Pope

The Pope (from Latin "papa", father) is the head of the Catholic church and the Head of State of the State of the Vatican City.

The Pope is claimed to be infallible in matters of doctrine (see Dictatus Papae). The concept of Papal Infallibility is used to proclaim articles of faith, which are essential to adhere to be considered a Catholic. These articles are therefore considered to be a Dogmatic definition. Such pronouncements are rare, and the concept does not mean that Catholics are to believe everything that the Pope says is correct. The last issue was asserting the Assumption of Mary.

The First Vatican Council, of 1870, anathematized all who dispute the Pope's primacy of honor and of jurisdiction (it is lawful to discuss the precise nature of that primacy, provided that such discussion does not violate the terms of the Council's Dogmatic Constitution). The Second Vatican Council modified many of the diktats of 1870.

Critics of the papacy claim that past Popes who claimed successorship to St. Peter, such as Callixtus III and Alexander VI from the Borgia family, were so corrupt as to be unfit to wield power. An omniscient and omnibenevolent God, they claim, would not have given those people the powers claimed for them by the Catholic Church. Opponents of these critics reply that even the worst Popes failed to wreck the traditions of the Church.

Today the pope is Pope Benedict XVI.