The Pope, the Papacy
and the Catholic Church
The Pope as Pastor to the Church and the World
The pope, as a priest and a bishop, fulfills the same functions as any priest or bishop, though on a much grander scale. He is a pastor, and pastors care for the needs of their flocks, whether their flock is contained in a single parish, an entire diocese or the entire globe.
The Church divides pastoral actions into three interrelated categories:
- munus sanctificandi (To Sanctify), which includes the liturgical and sacramental actions of the Church. The Holy Father celebrates Vatican liturgies on behalf of the universal Church. He also oversees efforts to define the sacramental and liturgical norms of the Church.
- munus regendi (To Shepherd), which includes the governmental functions of the Church. The Holy Father oversees a considerable Vatican government that oversees the affairs of state and canon law. He also visits his flock throughout the world and ministers to the bishops through ad limina visits made every five years by bishops to the Holy See.
- munus docendi (To Teach), which includes the teaching ministry of the Church. The Holy Father exercises this role teaching documents like encyclicals and apostolic letters.
The pope is a pastor to the world in that what the pope teaches is meant not just for one group of people, but for all of humanity. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, the Church “has received this solemn command of Christ from the apostles to announce the saving truth.” Consequently, it continues, the Church makes moral statements and judgments on human life and society “to the extent that they are required by the fundamental rights of the human person or the salvation of souls” (2032).
The Pope as Source and Foundation of Church Unity
One of the many roles filled by the pope of the Roman Catholic Church is that of the source and foundation of Christian unity.
Christ is the head of the Church, and the Church, while diverse in ministry, is unified in its mission. One of the fundamental tasks of the pope is to maintain that unity of mission and the Truth that is Christ. The Second Vatican Council’s Lumen Gentium points out that “the Roman Pontiff, as the Successor of Peter, is the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity of both the bishops and of the faithful” (23).
This teaching comes from Matthew 16:18-19, where Jesus blessed Peter and promises to build his Church upon him. “The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the ‘rock’ of his Church,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church says. “He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. … The pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church’s very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the pope” (881).
The Church is one because of Christ. It is through Christ and in Christ that we receive our fundamental unity. Within this unity of the Church, there is an extraordinary diversity that embraces every culture of the world, every ethnicity, every historical era.
The Holy Father is a visible sign of that unity within the Church. The unity of the Church is a unity marked by the profession of the deposit of faith received from the Apostles and assured by the pope and the bishops. It is a unity found in our celebration of the same Mass and sacraments, and in the life of our priestly orders inherited from the Apostles.
The Pope as Teacher and Preserver of the Faith
The Church must always proclaim the Word of God. The pope serves as a teacher who articulates the truths of the faith to the world and serves to assure that the “deposit of faith” taught by the Apostles is preserved and presented fully and completely to every generation.
That is why the pope would never publicly offer for belief or publicly propose for practice any teaching or moral action that would violate the deposit of faith. The pope is the conserver of the teachings of Christ, exercising his papal ministry in a way that assures the faithful that the beliefs of the Church are presented whole and inviolate.
The term “infallibility” is applied to the teaching authority of the pope. The pope speaks infallibly – meaning without error – when he speaks ex cathedra (that is, when formally acting in the office of shepherd and teacher of all Christians) and defines core doctrine in matters of faith and morals to be held by the whole Church. This “infallibility” is a precious safeguard for the entire Church, defining how the Holy Spirit guards the faith of the whole Church from error.
The pope, as do the bishops, preaches the Gospel, instructs, guides and leads the faithful in what they are to do in order to attain salvation according to the teachings of Christ. In an unbroken line going back to St. Peter and the Apostles, the papacy continues a pastoral and teaching tradition as old as the Church itself.
The Conclave to Elect a Pope
While media coverage tends to take on the coloration of a political convention, Catholics view the conclave to elect a pope as a faith-filled gathering. A conclave is not so much an election as it is the cardinals of the Church collectively opening themselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As such, a conclave is a deeply spiritual event.
The process for electing a pope has remained largely the same since 1059, when Pope Nicholas II restricted papal election to the College of Cardinals. In 1975, Pope Paul VI modified the process by specifying that only cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote and setting the maximum number of cardinal electors at 120. There will be 117 cardinals eligible to participate in this conclave.
After a morning Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday, April 18, 2005, the cardinals will proceed to the Sistine Chapel, where deliberations will begin. Though only members of the College of Cardinals are typically considered, canon law states that any baptized Roman Catholic male may be elected Pope, with the provision that he must also be, or become, a priest and a bishop if he is not one already. Two thirds of the ballots are needed to elect a pope on the first 30 votes, but only a simple majority after that.
Once a pope is selected, he is asked formally if he accepts election and what name he wants to assume as pope. When he gives consent, the conclave is officially over, and he becomes Bishop of Rome, head of the universal Roman Catholic Church, “Servant of the servants of God.
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