The Archbasilica of St. John Lateran doesn’t quite look its age. The basilica, where the Pope presides in his role as Archbishop of Rome, was already ancient when it was rebuilt in the 1650s. Its walls still hold some of the original material used to build the cathedral under Emperor Constantine in 312 CE. And beneath the modern church lies the original Roman foundation. Excavations since the 1700s have opened up a network of dark, cramped spaces called scavi beneath the four-hectare site of the cathedral.
Centuries of Roman history lie buried in the darkness in layers stretching down to 8.5 meters (27.89 feet) below the modern floor of the cathedral, and the subterranean archaeological sites are like a honeycomb through the city’s Caelian Hill. Now, using a combination of laser scanning and ground-penetrating radar, archeologists have made a complete map of the site.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Saturday December 01 2018, @12:34PM (5 children)
True, though it should be noted he is also archbishop and metropolitan of the Roman province (the diocese of Rome and its suffragan dioceses). I believe St. John Lateran probably functions as cathedral both to the Diocese of Rome and to the metropolitan archdiocese as part of the Roman Province, which might be what TFA is alluding to.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Saturday December 01 2018, @04:26PM (4 children)
Arguably, the Pope is not even the Bishop of Rome.
If you look at the Bishop of Rome's list of titles, "Pope" is not amongst them. However the leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church does call himself the Pope. So, who really is the Pope? Is the Pope catholic?
(Score: 5, Informative) by AthanasiusKircher on Saturday December 01 2018, @07:58PM (3 children)
No, it's not really "arguable" at all. It's wrong. This goes into the bin of "don't believe everything you read on Wikipedia." Basically a sort of urban myth, or something held by people who don't understand that language accrues meaning through use. Even theological scholars have sometimes cited this nugget of bullshit, but that doesn't make it any less bullshit.
If you look at the official list of titles in CERTAIN documents, that is certainly true. In the most formal circumstances when the titles of the Pope are listed, "pope" is usually not listed. However, thousands of official church documents going back centuries use the term "Papa" (Latin for "pope") to reference the Bishop of Rome. For roughly a thousand years in the Western church, the Bishop of Rome has officially rebuked other clerics in the Western Church when they have used that term -- which is reserved for the Pope himself. When a new Pope is elected, he is announced with "Habemus Papam," where "papam" is the accusative of the Latin word "papa" meaning pope. What the hell are they announcing, if not the election of a new Bishop of Rome who is also "papa" or "Pope"? When Popes sign their signatures, they generally use "papa" or an abbreviation for it as part of it.
So claiming that the Bishop of Rome is not the "Pope" flies in the face of more than a thousand years of official documents. How absurd it is for people to claim "Pope" is not among the titles frequently used for said person!!
False. First, there is no single "lead of the Eastern Orthodox Church." There are a number of Patriarchs. The Patriarchs of Alexandria traditionally still use the term "pope" for themselves as a title, but other patriarchs and bishops historically have as well. In many languages where the Eastern Orthodox Church is prominent, the word "papa" or the equivalent of "pope" in that language just is used for any priest, as "Father" is used in English for priests. (Historically, that's where "pope" and "papa" came from in the ecclesiastical use.)
Since you used "catholic" with a small 'c' rather than "Catholic" with a capital, I assume you're asking whether the Pope is "pope" to all, as "catholic" with a small 'c' refers to "universal." I'd say that's false, since many people do not acknowledge his authority. Thus, no, the Pope (as referencing the Bishop of Rome) is not "catholic" though he is definitely "Catholic."
You want to play the pedantry game? I can keep going....
(Score: 2) by Bot on Sunday December 02 2018, @12:35AM
>So, who really is the Pope?
enough of those "instructions unclear, dick stuck in altar boy" incidents.
restore ratzy from backup pls and send pedos and gays to the thriving mission in antarctica.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by hellcat on Sunday December 02 2018, @02:35AM
FYI, Armenian "popes" are called Katholikos.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 02 2018, @10:50PM
Anything is arguable if you argue like a jew.