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Why Are Popes Called Popes?

Michie

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The word ‘pope’ isn’t found in Scripture, but the concept can be seen throughout the Bible.

The word “pope” and also the word “patriarch” (usually applied to bishops in Eastern Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy) both derive from the ancient Greek word páppas, originally an affectionate term meaning “father.” The earliest record of the use of this title is in regard to the Patriarch (“Pope”) Heraclas of Alexandria(232–248). In the early third century, the title was applied to all bishops. The earliest instance of pope being used of the bishop of Rome also dates to the third century, when it was applied to Pope Marcellinus.

As with many other technical or titular terms not found in the Bible (either in English or Greek), such as “Trinity,” “original sin” and “virgin birth,” the concept is present, whether or not one particular term or title is. We see the concept of pope applied to Peter, by the Church Fathers above, in commenting on biblical Petrine passages. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, the common language spoken after the conquests of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC, during the Hellenistic period, in the Roman Empire and in the early Byzantine Empire. It replaced the ancient Greek dialects.

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