The Pope

(Lat. <em>papa</em> from Gr. <em>papas</em>, “father”). The supreme head of the Roman Catholic Church. Formerly denoting all Christian bishops, the title in the West has from the ninth century been appropriated exclusively by the bishop of Rome. In the <span class="auto-link">[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]</span>, however, it is still used for the patriarch of Alexandria, and the term is applied also to ordinary priests.<br /><br />