Pope
From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.
The Pope is the head of Roman Catholic Church. The current Pope is Benedict XVI, a German. The previous Pope, John Paul II, died on April 2, 2005.
Popes are elected by Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church. Once they are elected, they hold the job for life. In the Middle Ages, the Pope had a lot of political power. This is no longer the case.
After he got elected, the pope chose a different name. The current pope is really named Joseph Ratzinger.
The name Pope comes from the Greek word pappas, "father". Catholics believe that when making official statements about belief (ex cathedra), the Pope is infallible - that is, God will not allow his followers to be misled by allowing their leader to make a wrong statement. Very few of the Pope's statements have been ex cathedra in recent times.
The Pope is also the head of state of Vatican City, a tiny country in the city of Rome in Italy, whose only purpose is to run the Roman Catholic Church. Popes today travel to many countries around the world preaching. However, John Paul II was really the first pope to do this.
The Pope wears a big hat called a mitre and holds a staff called a crossier.
[edit] Popes
Some popes, and the time they were pope:
- Pope John XXIII, 1958-1963
- Pope Paul VI, 1963-1978
- Pope John Paul I, 1978
- Pope John Paul II, 1978-2005
- Pope Benedict XVI, 2005-...
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