Reconciling Papal titles previously rejected

[spiderweb]

I am having a difficult time understanding the difference between “Universal Patriarch”, which the Church rejects throughout history http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08493a.htm

But instead excepts the title of “Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church”

It sounds like the same thing.

 

[dmar198]

The word “universal” used to have a secondary connotation which allowed “universal patriarch” it to be interpreted as “only patriarch.” It partly comes from the prefix, “uni,” which means “one.” When the original controversy over the term “universal patriarch” was going on, the pope clearly explained that this secondary connotation was the reason it was problematic:

“For if one, as he supposes, is universal bishop, it remains that you are not bishops.” source But Pope St. Gregory did believe that the pope had supreme authority, and he made that clear in this quote: “[It] is manifest that the Apostolic See is, by the ordering of God, set over all Churches.” source In other passages he calls the Roman See “head of all other churches” and “in command of the Church” source and writes that the See of Constantinople “is subject to the Apostolic See.” source

The phrase “Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church” does not have the problematic connotation for several reasons, one of which is that “Universal Church” can correctly be read as “One Church” or “Only Church” without implying that the pope is the only bishop or only patriarch.

 

[Genesis315]

The title of Universal Patriarch or Universal Bishop, as used by John the Faster and condemned by St. Gregory the Great, meant the Universal Bishop was the only real bishop with authority from Christ and all other bishops were simply his delegates or vicars. This made the Universal Bishop essentially Christ, rather than the vicar of Christ. Bishops are the vicars of Christ for their Churches, they are not vicars of the Roman Pontiff.

We can see this distinction here when he writes concerning the same subject:

St. Gregory the Great:

"For to all who know the Gospel it is apparent that by the Lord’s voice the care of the whole Church was committed to the holy Apostle and Prince of all the Apostles, Peter. For to him it is said, Peter, do you love Me? Feed My sheep . To him it is said, Behold Satan has desired to sift you as wheat; and I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith fail not. And thou, when you are converted, strengthen your brethren . To him it is said, You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever you shall bind an earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven .

Lo, he received the keys of the heavenly kingdom, and power to bind and loose is given him, the care and principality of the whole Church is committed to him, and yet he is not called the universal apostle; while the most holy man, my fellow-priest John, attempts to be called universal bishop. I am compelled to cry out and say, O tempora, O mores!"

newadvent.org/fathers/360205020.htm

 

[Genesis315]

Just to add to my post above, here is the true doctrine of the Church:

First Vatican Council, Pastor Aeternus

1. This power of the Supreme Pontiff by no means detracts from that ordinary and immediate power of episcopal jurisdiction, by which bishops, who have succeeded to the place of the apostles by appointment of the Holy Spirit, tend and govern individually the particular flocks which have been assigned to them. On the contrary, this power of theirs is asserted, supported and defended by the Supreme and Universal Pastor; for St. Gregory the Great says: “My honor is the honor of the whole Church. My honor is the steadfast strength of my brethren. Then do I receive true honor, when it is denied to none of those to whom honor is due.” [51]

Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum:

1. But if the authority of Peter and his successors is plenary and supreme, it is not to be regarded as the sole authority. For He who made Peter the foundation of the Church also “chose, twelve, whom He called apostles” (Luke vi., 13); and just as it is necessary that the authority of Peter should be perpetuated in the Roman Pontiff, so, by the fact that the bishops succeed the Apostles, they inherit their ordinary power, and thus the episcopal order necessarily belongs to the essential constitution of the Church. Although they do not receive plenary, or universal, or supreme authority, they are not to be looked as vicars of the Roman Pontiffs; because they exercise a power really their own, and are most truly called the ordinary pastors of the peoples over whom they rule.

Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium

27.Bishops, as vicars and ambassadors of Christ, govern the particular churches entrusted to them (58*) by their counsel, exhortations, example, and even by their authority and sacred power, which indeed they use only for the edification of their flock in truth and holiness, remembering that he who is greater should become as the lesser and he who is the chief become as the servant.(169) This power, which they personally exercise in Christ’s name, is proper, ordinary and immediate, although its exercise is ultimately regulated by the supreme authority of the Church, and can be circumscribed by certain limits, for the advantage of the Church or of the faithful. In virtue of this power, bishops have the sacred right and the duty before the Lord to make laws for their subjects, to pass judgment on them and to moderate everything pertaining to the ordering of worship and the apostolate.

The pastoral office or the habitual and daily care of their sheep is entrusted to them completely; nor are they to be regarded as vicars of the Roman Pontiffs, for they exercise an authority that is proper to them, and are quite correctly called “prelates,” heads of the people whom they govern.(59*) Their power, therefore, is not destroyed by the supreme and universal power, but on the contrary it is affirmed, strengthened and vindicated by it,(60*) since the Holy Spirit unfailingly preserves the form of government established by Christ the Lord in His Church.

 

[spiderweb]

Thanks to both respondents. I think that answers it.