The Papacy

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The word "pope," by which the head of the Roman Catholic Church is known, and the word "papacy," by which is meant the system of ecclesiastical government in which the pope is recognized as the supreme head, are not found in the bible. The word "pope" comes from the Latin papa, meaning "father."
But Jesus forbade his followers to call any man "father" in a spiritual sense: And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Matt 23:9.

 

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The claims of the papacy.

When the triple crown is placed on the head of the new pope at his "coronation" ceremony, the ritual prescribes the following declaration by the officiating cardinal:
"Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns, and know that thou art the Father of Princes and Kings, Ruler of the world, Vicar of our Saviour JesusChrist . . ." (National Catholic Almanac.)

The New York Catechism says:
"The pope takes the place of Jesus Christ on Earth," . . . . By divine right, the pope has supreme and full power in faith and morals over each and " pastor and his flock. He is the true Vicar of Christ, the head of the entire church, the father and teacher of all Christians. He is the infallible ruler, the founder of dogmas, the author of and the judge of councils; the universal ruler of truth, the arbiter of the world, the supreme judge of heaven and earth, the judge of all, being judged by no one, God himself on earth.


And Pope Leo X111, in his encyclical, The Reunion of Christendom (1855), declared that the pope holds "upon earth the place of God Almighty."