacy intertwined with the concept of infallibility, where applicable and when, and also the views of non-Catholics as well as the Catholics upon the papal supremacy(CCC, 882).

In the year 380, the Catholic Church became the official religion of the Roman Empire. It was around this time when Christianity had spread to vast areas and this was the beginning of papal supremacy. However even though in 380 the pope was still subordinate to the emperor this did not last for so long. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire the pope was the one looked onto for moral authority and leadership purposes therefore he became a very significant figure at that time. On the other hand, the eastern roman empire maintained its kingdom and it was thriving. In the year 800 pope Leo III, crowned the then emperor by the name Charlemagne as the emperor and therefore it was from here that the other emperors who followed could not be officially recognized without being crowned by the pope (Irenaeus, & Dillon, 1992).

After the Investiture Controversy and the crusades, the pope increased his power and authority tremendously. However, throughout the middle ages, there was a struggle for power between the popes and the monarchs. The mid-11th to mid-13th was the period of the second phase of papal supremacy. During this time Gregory VII was the pope and he brought about many changes especially in the election of bishops and those who were supposed to head the monasteries. Concordat of Worms was signed between the Pope and Emperor Henry V so that they recognized the presence of the spiritual part and the administrative part whereby the two roles were separated unlike before when the emperor was the one to appoint the bishops.

In 1870 further, the degree of papal supremacy was reinstated and upheld during the First Vatican council. The dogmatic constitution which was named Pastor Aeternus stated clearly the role of the pope, his primacy, and his infallibility (Ross, 2020). This document stated that due to the role given to Peter by Jesus of looking after the whole church, about him being the rock upon which the church will be built, the fact that he will be given the keys to heaven to bind and to lose that he is supreme and he is infallible. (Mathew 16:18). Therefore through the first Vatican council also stated that he is the supreme judge of the faithful and that his case after declaration may never be re-opened by anyone else since it is final and binding.

The second Vatican council also confirmed that the teachings of the first Vatican council about the supremacy of papacy as well as the infallibility of the pope were true and it went ahead to add more into the teaching about the supremacy of the pope. One of the additions to the first Vatican council was that the bishops also played an important role in the whole administration of the Catholic Church and their roles were not separate from those of the pope. They in the act of being in charge of their dioceses were involved seriously in the administration and therefore were not vicars of the Roman pontiff rather they are vicars and legates of Christ. Through this authority and power, the order of bishops form a college whose head is the pope and therefore this is very essential in the papal supremacy.

The papal supremacy has been applied in many instances. For example, papal supremacy was applied during the launching of the crusades in 1095 in efforts to try and recover the holy land from the hands of the Muslims. It was also applied during the crowning of emperor Charlemagne who was crowned by Pope Leo III. Even though papal supremacy has always existed some individuals and groups still do not recognize the roman pontiff as supreme. This is because of the mistakes which have been made by the church before and in this regard, the mistakes done by the church are related and regarded to be the results of the papal ruling and papal supremacy.

With the many schisms, there were doubts and a lack of faith that the pope was supreme. However with the falling out of a group of the catholic church through Martin Luther, there was even greater disbelief and this fallout affected the church in a great manner because even though the separated christens whom the catholic church referred to as protestants held some of the principles and beliefs taught in the catholic church also did not believe some of the teachings like the papal supremacy, purgatory among other beliefs and dogmas established by the church. This made the church very concerned and it also helped to clean up the mess that was happening within the Catholic Church through several efforts to reform.

Therefore the view of non-Catholic Christians is most of the time negative when it comes to the supremacy of the pope. On the side of the Catholics, there are debates about if to accept the teaching of the church or not. However, most individuals do not have a problem with the supremacy or the pope and they do not focus on that particular aspect of the papacy rather there is a general love and praise of the pope as he serves as hope and source of direction when it comes to issues to do with faith and issues to do with morality and generally every aspect of human life. This is so because the Catholic Church has advanced itself and it is one of the few organizations with structures and personnel working in almost every field thus it can be referred to as a mini-government of its own in the Vatican City and extending its effects on the whole world through its Christians. We can also state that it is not only the Christians who look up to the pope as the supreme authority about God but also some countries and even presidents look unto the pope for moral direction and this strengthens his supremacy as what he says most of the time is considered in a great manner and followed by many people including many governments and non-governmental organizations.

Therefore the moral compass as it is the papal supremacy helps the Catholics as well as some non-Catholics to have a base for what they believe in and what they follow. It is a power that can be used in a great manner for the goodness of the world and to make the lives of humanity better on earth by caring for creation like pope Francis encourages people to do.

In conclusion, papal supremacy is a concept that has its positivity and negativity. These negativities might include putting a lot of pressure on the pope to decide about a certain thing when he is unsure. Therefore it can serve society positively if used well and it can serve society negatively if not used well.

ReferencesANGLICANUS, C. (1813). Papal Supremacy and Unchristian Usurpation. The Anti-Jacobin review and magazine, 45(176), 80-85.Catholic Biblical Association. (1994). The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.

Cheng, L. (2006). The Establishment of Royal Supremacy and the Decline of Papal Supremacy in 16~(th) Century England [J]. Historical Research, 2.Constitution, A. (1992). Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saint Pauls.

Irenaeus, S., & Dillon, J. J. (1992). St. Irenaeus of Lyons against the Heresies (Vol. 1). The Newman Press.

Ross, S. A. (2020). IV. Pastor Aeternus at 150. Horizons, 47(1), 127-132.