Bishop Of Rome

The Bishop of Rome is one of the titles of the Pope, because he is the spiritual leader of the Roman diocese as well as leader of the whole of the Roman Catholic Church. By contrast, the Orthodox churches believe in a number of different bishops, such as the Bishop of Antioch, who are co-equal in their positions of Church leadership; while there is no Pope figure in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the Patriarch of Constantinople is honored as the first in dignity among equals.

The term has been used frequently throughout the history of the Christian Church. The city of Rome is also thought of as the geographical heart of the Catholic Church.

From the time of the first Ecumenical Council on, Byzantine canon law had always assigned primacy of honor to Rome^[1] The fathers attributed the prerogatives of primacy of leadership, honor and dignity to the the most ancient see of Rome because it was the imperial city. Even when the capital of the Empire was moved to Constantinople, the "new Rome," the priority of the "old Rome" was safeguarded. Constantinople canon 3 states:

"As for the Bishop of Constantinople, let him have the prerogatives of honor after the bishop of Rome, seeing that this city is the new Rome."

To the Byzantine emperors of that period, both Zonaras and Balsamon (canon lawyers during the 11th-12th century) firmly maintained that the expression "after the bishop of Rome" certainly shows hierarchical inferiority, not simply a subsequent, chronologically successive hierarchical superiority over Rome upon the establishment of Constantinople as the new capital city of the Empire.^[2] The ministry or Chair of Peter was universally understood in moral terms, rather than in terms of formal power, or rights. The actual exercise of this power depended upon political circumstances, as well as the orthodoxy, the wisdom, and the prestige of the "first bishop" himself as traditionally constituting the reliable standard of orthodox doctrine.^[3] Orthodox theologians have never rejected the concept of primacy, but, in response to the present Roman Catholic understanding of the primacy of the Petrine Office, reject only its increasing development as defined by the Church of Rome over the span of centuries. It was only when it became undeniably evident that the Patriarch of Rome decisively and consistently expressed the authority of the moral "privilege" of the Church of Rome (auctoritas^[4]), as exercised in forms of actual jurisdictional and doctrinal power, that the Patriarchs of the Orthodox East refused to allow it.^[5]

Pope Leo the Great, in the mid 400s, received an edict from the Roman Emperor acknowledging the leadership of the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, over all other bishops. This has never been accepted by the Eastern Orthodox Church or by the Protestant churches.

The Roman Catholic Church believes that the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) was made the leader of Christendom by Christ through a promise made to Saint Peter and then transferred to those who succeeded him as bishops of Rome. The Emperor's edict was seen as merely putting a political secular stamp of approval upon what already was established by God. The many Christian churches that are independent of the Pope customarily believe that the Bishop of Rome tried to elevate himself above all other bishops and sought imperial approval to do so.

The title, Bishop of Rome, is not as heavily used today as it had been in ancient and medieval times, with the term Pope receiving more usage.

See also[edit]

Pentarchy

Petrine Primacy

References[edit]