Pope officialliy de-emphasizes Papal Titles

  • Thread starter Thread starter Elzee
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
My initial thought is …why? Why are papal titles being shunned?
 
Good question. The article speaks of other changes as well. It’s as if he doesn’t want others to view him as Pope.
 
Apparently in his book, he mentions that people who feel the need to throw around titles and use the perks of their office are actually incapable of exercising actual power. Francis believes that if he has to go around using his long, formal title, then he is doing it all wrong. Also, he probably considers it personally a bit weird.
 
This is terrible writing:

Headline: Pope Francis **officially **de-emphasizes papal titles
First Line: Pope Francis **has possibly **de-emphasized a number of the formal titles (…etc.)
 
To me, Pope Francis’ general trend to reduce the Church’s outward appearance of power and wealth seems consistent with what Pope Benedict has said:

"[The Church] will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity…. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church of the meek…"
  • Cardinal Ratzinger
Things like Papal Trappings and Papal Titles probably made a lot of sense during a time when the Church wielded more political might then many kings. That said, the future Church is going to be a poor one and possibly heavily persecuted. In fact, today’s Church is already a lot smaller and poorer then a lot of Her member’s realize.

And there is nothing wrong with being poor… Blessed are the poor. That said, what point is there in a homeless man wearing royal garments and using royal titles? The advantage of poverty is that you can separate yourself from all these material things, and I just happen to think that Pope Francis is aligning the Church with that new reality.
 
If one wanted to read tea leaves, beyond eschewing the trappings of papal authority, emphasizing the title “Bishop of Rome” also may also support outreach to the Orthodox and other Christian denominations in order to achieve church unification. We’ll see…
 
It seems this is a bit of a misnomer. All his titles are there as usual.
 
So long as we don’t forget our Traditions than it’s ok.
 
YoungTradCath said:
It seems this is a bit of a misnomer. All his titles are there as usual.
Click to expand...
Right. I don’t see anything inappropriate about this. Bishop of Rome is the Pope’s foundational title, so it makes sense to stress it. It is because he is bishop of Rome that he is the Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, and Servant of the Servants of God. Primate of Italy and Archbishop and metropolitan of the Roman province are extras that, like the old Patriarch of the West, could be eliminated without much consequence (except possibly in Italy, but I suspect not much even there), but in fact not even these have been eliminated. Sovereign of the Vatican City-State is obviously a separate matter, preserving the independence of the Papacy but really basically a secular title.

Really I think Benedict XVI relinquishing the title of Patriarch of the West was a much more revolutionary change than this.
 
Lord_Keynes said:
:p:whacky::rotfl::rotfl:
Click to expand...
Indeed. Although to give the author the benefit of the doubt the editor may have given the article its sensationalist title and/or may have made changes within the article.

Either way it does not reflect well on the publication, though.
 
ActingCatholic said:
This is terrible writing:

Headline: Pope Francis **officially **de-emphasizes papal titles
First Line: Pope Francis **has possibly **de-emphasized a number of the formal titles (…etc.)
Click to expand...
Indeed. Although to give the writer the benefit of the doubt the editor may have given the article its sensationalist title and/or may have made changes within the article.

Either way it does not reflect well on the publication, though.
 
Do NOT read the National Catholic Reporter!! Believe me, as you read more and more articles coming from that site, you will start to see certain bias’ come out and it is very easy to point it out once you notice it.

I would stick with the National Catholic Register, it is a very good and reliable Catholic news source and blog site.
 
He appears quite humble and full of charity. I like him a lot, so far.
 
This isn’t unheard of. An apostolic letter is typically headed, “N., Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God”. The Pope rarely actually uses all of these titles except in the context in which one of them is necessary.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top