Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The pontifex maximus (Latin for "supreme pontiff" [1] [2] [3]) was the chief high priest of the College of Pontiffs (Collegium Pontificum) in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion , open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first held this position.
John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI in the 16th century, as well as the third-longest-serving pope in history after Pius IX and St. Peter. John Paul II attempted to improve the Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, Islam, and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the spirit of ecumenism, holding atheism as the
Papal Regalia: The Triregnum is a crown with three levels, also called the Tiara or Triple Crown. Its use has been abandoned by Pope Paul VI and his successors. The Ring of the Fisherman a gold ring decorated with a depiction of St. Peter in a boat casting his net, with the name of the reigning Pope around it.
Plaque commemorating the popes buried in St. Peter's Basilica (their names in Latin and the year of their burial). This chronological list of popes of the Catholic Church corresponds to that given in the Annuario Pontificio under the heading "I Sommi Pontefici Romani" (The Roman Supreme Pontiffs), excluding those that are explicitly indicated as antipopes.
The Pontifex Maximus held his office for life, but the date of death is not known for every man who held the office, and the name of the Pontifex is not recorded for every period. Unless otherwise noted, dates and citations of primary sources are from T.R.S. Broughton 's three-volume The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (American Philological ...
The title of Pontifex Maximus was a title of the Roman emperor since the reign of Caesar Augustus, being abdicated by Gratian (375–383). [ 36 ] [ 37 ] [ 38 ] The Encyclopædia Britannica , without citing source, attributes Pope Leo I (r. 440–461) to the use of the title Pontifex Maximus. [ 39 ]
The office of Pontifex Maximus, or head of the College of Pontiffs, was held by Julius Caesar and thereafter, by the Roman emperors, until Gratian (375–383) relinquished it. [ 160 ] [ 170 ] [ 171 ] Tertullian, when he had become a Montanist , used the title derisively of either the pope or the bishop of Carthage . [ 172 ]
The pontifex maximus was the most important member of the college. Until 104 BC, the pontifex maximus held the sole power in appointing members to the other priesthoods in the college. The flamens were priests in charge of fifteen official cults of Roman religion, each assigned to a particular god.