In Rome, the title of Supreme Pontiff (in Latin, Pontifex Maximus), belongs to the chief religious official of the city. City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus â SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Democratici di Sinistra) Area - City Proper 1290 km² Population - City (2004) - Metropolitan - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1... Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Alternate meanings: see Pontifex (disambiguation) Originally the Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the pre-Christian Roman religion. ...
Since Christianity became the official religion of Rome, the Supreme Pontiff has been the Christian Bishop of Rome, also called the Pope.
A state religion (also called an established church or state church) is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state. ... Alternate meanings: see Pontifex (disambiguation) Originally the Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the pre-Christian Roman religion. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... The Pope is the Catholic Bishop and patriarch of Rome, and head of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. ...
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Besides the bishopric of the Roman Diocese, certain other dignities are held by the pope as well as the supreme and universal pastorate: he is Archbishop of the Roman Province, Primate of Italy and the adjacent islands, and sole Patriarch of the Western Church.
In this case the dogma that the Romanpontiff is at all times the Church's chief pastor would be the conclusion from two premises -- the revealed truth that the Church must ever have a supreme head, and the historic fact that St.
Peter is ever to be found in the Romanpontiff is almost universally held to be a truth revealed by the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and by them transmitted to the Church.