''In brief'': The Pope is the Catholic bishop and patriarch of Rome, and head of the [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic Church]]. In addition to this spiritual role, the Pope is also head of the independent, sovereign [[Vatican City|State of the Vatican City]], a city-state entirely surrounded by the city of Rome. The office of the Pope is informally called the Papacy and formally called the Pontificate; his ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called the [[Holy See]] (''Sancta Sedes''). Catholics worldwide consider each pope to be [[Jesus]]' representative on Earth. ---- '''History and explanations'''* [[An overview of the history of the papacy]]* [[General notes about the papacy and the pope]] (modified from Wikipedia) '''Doctrine about the papacy'''* [[An overview of the doctrine of the papacy]] '''Articles / opinions'''* [[Some short comments or opinions about the papacy in general by different users ]]* [[Some short comments or opinions about choosing the next pope by different users]] '''Quotes'''* [[Famous quotes about the Pope]] ---- Return to #REDIRECT [[Papacy]] contents page