Some Thoughts on Papal Titles

A couple of years ago, I shared an article from NBC News, New Pope Takes on 8 Official Titles, But Pope's Not One, that had been published in 2013 when Francis had, lamentably, just been elected Pope.

Previously, from ca. AD 450 until 2006, there had been yet another title, 'Patriarch of the West'. It was dropped by Benedict XVI in an ill advised move to placate the Eastern Orthodox. Whilst there were a couple of titles such as 'Successor of the Prince of the Apostles' and 'Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church' to which the Orthodox would have strenuous objections, ironically 'Patriarch of the West' was one that they had no problem with since the Roman See was one of the five 'Ancient Patriarchs' and the territory of the Patriarch was the 'West', i.e. those portions of the ancient, known world not covered by any one of the Eastern Patriarchates.

However, Francis has gone a step farther. For those who may have missed the news, here is the article from LifeSiteNews discussing what His Eminence Gerhard, Cardinal Müller, former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, called an instance of “theological barbarism,” Pope Francis drops ‘Vicar of Christ’ title in Vatican yearbook.

Unfortunately, what got lost in all the concern about the one title, 'Vicar of Christ', which is WHY the Pope is the Pope, is that it's not just 'Vicar of Christ'! He's dropped ALL Papal Titles. He was 'inaugurated' as Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God. On the left is the 'Papal Page' from the 2019 Pontifical Yearbook, listing all those titles. On the right is the new 2020 edition, listing only his name.

It's his false humility masking his overweening, sinful pride. Now it's not about the 'Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God', titles he shared with previous Popes before him. It's all about Jorge Bergoglio. The rest are just a 'historical footnote'.