101 Questions and Answer on the Popes and the Papacy

by Christopher M. Bellitto

Publisher:

Paulist Press

, 2008

ISBN: 9780809145164

(8)

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Overview

The 101 Questions and Answers series provides expert insight into the most pertinent issues Christians face today. With a helpful question-and-answer format, these accessible texts are packed with information and thoughtful analysis, equipping believers to answer both the curious and the critical. Gain a deeper understanding of the history of the office of Pope. Informative, intelligent, and readable, this book from Christopher M. Bellitto provides an easy reference for questions on all things papal. This book of questions and answers is useful for students, general readers, and clergy alike.

For even more important studies of the Church, see the 101 Questions and Answers Series (27 vols.).

Key Features

Presents vital information in an accessible question and answer format
Assists readers in better understanding the lives and actions of Popes throughout history
Helps connect past practice to present and future circumstance

Top Highlights

“Like the church herself, it is probably best to speak of the papacy as a human institution of divine origin. Catholics believe that God started the church and the papacy, but both are staffed by human beings who are going to make mistakes. Popes of any historical period, whether they are scoundrels or saints, are never more than human. Their failings will tarnish the papacy just as their achievements will make it shine.” (Page 5)

“The words pope and papacy (or, for that matter, trinity or transubstantiation) don’t appear in the Bible” (Page 4)

“although Antioch seems to have had a single bishop early on.” (Page 12)

“Yes, there was always a bishop of Rome, starting with Peter, who held a special commission from Jesus, but there were at the same time bishops of other Christian communities dotting the outline of the Mediterranean Sea—sometimes called ‘a Roman lake.’ According to this interpretation, all of these bishops collectively shared in the decision-making power of a decentralized model of church. Peter and his successors in Rome enjoyed a particular prestige as a source of unity and primacy—a technical term we will explore later—but he did not hold any jurisdictional or legal power over any of the other bishops, either as individuals or when they gathered together in councils. So, for them, the papacy became more than what Jesus intended when he set Peter apart.” (Page 5)

“We think especially of the Christian communities in Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Constantinople. These four cities, along with Rome, were the ‘big five’ in early Christianity and their leaders came to be known as patriarchs. Eastern bishops believed the church’s executive or administrative power rested among these five, though all bishops when gathered together in a council shared ultimate authority.” (Page 12)