Rise of the PapacyHow the Bishop of Rome became the Pope

It all begins with St. Peter

“You, Peter, are the Rock upon which I will build my Church”

Twelve Disciples

• Jesus had Twelve Disciples

• Simon Peter, however, was the leader among the disciples

• After the Resurrection, the Disciples acknowledged that role by accepting him as the leader of the new Christian community

Peter in Rome

• Its not known when Peter went to Rome

• He was not the founder of the Church there

• But he was martyred there during Nero’s persecution c. 68

• From that point on the Bishop of Rome had a certain importance compared to other bishops

• But he was not the most important nor did he have authority over other bishops

Patriarchs

By the fourth century, there were five Patriarchs in the Christian Church:

•Jerusalem

•Antioch

•Alexandria

•Rome

•Constantinople

Each was equal to the others

• With the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, the Bishops of Rome took over much of the authority once held by the Roman government

• Gradually, they became not just religious leaders, but political leaders in Italy

Pope Leo I

• The first pope to claim authority over the entire Church

• Wrote “Leo’s Tome” which argued against the Monophysite heresy

• Persuaded Attila the Hun not to attack the city of Rome

• First pope to take the title “Pontifex Maximus”

Pope Gregory I

• Used his own money to rebuild Rome and support the poor there

• Ruled Rome as governor before and after becoming pope

• Sent missionaries to England and Germany

• Organized the Gregorian chants and wrote prayers for the Mass that are still used

Pope Leo I and Pope Gregory I are the only two popes in the history of the

Catholic Church to be given the titles of “The Great”

Donation of Pepin (756)

• Pepin was King of the Franks and the most powerful monarch in Europe in the mid 9th century

• After defeating the Lombards who threatened Italy, he donated the land he conquered to the papacy This “donation” forms the basis of the Papal States

• The popes will rule the Papal States as a monarch from 756 until 1870

Coronation of Charlemagne

• Charlemagne = “Charles the Great”

• Son of Pepin

• On Christmas Day, 800, Pope Leo III crowned him the first Holy Roman Emperor

• Importance: the pope is saying that he has the authority to decide who shall rule the nations of Europe

Problems and Decline

• As the popes became more powerful, both religiously and politically, there was more competition to become pope

• By the late 9th century, several families in Rome sought to control the papacy because of the power and wealth that it could bring to their families

• By the mid 10th century the pope had become so corrupt that the Holy Roman Emperor deposed him and chose a new pope

• For the next 100 years the HRE’s will appoint the popes

Reform

• Pope Leo IX (appointed by HRE Henry III) begins reforms of the papacy

• Pope Nicholas II in 1059 solves the problem of how popes should be selected by deciding that in the future the pope will be elected by the cardinals in a procedure called a conclave

Innocent III

• Innocent III ruled at the height of the power of the Medieval popes

• He was able to control the monarchs of Europe, called the Fourth Lateran Council to rule on Church practices and the sacraments and approved the foundation of the Dominican and Franciscan religious orders

By the 12th century, the pope:

•Was the undisputed head of the Church in the West (the Roman Catholic Church)

•Was elected by the college of cardinals and was usually a cardinal himself

•Ruled as political ruler over the Papal States (central Italy) from his palace of the Lateran in Rome